On July 9, 2006, Montoya announced his plans to compete in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series beginning with the 2007 season, racing for Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates ' NASCAR operation, Chip Ganassi Racing, in the No. 42 Texaco / Havoline Car.

The Victory Junction Gang camp began operation in 2004, and is an official charity of NASCAR.

In 2008, they merged their NASCAR operation with that of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. to form Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.

He left Champ Car to accept a lucrative offer from the NASCAR operation Team Red Bull.

The NASCAR operation, based in Concord, North Carolina, has since become the cornerstone and centerpiece of the company, winning back to back Sprint Cup Series Championships in 2003 with driver Matt Kenseth and 2004 with driver Kurt Busch.

The team briefly became a ten-car operation when Dick Brooks drove the # 1 Exxon Chevy at Charlotte Motor Speedway, in what proved to be Brooks ' last NASCAR race.

The team ran in the NASCAR Busch Series for the three years it was in operation.

After a disappointing 1999 season which saw his multi-car operation dissolve back into # 94, Elliott announced in early 2000 he was selling his equipment to championship-winning crew chief Ray Evernham to become part of Dodge's return to NASCAR.

Budweiser is the official beer of NHRA and was the official beer of NASCAR until 2007.

Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. ( April 29, 1951February 18, 2001 ) was an American race car driver, best known for his involvement in stock car racing for NASCAR.

He was the third driver in NASCAR history to win both the Rookie of the Year and Cup Series championship in his career, joining David Pearson and Richard Petty.

* In 2010, Dale Earnhardt was one of the five inductees in the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Junior Johnson, seen here in 1985, was a popular NASCAR driver from the 1950s who began as a bootlegging driver from Wilkes County, North Carolina.

Normally used an entry level formula, it has grown into a stand alone series, with National, State and Club events and Championships. The first NASCAR " Strictly Stock " race ever was held at Charlotte Speedway, on June 19, 1949. Where a racing class requires that the cars raced be production vehicles only slightly adapted for racing, manufacturers typically produce a limited run of such vehicles for public sale so that they can legitimately race them in the class.

His father, Lee Petty, won the first Daytona 500 in 1959 and was also a 3 time NASCAR champion.

Petty was born in Level Cross, North Carolina, the son of Elizabeth ( née Toomes ) and Lee Arnold Petty, also a NASCAR driver and the older brother of Maurice Petty.

In 1959, Richard was named NASCAR Rookie of the Year, after he produced 9 top 10 finishes, including six Top 5 finishes.

* NASCAR was hosted at Dover International Speedway, most drivers have special paint jobs with America flags for honor of the September 11 attacks, in God Bless the USA which was composed by Lee Greenwood, showed the aftermath of the World Trade Center in New York City.

In Australia there was a formula that was quite similar to NASCAR, but it has now closed down, and a form of touring cars has taken its place.

When NASCAR was first formed by Bill France, Sr. in 1948 to regulate stock car racing in the U. S., there was a requirement that any car entered be made entirely of parts available to the general public through automobile dealers.

While automobile engine technology had remained fairly stagnant in World War II, advanced aircraft piston engine development had provided a great deal of available data, and NASCAR was formed just as some the improved technology was about to become available in production cars.

Until the advent of the Trans-Am series in 1967, NASCAR homologation cars were the closest thing that the public could buy that was actually very similar to the cars that were winning the national races.

In 1987 Bill Elliot's asphalt blistering qualifying time at Talladega brought about a change at superspeedways ( Daytona and Talladega ). Such high speeds and Bobby Allison's car going airborne into the catch-fence and injuring fans forced NASCAR to implement power-reducing measures, one of which was the mandated implement of below carburetor restrictor plates.

Although Earnhardt was not the first NASCAR driver to die in a wreck, he was arguably more famous than many other drivers that have died.

In NASCAR, the 6-point harness became popular after the death of Dale Earnhardt, who was wearing a five-point harness when he suffered his fatal crash ; as it was first thought that his belt had broken, some teams ordered a six-point harness in response.

Those trials were sanctioned and supervised by NASCAR. Note: between 1964 and 1966, Oldsmobile named its least expensive full size model the Oldsmobile Jetstar 88 which the Jetstar I was not related to, and priced $ 500 –$ 600 below the Jetstar I.

