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57-648: There is also a NASCAR Xfinity Series race, the Focused Health 250 , that is held on the same weekend as the Cup Series. Circuit of the Americas, a 3.426 mi (5.514 km) road course in Austin, opened in 2012 with major events being Formula One 's United States Grand Prix and MotoGP 's Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas . For its prestige, the track was subject to calls from fans to be added to

114-637: A Dallas area dealership, which is now part of the EchoPark brand. EchoPark Automotive operates in 21 states across the United States with over 40 locations as of September 2021. EchoPark facilities are constructed with sustainable building technologies and some locations are LEED certified. In 2001, Sonic made its entrance into the Oklahoma City market with the purchase of Boyd Chevrolet and Steve Bailey Honda . In 2002, Sonic acquired

171-538: A potential NASCAR host track would be an "injustice", Stewart also argued the "worst thing [NASCAR] could ever do is take one of the races from Texas Motor Speedway." On September 30, 2020, NASCAR revealed the 2021 Cup Series schedule with a COTA race planned for May 23. The Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series, along with the International Motor Sports Association 's Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America sports car series, joined

228-455: A set-up closer to the current Cup car and some Cup drivers who have tested the car say it has similar handling characteristics. The new car has gone full-time since the 2011 season. In 2007, six out of the top ten drivers in the final point standings were Cup regulars, with Jason Leffler being the only non-Cup driver in that group to win a race in 2007. This number decreased from 2006 when 8 out of 10 drivers were Cup regulars. The decreased number

285-596: A seven-race Chase system similar to the one used in the NASCAR Cup Series. Xfinity race fields have varied in the number of drivers. Prior to 2013 , the grid size resembled its Cup counterpart with 43 cars per race; that year, it shrank to 40 maximum cars. The field was further reduced in 2019 and 2020 to 38 and 36, respectively. During the 2020 season, fields were temporarily increased to 40 cars again to accommodate part-time teams that were otherwise unable to qualify due to such sessions being canceled in

342-512: A three-race test of unleaded gasoline in this series that began on July 29, 2006, with a race at Gateway International Raceway . The fuel, Sunoco GT 260 Unleaded, became mandatory in all series starting with the second weekend of the 2007 series, with Daytona being the last race weekend using leaded gasoline. Another distinction between the cars started in 2008: Goodyear had developed a rain tire for NASCAR road course racing in both series but NASCAR had yet to use them under race conditions by

399-578: A two-seat version of his Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang around the circuit with Haas F1 Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen riding. Stewart compared COTA to NASCAR road course Watkins Glen International due to its "very, very technical" nature, and rebuked skepticism about stock car overtaking opportunities by noting there were "five and potentially six passing zones on that race track for Cup cars." Although he added excluding COTA as

456-651: Is a Fortune 500 company based in Charlotte, North Carolina , and is the fifth largest automotive retailer in the United States as measured by total revenues. The company was founded by O Bruton Smith and completed its initial public offering on the NYSE in 1997. Sonic Automotive operates in 24 states with more than 100 dealerships representing over 25 different brands of automobiles . The dealerships market new and used cars, replacement parts and vehicle maintenance, as well as collision repair services. Sonic Automotive

513-610: Is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR . It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series . NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a Cup Series event scheduled for that weekend. The series was previously called the Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series in 1982 and 1983, the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series from 1984 through 2002,

570-768: Is a member of the Russell 2000 Index. Sonic Automotive owns EchoPark Automotive, a used car dealership chain also based in Charlotte. EchoPark allows customers to look up competitors' prices on mobile devices located throughout the stores. The first EchoPark location opened in the Thornton area of Denver, Colorado in 2014. A location in Centennial was later opened along with a store in Colorado Springs . In September 2017, EchoPark purchased driversselect,

