Sanctioned series

National series
Cup Series

The start of the 2015 Daytona 500.

Main article: NASCAR Cup Series

The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) is the sport's highest level of professional competition. It is
consequently the most popular and most profitable NASCAR series. Since 2001, the Cup Series
season has consisted of 36 races over 10 months. Writers and fans often use "Cup" to refer to the
NCS and the ambiguous use of "NASCAR" as a synonym for the series is common. The 2019 NCS
Champion is Kyle Busch. The record for most championships is 7, held by three drivers: Richard
Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and Jimmie Johnson. Johnson has the record for most consecutive with five
consecutive Cup Series drivers' championships from 2006 to 2010. Previously, the most consecutive
championships had been three in a row by Cale Yarborough in the late 1970s, the only other time
when a driver has won three or more NASCAR Cup Series championships in a row.
The Cup Series had its first title sponsor in 1972. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, which had
been banned from television advertising, found a popular and demographically suitable consumer
base in NASCAR fans and engaged NASCAR as a promotional outlet. As a result of that
sponsorship, the Grand National Series became known as the Winston Cup Series starting in 1971,
[24]
 with a new points system and some significant cash benefits to compete for championship points.
In 1972, the season was shortened from 48 races (including two on dirt tracks) to 31.[24] 1972 is often
acknowledged as the beginning of NASCAR's "modern era". The next competitive level, called Late
Model Sportsman, gained the "Grand National" title passed down from the top division and soon
found a sponsor in Busch Beer.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (bottom), and team in victory lane in 2004

In 2004, Nextel Communications took over sponsorship of the premier series from R. J. Reynolds,

who had sponsored it as the Winston Cup from 1972 until 2003, and formally renamed it the Nextel
Cup Series. A new championship points system, the "Chase for the Nextel Cup," (renamed "Chase
for the Sprint Cup" in 2008) was also developed, which reset the point standings with ten races to
go, making only drivers in the top ten or within 400 points of the leader eligible to win the
championship. In 2007, NASCAR announced it was expanding "The Chase" from ten to twelve
drivers, eliminating the 400-point cutoff, and giving a ten-point bonus to the top twelve drivers for
each of the races they have won out of the first 26. Wins throughout the season would also be
awarded five more points than in previous seasons. In 2008, the premier series title name became
the Sprint Cup Series, as part of the merger between Nextel and Sprint.
In 2011, NASCAR announced a number of major rules changes, the most significant being
abandoning the points system. The winner of a race now receives 43 points, with one-point
decrements for each subsequent position (42 for second, 41 for third, and so on). The winner also
receives 3 bonus points, and single bonus points are awarded to all drivers who lead a lap, plus the
driver who leads the most laps. Another significant change involves the qualifying process for the
Chase. The number of qualifying drivers will remain at 12, but only the top 10 will qualify solely on
regular-season points. The remaining two Chase drivers will be the two drivers in the next 10 of the
point standings (11th through 20th) with the most race wins in the regular season.
In 2014, NASCAR announced another revamp to the Chase format, expanding the Chase pool to 16
drivers, and eliminating four drivers after every three races, leaving four drivers to compete for the
championship at the season finale at Homestead. In addition, wins were given an increased
emphasis, with the 16 drivers with the most wins (15 if the points leader is winless; points leader will
receive an automatic berth) gaining a spot in the chase. If there are fewer than 16 winners, the
remaining spots will be filled based on the conventional points system. [25][26]
Monster Energy became the title sponsor in 2017, which changed the series' name to Monster
Energy NASCAR Cup Series.[27] With Monster Energy's title sponsorship, NASCAR also abandoned
"The Chase" name and now refers to the last 10 races simply as "the playoffs" similar to most other
sports.
After the 2019 season, NASCAR declined an offer from Monster Energy to remain the title sponsor
of the top series.[28] On December 5, NASCAR revealed their new sponsorship model. Instead of a
singular title sponsor, four "premier partners" (Coca-Cola, Xfinity, Busch Beer and GEICO) would be
closely affiliated with the top series, which was simply renamed the NASCAR Cup Series. [29]
Xfinity Series

The Busch (now Xfinity) Series field following the pace car at the O'Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway in
2007.

