#40Playland is a channel of nascar nuts. Well we are not all crazy about it but lots of us follow it. Nascar is one of the fastest growing spectator sports. You can expect to see over 100,000 people at almost every race. Click the logo at the left to go to nascar.com and find out more.

We all have our favorite drivers. When you think of drivers you might think of the great Richard Petty, the greatest nascar driver of all time. With 200 victories and 7 Nascar Winton Cup championships he has to be the best. None the less in a recent poll taken by nascar.com Dale Earnhardt was voted by nascar fan's as the greatest of all time. Congradulations Dale!!

I have listed just a few of the top nascar drivers of today. Without a top notch pit crew and a good car these drivers wouldn't be where they are today.

Jeff Gordon

Mark Martin

Dale Jarrett

Jeff Burton

Dale Earnhardt

Ward Burton

Rusty Wallace

Bobby Labonte

Terry Labonte

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Matt Kenseth

Tony Stewart

Mike Skinner

Nascar at 50

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (Nascar) was formed on Dec 14th 1947, in Daytona Beach, FL. during a meeting of 35 men at the Streamline Hotel. Bill France Sr. chairs the meeting and is elected president following the associations incorporation on Feb 21, 1948. Just two weeks before I was born. Red Byron became the first Winston Cup champion in 1949. Many others have followed. The car's have gotten faster and the drivers have gotten smarter. The man to watch today is Jeff Gordon, a future nascar legend. Like him or not, he's there and he's not going to go away. I myself do not understand the boo's this man gets. He's out there to win and he's doing all the right things. All I can say is "GO JEFF"! Cheer's to the next 50 years of Nascar!!

1998 was a great season for Nascar. We saw Jeff Gordon win this third Winston Cup. He tied a nascar record of 13 wins in 98'. At 27 he became the youngest to win three Winston Cups. Jeff is well on his way in replacing Dale Earnhardt as nascar's greatest driver. In the Busch series Dale Earnhardt Jr. won this first title. Another future legend in the making. Congradulations to both of these fine young men. The season wasn't just championships, it was great thrills and chills of great racing action. I don't know about you but I'm looking forward to more great racing action. Happy 50th Nascar!!!!

The Tracks

When one thinks of race tracks one name instantly comes to mind and that's Daytona. Nascar has come so popular people don't think Indy 500 any more. Lets face it the Indy 500 is a thing of the past. The Brickyard 400 also ran at Indy has become more popular and draws larger crowds. I'm proud to be a nascar fan! The fans made nascar what it is today. Some of these tracks are tiny, some are large and there's a couple of road courses. Take Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, VA. This is a .526 mile course, one of the smallest tracks. And than there's Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, AL. The largest track at 2.6 miles. But if there's one thing nascar fans like it's the accidents. They want to see cars smashed up and parts flying all over. An accident free race is a boring race. At .533 miles Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN. is probably the most dangerous. If you like the road courses, Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, NY. is the place to be. This is a 2.45 mile track. The most popular track of course is Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, FL. and at 2.5 miles is the second largest track. I'm happy to say that there's a new track being built not to far me from in the Chicago area and should be open and ready to go for the 2001 season. Nascar in my neighborhood, fantastic!!!

IN MEMORIAM

Adam Petty

Adam Petty, son of nascar driver Kyle Petty and grandson of nascar legend Richard Petty. Adam died as a result of head trauma suffered when he crashed into a wall during a practice run at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. Adam was just 19 years old.

Kenny Irwin

"VROOOOOOOOMMMMM"

THE END

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