627-478: Is attributed to Cup regulars running only partial schedules, allowing for more NXS regulars to reach the top ten in points. However, the champions from 2006 to 2010 were all Cup regulars driving the full series schedule ( Kevin Harvick , Carl Edwards , Clint Bowyer , Kyle Busch , and Brad Keselowski ). As a result, beginning with the 2011 season, NASCAR implemented a rule stating that drivers could only compete for

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684-463: Is to gain more "seat time", or to familiarize themselves with the track. Examples of this would be Dale Earnhardt , who won the very first NXS race, and Kyle Busch , who has won the most races in NXS history. In recent years, this practice had been dubbed "Buschwhacking" by its detractors. The colloquialism originated when Anheuser-Busch was the main sponsor of the series by combining the name "Busch" with

741-556: The Busch East and Winston West series as part of a nationwide standardization of rules for NASCAR's regional racing; both series are now run under ARCA Menards Series banner after NASCAR purchased the organization in 2018). Anheuser-Busch dropped the sponsorship after the 2007 season ; Nationwide Insurance took over the sponsorship for the 2008 season, renaming it the Nationwide Series . The Nationwide sponsorship

798-890: The Camaro SS , after initially running the Impala and then the Zeta-based Camaro (which coincided with GM's Cup car being its four-door Zeta counterpart, the Holden VF Commodore based Chevrolet SS , being used in Cup at the time). Ford uses the Mustang GT . Toyota runs the Camry , reconfigured in 2015 to resemble the current production model. Toyota announced they would be running the Supra starting in 2019, replacing

855-682: The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec , another road course. It was won by Kevin Harvick , while Quebec native Patrick Carpentier finished second. In July 2008 , NASCAR announced that the Nationwide Series would not return to Mexico City in 2009 , and in 2012 they announced that it would not be returning to Montreal in 2013 . While the Xfinity Series races at nearly all the same tracks as

912-636: The Land Rover and Jaguar stores brought Sonic to 173 franchises and 37 collision repair centers. Sonic halted its acquisition strategy during the Great Recession , but returned to acquiring new locations in order to drive growth in 2013. In November 2014, Sonic traded one of its Don Massey Cadillac locations in Lone Tree, CO, to the Denver -based John Elway Automotive Group in exchange for

969-528: The Late Model Sportsman Series in 1968, and soon featured races on larger tracks such as Daytona International Speedway . Drivers used obsolete Grand National cars on larger tracks but by the inception of the touring format in 1982 , the series used older compact cars. Short track cars with relatively small 300 cubic inch V-8 motors were used. Drivers used smaller current year models featuring V6 motors. The modern-day Xfinity Series

1026-780: The NASCAR Busch Series from 2003 through 2007, and the NASCAR Nationwide Series from 2008 through 2014. Since 2015, it is sponsored by Comcast via its consumer cable and wireless brand Xfinity . The series emerged from NASCAR's Sportsman division, which had been formed in 1950 as NASCAR's short track race division. It was NASCAR's fourth series (after the Modified and Roadster series in 1948 and Strictly Stock Series in 1949). The sportsman cars were not current model cars and could be modified more, but not as much as Modified series cars . It became

1083-1317: The National Debt Relief 250 at Martinsville (November 2, 2024). 1982  J. Ingram 1983  S. Ard 1984  S. Ard 1985  J. Ingram 1986  L. Pearson 1987  L. Pearson 1988  T. Ellis 1989  R. Moroso 1990  C. Bown 1991  B. Labonte 1992  J. Nemechek 1993  S. Grissom 1994  D. Green 1995  J. Benson Jr. 1996  R. LaJoie 1997  R. LaJoie 1998  D. Earnhardt Jr. 1999  D. Earnhardt Jr. 2000  J. Green 2001  K. Harvick 2002  G. Biffle 2003  B. Vickers 2004  M. Truex Jr. 2005  M. Truex Jr. 2006  K. Harvick 2007  C. Edwards 2008  C. Bowyer 2009  Ky. Busch 2010  B. Keselowski 2011  R. Stenhouse Jr. 2012  R. Stenhouse Jr. 2013  A. Dillon 2014  C. Elliott 2015  C. Buescher 2016  D. Suárez 2017  W. Byron 2018  T. Reddick 2019  T. Reddick 2020  A. Cindric 2021  D. Hemric 2022  T. Gibbs 2023  C. Custer 2024  J. Allgaier EchoPark Automotive Sonic Automotive

