First, let's start by looking at what NASCAR actually stands for. It's actually rather easy to remember - National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. NASCAR sactions multiple leagues in North America. The highest level is the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series - where the vehicles are full-body machines that resemble the four-door vehicles that you see driving down the road all around you. The next level down is the Nationwide Series. The main difference between the two are the way the cars are built. I won't get into all the technical stuff, but once you watch for a little while you will start to see the differences.
The other leagues sanctioned by NASCAR are the truck series, the regional series and the short track series, also known as the NASCAR Wheelen Series. Just as a side note, the smallest, oval track within the NASCAR sanctioned leagues was right in our backyard when we lived in Ohio - a black asphalt, oval track with a figure 8 track built in called Lake County Speedway. We spent a lot of Saturday nights watching the "races". And I miss that place a lot.
Now, there are 8 different flags that are used by NASCAR and in any given race you may see all 8 of them! Of course everyone knows the Green Flag and the Checkered Flag. If you don't know what those are - well, then we have a lot of work to do in teaching you the basics about this sport. Then there is the yellow flag (caution) - also should be pretty self explanatory. The white flag is displayed only one time during the race and at that is when the race nears it's end. The white flag signifies that there is only one lap left. The red flag is used to signify that all competition must stop immediately. Most often you will see this when there is an extreme hazard on the track. Now, the interesting thing about a red flag is that ALL work must stop - including any work being done by the pit crews. If they are working on a car in the garage, even they must stop. The Black flag is kind of like a penalty flag. The driver that receives a black flag must enter the pits immediately to address a NASCAR concern - most often a rule violation. The black flag with a white "X" is the driver's warning that he has 5 laps to get off the track - or he will get the black flag. Lastly is the Blue flag with an orange diagonal stripe is a "courtesy" flag or "move over" flag and it is the only flag that is optional - which means that the driver can choose to ignore the flag (however, it's probably not a very good idea unless you are a total jerk...LOL)
The last thing I am going to talk about is the point system. This even confusing me sometimes. Each week the drivers race toward that championship. They have the opportunity to earn points each race that will help put them in the position to win it all. Each race on the schedule is worth the same number of points. However, there are two races each year that are not worth any points at all - the Bud Shootout and the All-Stars race. At the end of the race points are assigned in the following fashion. (Drivers can also earn bonus points by winning the race (3 points), leading a lap in the race (1 point) and for leading the most laps in a race - 1 point)
| Finish | Points |
| 1st | 43 |
| 2nd | 42 |
| 3rd | 41 |
| 4th | 40 |
| 5th | 39 |
| 6th | 38 |
| 7th | 37 |
| 8th | 36 |
| 9th | 35 |
| 10th | 34 |
| 11th | 33 |
| 12th | 32 |
| 13th | 31 |
| 14th | 30 |
| 15th | 29 |
| 16th | 28 |
| 17th | 27 |
| 18th | 26 |
| 19th | 25 |
| 20th | 24 |
| 21st | 23 |
| 22nd | 22 |
| 23rd | 21 |
| 24th | 20 |
| 25th | 19 |
| 26th | 18 |
| 27th | 17 |
| 28th | 16 |
| 29th | 15 |
| 30th | 14 |
| 31st | 13 |
| 32nd | 12 |
| 33rd | 11 |
| 34th | 10 |
| 35th | 9 |
| 36th | 8 |
| 37th | 7 |
| 38th | 6 |
| 39th | 5 |
| 40th | 4 |
| 41st | 3 |
| 42nd | 2 |
| 43rd | 1 |
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