NASCAR is the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. It's the largest sanctioning body for motorsports in the United States. These days it's not limited to just cars, NASCAR also races trucks.
Can't happen. The numbers are assigned by NASCAR and reserved.
NASCAR sanctions 3 major series of races in the United States. Like most things in racing these series have corporate sponsors; the Busch series (sponsored by Anheiser Busch) is one of those series. The Busch series is sort of like the junior varsity of NASCAR where young drivers gain experience and earn their way to move up to the Nextel Series which is the "varsity" or top level. Wins accumulated thru the season earn the drivers points which can help them move up in the standings.
NASCAR's premium series with all the top drivers competing for the annual championship. Formerly known as the "Winston Cup."
Born: April 29th, 1951. Died: February 18th, 2001 (Car crash; Daytona Motor Speedway)
One of the most successful drivers in NASCAR history and a fan favorite. Earnhardt was nicknamed "The Intimidator" due to his aggressive racing style. Earnhardt drove car #3 -- NASCAR has not reissued that number since his death. His son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., is a popular driver today and drives the #8 car.
Has more Winston Cup race wins (84) than any other driver in the modern era. (My own personal favorite driver, by the way)
One of the hottest drivers in NASCAR he has cooled off a bit lately but remains one of the most popular drivers. Drives the #24 car. His brother Robby Gordon is also a NASCAR driver and team owner.
First woman to race in a NASCAR event.
No, not at present. Chevy, Ford and Dodge are the primary cars. NASCAR also races trucks however, and among the domestic trucks on that circuit is a Toyota Tundra -- the only foreign brand in NASCAR.
Originally it meant a car that was a standard automobile that any person could buy at a car dealership and was intended to differentiate them from the purpose-built high-performance race cars. These days the cars raced in "stock car" races bear only vague resemblance to the cars you can buy at the dealership.
NASCAR rules ensure that the engines, suspensions, transmissions and other elements are roughly similar on all of the cars so that the cars are nearly equal -- which makes the sport even more about the human element of the drivers and the crews, rather than which team can spend more money and built a monster speed car.
Yes, the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama is the fastest. Bill Elliott once ran a qualifying lap there at over 212 MPH.