NASCAR for Dummies (ISBN - 0470430680)

340 Pages·2021·7.44 MB·English

Mark Martin
NASCAR driver and champion

Learn to:
• Identify the teams, drivers, and cars

• Follow all the latest rules and
regulations

• Understand the top driver skills and
racing strategies

• Have the ultimate fan experience, at
home or at the track

NASCAR

®

3rd Edition

Making Everything Easier!™

Open the book and find:

• Top driver Mark Martin’s personal
insights into the sport

• The lowdown on each NASCAR
track

• Why drivers are true athletes

• Explanations of NASCAR lingo

• How to win a race (it’s more than
just driving fast!)

• What happens during a pit stop

• How to fit in with a NASCAR crowd

• Ten can’t-miss races of the year

• NASCAR statistics, race car
numbers, and milestones

Mark Martin burst onto the NASCAR scene in 1981
after earning four American Speed Association
championships, and has been winning races and
setting records ever since. Considered by many to be
the greatest active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver
without a championship, Martin will vie for the 2009
title behind the wheel of the No. 5 Kellogg’s/CARQUEST
Chevrolet.

$21.99 US / $25.99 CN / £14.99 UK

ISBN 978-0-470-43068-2

Sports/Motor Sports

Go to dummies.com®

for more!

Now updated! Your
authoritative guide to NASCAR —
on and off the track

Want to have the supreme NASCAR experience? Whether
you’re new to this exciting sport or a longtime fan, this
insider’s guide covers everything you want to know in
detail — from the anatomy of a stock car to the strategies
used by top drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

• What’s new with NASCAR? — get the latest on the new racing
rules, teams, drivers, car designs, and safety requirements

• A crash course in stock-car racing — meet the teams and
sponsors, understand the different NASCAR series, and find out
how drivers get started in the racing business

• Take a test drive — explore a stock car inside and out, learn the
rules of the track, and work with the race team

• Understand the driver’s world — get inside a driver’s head and
see what happens before, during, and after a race

• Keep track of NASCAR events — from the stands or the comfort
of home, follow the sport and get the most out of each race

NASCAR

®

Martin

3rd Edition

spine=.672”

by Mark Martin with Beth Tuschak and Mike Forde

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver

NASCAR

FOR
DUMmIES

‰

3RD EDITION

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NASCAR For Dummies®, 3rd Edition
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River St.
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as
permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior
written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to
the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax [phone].
Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley
& Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://
www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the
Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, Making Everything
Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/
or its affi liates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permis-
sion. NASCAR® and the NASCAR Library Collection are registered trademarks of the National Association
for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley
Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO
REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF
THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITH-
OUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE
CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES
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A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE
AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZA-
TION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE
OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES
THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT
MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS
WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND
WHEN IT IS READ.

For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care
Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2009920038

ISBN: 978-0-470-43068-2

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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About the Authors

Mark Martin has been racing nearly all his life. Martin began his profes-
sional racing career in the 1970s in the American Speed Association, where
he was a four-time ASA champion. He successfully made the transition into
the NASCAR scene in 1981 and has taken the sport by storm. Since 1988,
he has won 35 races, fourth among active NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers. He
is considered by many to be the greatest active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
driver without a championship. Martin’s runner-up fi nish in 2002 marked
the fourth time he has fi nished second in the fi nal NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
point standings. Martin has fi nished in the top 10 in 16 of his last 18 full-time
seasons. In 2007 and 2008, he ran a part-time schedule on the NASCAR Sprint
Cup Series. Martin rejoined the series full-time in 2009, driving the No. 5
Kellogg’s CARQUEST Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. Martin also has a
record four International Race of Champions (IROC) titles to his credit and is
the winningest driver in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, with 48 wins. He also
helped build a quarter-midget track in New Smyrna, Florida to help up-and-
coming drivers.

He lives in Florida with his wife, Arlene, and son, Matt.

Beth Tuschak is a freelance writer associated with NASCAR and was invalu-
able in updating the second edition of NASCAR For Dummies. She writes free-
lance stories from her home in Concord, North Carolina.

Mike Forde has been the Manager of Statistical Writing for NASCAR since
2007. Prior to joining NASCAR, Forde covered NASCAR for the New York Post.
He lives in Lake Mary, Florida.