1140-545: The United Kingdom , the Xfinity races—in full and highlights—are available on Premier Sports 2 . All races are live on Sports Illustrated Television channels using FOX's or NBC's coverage with highlights on Fox Sports Asia . Since the early days of the Xfinity Series, many NASCAR Cup Series drivers have used their days off to drive in the NXS. This can be for any number of reasons, most prominent or often claimed

1197-640: The Camry, which had been run in the series since Toyota joined the Xfinity Series in 2007. Dodge teams used the Challenger R/T model, despite the manufacturer pulling all factory support after 2012 (though it continued in Canada as FCA Canada still supports the Pinty's Series). Following Dodge's exit, smaller underfunded teams continued to run second-hand Challenger chassis without factory support (thus earning

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1254-545: The Cup Series, there are some stand-alone weekends in the Xfinity Series, with the only one being Portland in 2024 . In 2016, the NXS and Truck Series adopted a playoff format similar to the NASCAR Cup Series Chase for the Championship. Unlike the Cup Series, whose Chase consists of four rounds, the Xfinity Series and Truck Series both use a three-round format. After each of the first two rounds,

1311-520: The Houston area had traditionally been with domestic brands, but the acquisition of Momentum added BMW , Jaguar and Audi brands to the companies portfolio. This sale also represented the first direct acquisition of a Saturn franchise by a retail automotive group, with the purchase of two Bay Area Saturn stores. Sonic purchased two dealerships from PPE Houston in January 2007. The acquisition of

1368-717: The John Elway Chevrolet location and the associated real estate. The trade came about as a way for the brand to acquire a strong-performing Chevrolet franchise, as well as a plot of land beside the dealership on which the new Murray Imports BMW location could be built. Sonic purchased the four AutoMatch USA used car locations in Florida and Georgia in 2016. These locations were re-branded under Sonic's EchoPark brand. In October 2017, Sonic sold its Capitol Chevrolet & Hyundai franchise in Columbia, SC to

1425-490: The NASCAR Cup Series began racing with the Car of Tomorrow , a radically new specification different from the NXS. NASCAR Cup Series drivers have admitted that driving the Xfinity car the day before the race does little to help with the NASCAR Cup Series race, as the cars differ greatly. This loosely resulted in the new Nationwide Series car making its debut in the 2010 Subway Jalapeño 250 at Daytona International Speedway. This car has

1482-596: The NASCAR calendar, but a primary obstacle was the need for other speedways to give up their races which were protected by sanctioning contracts. Texas Motor Speedway , an oval track located three hours away in Fort Worth that regularly hosted two Cup Series races, was a large opponent as it maintained an agreement with NASCAR that prevented the sanctioning body from adding races in the region. TMS president Eddie Gossage also clashed with COTA and F1 in 2014 and 2018 when

1539-447: The NXS take away opportunities from the NXS regulars, usually younger and less experienced drivers. On the other hand, many fans claim that without the NASCAR Cup Series stars and the large amount of fan interest they attract on their own races, the NXS would be inadequate as a high-tier division. In addition, many NXS drivers have welcomed the Cup drivers because it gives them the opportunity to drive with more seasoned veterans. In 2007,

1596-589: The Ourisman Auto Group, to manage the locations. The Honda location in Vienna, Virginia , has been renamed Ourisman Honda of Tysons Corner. In December 2021, Sonic acquired RFJ Auto Partners, a top-15 dealership group with approximately $ 3.2 billion in total annual revenues, adding 33 locations in six states to the Sonic Automotive portfolio. Sonic acquired two franchises throughout 2022,