NASCAR was becoming increasingly dominant, and the IndyCar Series ' split from CART in 1996 put more emphasis on ovals regarding domestic open-wheel racing.

In 1948, Byron became a part of the newly formed NASCAR Modified Series.

On November 16, 2004, CASCAR announced it had entered a multi-year operational and marketing agreement with NASCAR, after NASCAR had formed NASCAR Canada earlier in the year.

Smith and Turner formed an alliance to build the track, and they signed a contract with NASCAR to run a 600-mile event on Memorial Day.

Irvan attended five NASCAR races in 2006, promoting a foundation that he formed called Race2safety as an advocate for head-injury awareness.

He moved up to NASCAR Winston Cup full-time in 2001 in the # 19 Dodge Dealers car for Evernham Motorsports, which was a newly formed team under the Dodge banner.

Arguably one of the most recognizable numbers in motorsports, the 43 team debuted in 1949, when Lee Petty formed Lee Petty Engineering and the NASCAR Grand National Division # 42.

* Chase Austin ( born 1989 ), American NASCAR racecar driver

* 1989 – Grant Adcox, NASCAR Driver ( b. 1950 )

In 1989, NASCAR changed rules requiring cars to use current body styles, similar to the Sprint Cup cars.

Darrell Lee Waltrip ( born February 5, 1947 ) is a 3-time NASCAR Cup Series champion ( 1981, 1982, 1985 ), 3-time runner-up ( 1979, 1983, 1986 ), winner of the 1989 Daytona 500 and the first 5-time winner of the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 ( formerly the World 600 ), ( 1978, 1979, 1985, 1988, 1989, a first for any driver, all time ).

Years later, Waltrip would be voted by NASCAR fans " Most Popular Driver ", two years in a row, ( 1989, 1990 ).

In the first scheduled NASCAR event of 1989, the 1989 Daytona 500, Waltrip won the race for the first time, in his 17th career attempt with a fuel mileage strategy along with his long-time crew-chief Jeff Hammond, making his final pit stop for fuel a distant 53 laps, ( 132 miles ), from the finish.

In 1989, Wallace won the NASCAR Winston Cup Championship, with crew chief Barry Dodson, by finishing 15th at the Atlanta Journal 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, to beating out close friend and fierce rival Dale Earnhardt who won the race, by twelve points.

In 1989, the Lumina became the nameplate under which Chevrolets were raced in NASCAR, more than a year before the model was available to the public.

This Cutlass body style proved to be a winner for NASCAR competition and it visited the victory circle 13 times between 1989 and 1992, when Olds ended its racing program.

Rusty is the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion and winner of 55 Cup Series races.

ESPN sent a get-well-soon card to Richmond when it aired the July 1989 NASCAR race at Pocono.

On August 13, 1989, Richmond died at the age of 34, about two years after his final NASCAR race.

Jim Hurtubise ( December 5, 1932 – January 6, 1989 ) was an American race car driver who raced in USAC Champ Cars ( including the Indianapolis 500 ), as well as sprint cars and stock cars ( USAC and NASCAR ).

He would become only the fourth NASCAR driver to sweep both the Nationwide and Cup races in the opening weekend at Daytona ( along with Bobby Allison ( 1988 ), Darrell Waltrip ( 1989 ), and Dale Earnhardt Jr. ( 2004 )).

Rob Moroso ( September 26, 1968-September 30, 1990 ) was a NASCAR racing driver who was champion of the NASCAR Busch Series ( now Nationwide Series ) in 1989, was posthumously awarded the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup ( now Sprint Cup Series ) Rookie of the Year award.

Trickle's career highlights include racing to 67 wins in 1972, winning seven ARTGO Championships in nine years between 1979 to 1987, winning back to back ASA AC-Delco Challenge championships in 1984 and 1985, the 1968 USAC Stock Car rookie of the year, and winning the 1989 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award in what was then called the Winston Cup ( now Sprint Cup ).

The race joined the NASCAR circuit in 1989.

The NASCAR " West Series " held a combination race from 1989 to 1997 and has held a standalone race since 2006.

Sprague won the inaugural race in the NASCAR Sportsman Division at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1989.

Bickle made his NASCAR Winston Cup debut in 1989 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, in his self-owned, unsponsored # 02 Buick.