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About NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), organized
in 1947 by Bill France, Sr., is America’s premier motorsports and entertain-
ment sanctioning body. NASCAR is guided by the third generation of the
France family. Brian Z. France took the helm as Chairman of the Board and
CEO in October 2003. Mr. France’s father, Bill France, Jr., led NASCAR during
a period of astounding growth since January 1972. Bill Jr., as he was known,
passed away in June of 2007. NASCAR’s best-known and most popular series
is the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Sprint/NEXTEL became the series’ primary
sponsor in 2004. Other top national series include the NASCAR Nationwide
Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. These marquee divi-
sions are well-known to the millions of fans who attend these events and to
the millions more who watch them on television. NASCAR also sanctions
seven other regional touring series.

Since 2004, the NASCAR Sprint Cup season features the Chase for the
NASCAR Sprint Cup. In this format, the top 12 drivers in points after the 26th
race are assigned new point standings and compete for the championship in
the last ten races of the season.

NASCAR has become a recognized leader in the entertainment industry, with
www.NASCAR.com, NASCAR Café restaurants, NASCAR Speed Parks, and
NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway.

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Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registra-
tion form located at http://dummies.custhelp.com. For other comments, please contact our
Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax
317-572-4002.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media
Development

Project Editor: Joan Friedman

(Previous Edition: Laura B. Peterson)

Acquisitions Editor: Lindsay Sandman Lefevere

Assistant Editor: Erin Calligan Mooney

Editorial Program Coordinator: Joe Niesen

Technical Editor: Ken Roberts

Senior Editorial Manager: Jennifer Ehrlich

Editorial Supervisor: Carmen Krikorian

Editorial Assistant: Jennette ElNaggar

Art Coordinator: Alicia South

NASCAR Publishing: Jennifer White, Director,
Licensing & Business Development;
Herb Branham, Director of Strategic
Writing Communications; John C.
Farrell, Account Executive, Licensing &
Business Development; Heather Greene,
Account Manager, Licensing & Business
Development.

Cover Photos: © LJ Weslowski, Light Capture
Photography (front); Rusty Jarrett/Getty
Images (back)

Cartoons: Rich Tennant
(www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Lynsey Stanford

Layout and Graphics: Ana Carillo,
Reuben W. Davis, Shawn Frazier,
Joyce Haughey, Christin Swinford,
Christine Williams

Proofreaders: John Greenough, Toni Settle

Indexer: Potomac Indexing, LLC

Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies

Kristin Ferguson-Wagstaffe, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies

Ensley Eikenburg, Associate Publisher, Travel

Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel

Publishing for Technology Dummies

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User

Composition Services

Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

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Contents at a Glance

Introduction ................................................................ 1

Part I: NASCAR 101 .................................................... 7

Chapter 1: NASCAR Racing: The Best Sport Around .....................................................9
Chapter 2: The Big Business of NASCAR .......................................................................23
Chapter 3: Distinguishing the Different NASCAR Series .............................................33
Chapter 4: The Ride of Your Life: How to Land a Job in NASCAR .............................47

Part II: What Makes It Stock-Car Racing? ................... 53

Chapter 5: Not Your Typical Family Sedan...................................................................55
Chapter 6: The Rules of the Road ..................................................................................75
Chapter 7: Working Together: The Race Team ............................................................89
Chapter 8: In the Driver’s Seat .....................................................................................103

Part III: What Happens on (and off) the Track ......... 117

Chapter 9: First, They Qualify ......................................................................................119
Chapter 10: Passing, Drafting, and Other Race Day Strategies ................................131
Chapter 11: Making Pit Stops .......................................................................................151
Chapter 12: Keeping Racing Safe .................................................................................161
Chapter 13: Winning It All: Making It to Victory Lane and the Championship ......169

Part IV: Keeping Up with NASCAR Events ................. 181

Chapter 14: Getting the Lowdown on Each NASCAR Track .....................................183
Chapter 15: Heading Out for a Weekend at the Track...............................................235
Chapter 16: Tracking NASCAR Events from the Comfort of Home .........................249

Part V: The Part of Tens ........................................... 259

Chapter 17: The Greatest NASCAR Drivers of All Time ............................................261
Chapter 18: Ten Can’t-Miss Races of the Year ...........................................................267
Chapter 19: NASCAR’s Closest Finishes ......................................................................271

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Part VI: Appendixes ................................................. 275

Appendix A: Glossary ....................................................................................................277
Appendix B: NASCAR Statistics ....................................................................................291
Appendix C: Race Car Numbers ...................................................................................297
Appendix D: NASCAR Milestones.................................................................................299

Index ...................................................................... 305

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