1653-704: The Stivers Automotive Group. In May 2018, Sonic sold its Lone Star Ford franchise in Houston, TX to the Doggett Auto Group. The store was renamed Doggett Ford and moved into a new facility alongside Doggett's John Deere equipment dealership. Sonic sold two dealerships to Graham Holdings in February 2019. The Lexus of Rockville store was renamed Ourisman Lexus of Rockville, as Graham has partnered with Chris Ourisman, president of

1710-481: The cars still used V6 engines. The cars gradually became similar to Cup cars. In 1995, changes were made. The series switched to V-8s with a compression ratio of 9:1 (as opposed to 14:1 for Cup at the time). The vehicle weight with driver was set at 3,300 pounds (as opposed to 3,400 for Cup). The body style changes, as well as the introduction of V-8s, made the two series' cars increasingly similar. The suspensions , brake systems, transmissions, were identical between

1767-414: The drivers' championship in one of three national series (Cup, Xfinity, and Truck) of the drivers' choosing. On October 26, 2016, NASCAR announced plans to limit Cup participation in the lower series starting in 2017. Cup drivers who were competing for points in the Cup Series with at least five years of experience in the series would be allowed to compete in up to 10 NXS races, but are banned from racing in

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1824-591: The first half of the season. Like the previous time Fox held rights to the series, most of the coverage aired on cable, though this time on FS1 . Four races aired on Fox itself until 2019, when all races moved to FS1. The second half of the NXS season is televised by NBC Sports . Four to five races air on NBC itself, while the others air on NBCSN (until 2020) or, during the Olympics, CNBC or USA Network (prior to 2020). Since 2021, USA Network had carried all races not aired on NBC or Fox Sports. On July 28, 2023, it

1881-472: The four Chase grid drivers with the fewest season points are eliminated from the grid and Chase contention. In the 1980s, races were sparsely shown, mainly by ESPN if they were covering the cup race at the same track. Starting in 1990, more races began to be shown. By the mid-1990s, all races were shown. Most standalone races were aired on TNN , which helped grow coverage of the series, while races that were companion races with Winston Cup dates mostly aired on

1938-602: The front wheel on the Next Gen. The then Nationwide Series unveiled its "Car of Tomorrow" (CoT) at the July 2010 race at Daytona International Speedway . Before being fully integrated in the 2011 season, it was also used in 2010 races at Michigan International Speedway , Richmond International Raceway and Charlotte Motor Speedway . The Xfinity CoT has important differences from the NASCAR Cup Series CoT , and

1995-724: The latter scheduled the USGP for the same weekend as NASCAR's November races at Texas , a matter that Gossage said in 2014 was "a shot fired by Formula One at NASCAR." Gossage had also lowered the sanctioning fee for the IndyCar Series ' race at Texas in order for the series to race at COTA. In 2017, COTA president Bobby Epstein told the Austin American-Statesman he had been in contact with NASCAR officials and that "everyone seems to want to be here, so I see no reason why it couldn't come together." Gossage ridiculed

2052-485: The network airing the Cup race. TNN aired some of these races, which also aired on CBS , NBC , ESPN , ABC and TBS . From 2001 until 2006, Fox Sports covered the entire first half of the Busch Grand National season, while NBC and TNT both aired races during the second half, with Turner Sports producing all the coverage for both networks. However, in even numbered years, coverage was changed, with

2109-469: The network's schedule. Televisa Deportes also broadcast a 30-minute recap every Sunday morning on national television in Mexico . In Brazil , BandSports carries all three series. Network Ten 's additional high-definition service, ONE , began broadcasting races from the NXS live or near live during the 2008 season. ONE continued to air highlights packages of each race until the end of 2014. Broadcasts of

