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What is NASCAR?
The N A for S C A R
is the governing body of one
of the most popular and fastest-growing professional sports
in the United States. The body sanctions races and sets rules for 10
different auto racing divisions, including the Winston Cup, Busch
Grand National, Craftsman Truck, Busch North, Featherlite
Modified, Goody ’s Dash, Raybestos Northwest, Winston West, RE/Max
Challenge and Hills Bros. All-Pro series. (Only the Winston
Cup, Busch Grand National and Craftsman Truck series receive
regular national TV exposure.)
What is the business
structure of NASCAR?
NASCAR began as a
family business in Daytona Beach, Fla., and remains one today. In
1948,Bill France Sr. created the body as a way to develop a
cohesive relationship between the regional dirt tracks and speedways
across the United States. France also founded
International Speedway Corporation (ISC), a company that owns
speedways around the country. After France Sr.’s death,
his sons took over the business: Bill Jr. became head of NASCAR and Jim the
head of ISC. Today, the five-person governing board of
NASCAR includes Bill France Jr. (son, chairman), Jim France
(son, VP), Brian France (grandson, VP), Lesa France Kennedy (grandaughter,
VP) and Mike Helton (president, the only
non-France family member on the committee). About half the tracks
on the Winston Cup circuit are owned by ISC. The others are owned
by Speedway Motor sports Inc.or are independently owned.
NASCAR is now facing a lawsuit over its business practices. A
minor shareholder in Speedway Motor sports Inc. has filed suit
alleging that Texas Motor Speedway should by rights have a second
Winston Cup race. He alleges TMS does not have a second race
because ISC and NASCAR are basically one entity and therefore
a monopoly.
38 race dates
19 ISC tracks
8 SMI tracks
11 independently
owned or no majority shareholder
What are the main sources of
revenue?
Television
The 2002 season marked the second year of the ground-breaking $2.8
billion, six-year television arrangement with Fox, NBC, and Turner.
(Source: Harvard Business School study)
Merchandising
Retail sales of NASCAR-licensed merchandise grew from $80 million
to $1.13 billion between 1990 and 2000. Using a basic future
value formula, this translates into a 34 percent, compounded
annual-growth rate.
What are stock cars?
Stock cars are cousins of the automobiles you and I drive
every day. In the Winston Cup series, the four models of cars are
the Ford Taurus, Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Pontiac Grand Prix and
Dodge Intrepid. Although these cars maintain roughly the same
shape on the outside as those off the assembly line, on the inside
they are very different —there is only one seat, there are no head
lights, the battery is in the back right corner of the car (to help
counterbalance the weight of the driver), there isn’t a key to start the
car (just a switch to the left of the steering wheel) and the cars
are capable of speeds of more than 200 mph. In fact, the interior of the
car has practically nothing to do with street-legal cars of the
same make. On the inside and on the roll cage, the cars are painted
primer gray to help shield heat and fire from a driver.
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