The Sprint Cup Trophy is the trophy that was presented to the championship winner of the premier series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...

) from 2004 to 2016. It is made of

sterling silver Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. ''Fine silver'', which is 99.9% pure silver, is ...

with a wood base and it depicts two checkered flags in flight, and was created by silversmiths Tiffany & Co., whose other major championship trophies in sports have included the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 World Series, 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The ...

(

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

) Commissioner's Trophy, the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

's Vince Lombardi Trophy, given to the champions of the Super Bowl, the Larry O'Brien Trophy, handed to the playoff champions of the NBA following the NBA Finals, and the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy, given to the champions of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

. The trophy is tall and weighs . It was designed in 2003 by Bruce NewmanMatthew Scharle, who worked as an independent contractor for the Franklin Mint when they designed it in 2002-03, filed a lawsuit against NASCAR demanding the rights to the design or compensation. NASCAR won the case and credits the design to Newman, who was the Franklin Mint's president at the time
SceneDaily.com, "NASCAR victory in trophy case upheld"
/ref> and was first awarded in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

to series champion

Kurt Busch Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American professional auto racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. He is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the ...

and the last one being awarded to

Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...

in 2016. The Sprint Cup was awarded to the driver who scores the most points after the Chase for the Sprint Cup at a post season awards banquet in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

(formerly New York City) in December and is crowned the champion for that season. The winner maintains permanent possession of the trophy, but some teams display the trophy in their race shop. Also teams who had not won a Sprint Cup usually had a reserved display case located in their race shop for the trophy. Traditionally, there were three Sprint Cup trophies handed out; one each to the championship driver, team, and primary sponsor. There was a permanent Sprint Cup trophy at the Daytona 500 Experience next to

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NASC ...

that featured all of the past champions into perpetuity. Another Sprint Cup was located within NASCAR's New York City offices that is put on display during "Championship Week", when the annual awards ceremony and banquet honoring that year's champion is held and another one travels from track-to-track as part of the Sprint Experience tour.

References

NASCAR trophies and awards NASCAR Cup Series Awards established in 2004 Awards disestablished in 2016 Sports trophies and awards {{Nevada-sport-stub