2166-750: The news, rebutting in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he "just laughed at it" as "anyone can talk to a NASCAR official." Although NASCAR did not race at the track in the 2010s, demonstrations involving NASCAR drivers took place during the decade. In 2013, to promote the V8 Supercars ' Austin 400 at the track, Kurt Busch participated in a seat swap with Supercar champion James Courtney , with Busch driving Courtney's Holden Racing Team Supercar and Courtney in Busch's Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet SS. Six years later, Tony Stewart drove

2223-401: The nickname "Zombie Dodges"). As a result of a rules change after the 2018 season, all Challenger chassis were rendered ineligible for competition, as the series made the switch to composite body panels. Since FCA had pulled factory support years earlier, no new body was submitted for competition, ending the possibility of running a Challenger chassis in the series. All figures correct as of

2280-607: The now-retired Generation 4 style car. The body and aerodynamic package differs from the NASCAR Cup Series cars, marketing American pony cars from the 1960s such as the Ford Mustang , Dodge Challenger , and Chevrolet Camaro . The change to share the same CoT chassis as the Cup series resulted in the wheelbase being lengthened from 105 to 110 inches Each manufacturer uses a distinct body design (similar to 1960s muscle cars), built within strict aerodynamic guidelines provided by NASCAR. The Chevrolet car body currently resembles

2337-471: The opening race at Daytona airing on NBC in 2004, on TNT in 2002 and 2006 (due to NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics ) and the track's July race airing on FX. Large portions of Fox's coverage aired on sister network FX , with a few marquee events on the network itself. From 2007 until 2014, ESPN was the home of the renamed Nationwide Series. Generally four races per season aired on ABC, with

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2394-664: The race, branding it the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix. Chase Elliott won the inaugural EchoPark Texas Grand Prix. The race was shortened to 54 laps due to heavy rain. This would give Hendrick Motorsports their 268th win tying Petty Enterprises and Chevrolet their 800th victory in NASCAR . On November 20, 2024, it was announced that both the Cup and Xfinity Series races would move to the 2.356 mi (3.792 km) layout starting in 2025. NASCAR Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series ( NXS )

2451-468: The remainder on ESPN, ESPN2 , and ESPNews . Early in ESPN's run, ESPN Classic was used for NNS overflow, however with less carriage of that network, this practice ended. Fox Sports made a return to the series, airing the 2011 Bubba Burger 250 at Richmond on Speed Channel , as ESPN gave up its exclusive rights to the race because of programming conflicts. In 2015, the NXS returned to Fox Sports during

2508-549: The series are now exclusively shown on the Fox Sports pay TV channels. All races are live on TSN channels using FOX's or NBC's coverage. Also, races are broadcast on RDS or RDS2 in French using the world feed produced by NASCAR. In 2012, Motors TV broadcasts all Xfinity races live, delayed and highlights, until 2018 when the channel ceased operations. In Portugal , SPORT TV broadcasts every Xfinity races live. In

2565-540: The series' regular season finale, Chase, and Dash 4 Cash races. In the early 1980s, teams were switching from the General Motors 1971–77 X-Body compact cars with 311-cubic inch engines. Later, teams were using General Motors 1982–87 G-body cars. Ford teams have used the Thunderbird cars consistently. In 1989, NASCAR changed rules requiring cars to use current body styles, similar to the Cup cars. However,

2622-519: The sixteen-location Michigan-based Don Massey Dealerships. This brought the company to 134 total locations, making it the second-largest automotive retailer at the time. The acquisition also brought Sonic to 23 total Cadillac dealerships, representing between 5-7% of the brand's total revenue. In July 2003, Sonic agreed to purchase eighteen dealerships, including the Momentum Automotive Group in Houston, Texas. Sonic's presence in

2679-416: The term " bushwhacker ," but it has gradually fallen out of use since Anheuser-Busch's sponsorship ended. Other nicknames, such as Claim Jumper (for when Nationwide was the series sponsor), and Signal Pirate (for the current sponsor Xfinity) have never really caught on, although the generic term "Cup leech" is often used after the end of Busch sponsorship. Critics claim that NASCAR Cup Series drivers racing in

