NASCAR has become one of the premier sports in America in the past five to 10 years. Sports such as baseball and basketball have tended to switch players like chips in a poker game.
Drivers in the Winston Cup Series have tended to stay with the same teams and if not, they have at least stayed in NASCAR. In baseball, before the big money of the ’90s, it was possible to keep up with players and the teams they had been on.
In auto racing, the drivers on the circuit are usually there for a long time. Fans can keep up with the drivers and are not surprised when the season starts and they find a player either back in the minors or on another team.
The longevity of drivers on the Winston Cup Circuit is one of the major reasons why NASCAR is keeping its popularity.
Dick Trickle, a familiar name in NASCAR, has been on the circuit for years. He retired a few seasons ago but everyone still knows of “Tricky Dick” because he had been driving for seasons.
Awesome Bill, the Rainbow Warrior, Little E, Sterling and Rusty among others are mainstays on the Winston Cup Circuit. Jeff Gordon, or No. 24, is the driver fans love to hate, especially if they are a fan of Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Dale Jr. is the bad boy of NASCAR just as his father the great Dale Earnhardt was before his death at Daytona in 2000. Junior has become the master of restrictor-plate racing and excelled at such tracks as Daytona and Talladega.
Race tracks have generally remained the same, but that is changing because people like Bruton Smith building more super tracks.
Bristol, Rockingham, Daytona and Darlington have all had tracks that have survived the build-up so far. Football and baseball are likely to change venues and even move teams to different cities, while most race tracks have remained on the circuit for years.
NASCAR’s popularity re-mains stable because it is staying close to its roots. But that could change if tracks move away from the Southern states.
The core of racing fans feel close to the drivers and the tracks treating them as equals.
The other big four sports (baseball, football, basketball and hockey) could learn a lesson from NASCAR’s thriving success.

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