Main article: NASCAR Xfinity Series

The NASCAR Xfinity Series is the second-highest level of professional competition in NASCAR. The
most recent series champion is Tyler Reddick in 2019.
The modern incarnation of this series began in 1982, with sponsorship by Anheuser-Busch
Brewing's Budweiser brand. In 1984 it was renamed to the Busch Grand National Series, then later
just the Busch Series. The Anheuser-Busch sponsorship expired at the end of 2007, being replaced
by Nationwide Insurance from 2008 to 2014, and the series is now sponsored by Comcast through
its Xfinity brand.[30]
The Nationwide (now Xfinity) Series at Road America in 2011, using the Car of Tomorrow design.

The season is usually a few races shorter than that of the Cup Series, and the prize money is
significantly lower. However, over the last several years, a number of Cup Series drivers have run
both the Xfinity and Cup Series events each weekend, using the Xfinity race as a warm-up to the
Cup event at the same facility. Furthermore, several drivers not only participated in both Cup and
Busch/Nationwide/Xfinity events in the same weekend but also began to compete in both series on a
full-time basis. Kevin Harvick was the first Cup series driver to compete full-time in the Busch Series
and win a title, actually doing so twice; in 2001, he did this for Richard Childress Racing but only did
so out of necessity as Dale Earnhardt's death forced him into the Cup series ahead of RCR's
intended schedule for him. His win in 2006, where he raced three separate cars for RCR and his
own race team, was the first of five consecutive titles in NBS/NNS that were won by Cup series
regulars.
The practice received criticism because it was thought to give the Cup Series teams an unfair
advantage, and that the presence of the Cup Series drivers squeezes out Nationwide Series
competitors who would otherwise be able to qualify. These dual-series drivers have been labeled
"Buschwhackers", a play on words which combines the original series sponsor's name with the
notion of being bushwhacked. In May 2007, NNS director Joe Balash confirmed that NASCAR was
exploring options to deal with the Buschwhacker controversy. One of the most often-cited proposals
was for Cup Series drivers participating in the Nationwide Series to receive no points for their
participation in a Nationwide race. In 2007, NASCAR chairman Brian France indicated that all
options, except an outright ban of Cup competitors, were still being considered. [31] On January 11,
2011, NASCAR.com reported that beginning with the 2011 season, drivers would be allowed to
compete for the championship in only one of NASCAR's three national series in a given season,
although they could continue to run in multiple series. [32] This change was officially confirmed by
France in a press conference less than two weeks later, and has remained in the NASCAR rules
ever since.[33]
Beginning in 2010, the Nationwide cars adapted somewhat to the current "Car of Tomorrow" (or
COT) design used by Cup cars, with different bodies from the Cup Series.
In 2016, the Chase format was extended to both the Xfinity and Truck Series. Instead of the four-
round, 10-race format used in the Cup Series, the Chase in each of the two supporting series
consists of three rounds and seven races in all, with each preliminary round consisting of three
races. The Xfinity Series Chase involves 12 drivers instead of the 16 participating in the Cup Series
Chase. Four drivers are eliminated at the end of each preliminary round of the Chase in the Xfinity
Series, which also mirrors the Cup Series Chase. This means that four drivers are eligible for the
series title entering the final race, as in the Cup Series.[34] Similar to Cup, starting in 2017 "The
Chase" moniker was dropped and the final seven races are now referred to as the Xfinity Playoffs.
Even with restrictions limiting points earnings to one national series, Cup drivers were still running
and winning a vast majority of Xfinity series races through 2015. Starting with the 2015 season
finale, NASCAR began to add additional restrictions in regards to Cup drivers running Xfinity races.
Starting in 2019, Cup drivers with more than 5 years of experience in the Cup series will be limited to
7 Xfinity races per season. Further, Cup playoff qualifiers from the previous season are not allowed
to compete in some Xfinity races and there will be restrictions on owner point earning by Cup
drivers.[35]