2736-478: The time NASCAR abandoned the program for the Cup Series in 2005 (the Cup Series eventually used rain tires at the 2020 Bank of America Roval 400 and 2021 Texas Grand Prix ), but the Busch Series continued to use rain tires in races at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve , since the races could not be planned with rain dates. When rain started to fall at the 2008 NAPA Auto Parts 200 ,

2793-499: The tires were used in the rain for the first time. Another distinction was added in 2012, when NASCAR changed the fuel delivery system in the Cup cars from carburetion to fuel injection . NXS cars continue to use carburetors. Furthermore, with the Cup Series' switch to Next Gen car in 2022, Xfinity cars (as well as Truck Series vehicles) continue to use traditional five-lug steel wheels and centered door numbers, as opposed to an aluminum center lock wheel and numbers being placed behind

2850-496: The two series, but The Car of Tomorrow eliminates some of these commonalities. The Car of Tomorrow is taller and wider than the Generation 4 -based vehicles in the then-Nationwide Series, and until 2010, it utilizes a front "splitter", opposed to a front valance. The Car of Tomorrow also set pole speeds slower than the NXS cars at companion races. Previously, Busch Series cars used fuel that contained lead . NASCAR conducted

2907-731: The wake of the COVID-19 pandemic . On March 6, 2005 , the series held its first race outside the United States, the Telcel-Motorola 200 . The race was held in Mexico City , Mexico at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez , a track that has held Formula One and Champ Car races in the past. It was won by Martin Truex Jr. On August 4, 2007 , the series held its second race outside the United States, at

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2964-725: The weekend as support races; the Truck race was part of the Triple Truck Challenge . The race replaced the spring event at Texas , which became the NASCAR All-Star Race . Speedway Motorsports , which operates TMS, assumed organizational responsibilities of the COTA race while company liaison Bryan Hammond was named race executive director in November. Although the shortened, 2.356 mi (3.792 km) layout

3021-440: Was a seven-year contract, and did not include the banking and mortgage departments of Nationwide. The sponsorship reportedly carried a $ 10 million commitment for 2008, with 6% annual escalations thereafter. On September 3, 2014, it was announced that Comcast would become the new title sponsor of the series via its cable television and internet brand Xfinity , renaming it the Xfinity Series . In 2016 , NASCAR implemented

3078-534: Was announced the Xfinity Series will move exclusively to The CW in 2025 as part of a seven-year deal. It was then announced on April 11, 2024, that the move would begin a year early to broadcast the final eight races of the 2024 season. The NXS is available in most Latin American countries on cable and satellite TV. Since 2006, Fox Sports 3 (formerly called SPEED until 2013) carries live coverage of all events. The races are also shown on Fox Sports Latin America , some of them live and some tape-delayed depending on

3135-420: Was considered, NASCAR announced on December 11 that the weekend's races would utilize the full, 3.426 mi (5.514 km) course. To accommodate stock cars, safety changes to the track included placing tire barriers, extending the pit wall, adding caution lights, and installing curbs and rumble strips . On February 25, 2021, Speedway Motorsports announced EchoPark Automotive would assume naming rights for

3192-400: Was formed in 1982, when Anheuser-Busch sponsored a newly reformed late-model sportsman series with its Budweiser brand. In 1984, the series switched sponsorship to Anheuser-Busch's Busch Beer brand and was renamed the Busch Grand National Series . "Grand National" was dropped from the series' title in 2003 as part of NASCAR's brand identity (the "Grand National" name was later used for

3249-401: Was launched as a public company in November 1997 by O Bruton Smith . At the time, the company had 20 stores, representing 15 brands and several hundred employees. The Smith family holds over 30% of the total shares outstanding but has over 80% of the voting power because of a dual-class structure with Super-voting stock . Sonic ranked 300th on the 2022 Fortune 500 list. The company also

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