NASCAR - Sprint Cup Series (Formerly Nextel Cup and Winston Cup Series) The premier stock car racing series. Changing of the name for 2004 from the old Winston Cup series to the new sponsor Nextel Cup Series. Originally the Grand National Championship, 1949-70, then the Winston Cup Series Championship, 1971-2003. In 2004, NEXTEL 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.

The Grand National Series became known as the Winston Cup Series (today called the Sprint Cup Series) starting in 1971 with a new points system and some significant cash benefits to compete for championship points. 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.

Every year a NASCAR driving champion from each series is declared, based on points accumilated for finish positions throughout the season. We have a complete list of previous Sprint (Nextel and Winston) Cup winners, from 1949 to the present.