Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series |
|---|
|
| Topic Navigation |
|---|
|
Wikipedia: NASCAR Cup Series
Page Sections History Champions Article Index |
History
The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's NASCAR Cup Series page on 8 July 2020, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
The title sponsorship with Sprint ended after the 2016 season. On December 1, 2016, NASCAR announced it had reached an agreement with Monster Energy to become the new sponsor of NASCAR's premier series. On December 19, 2016, NASCAR announced the new name for the series, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series as well as the new series logo and new NASCAR logo. On April 11, 2018, Monster Energy announced an extension of their sponsorship of the series through the end of the 2019 season.
In 2017, stage racing was introduced. Races were broken up into three stages, four in the case of the NASCAR Cup Series' longest race, the Coca-Cola 600. A stage consists of normal green flag racing followed by a stoppage on a designated lap signified by the waving of a green and white checkered flag, then a yellow flag. The top-10 finishers in each of the first two stages are awarded bonus championship points, 10 points to the winner, 9 points for the 2nd place car, down to 1 point for the 10th place car. The points earned are added to a driver/owner's regular season points total, while the winner of the stage receives an additional point that is added to their point total, after the reset, if they get into the NASCAR playoffs. The stage lengths vary by track, but the first two stages usually combine to equal about half of the race. The final stage (which still pays out championship points to all drivers) usually equals the other half. Also, a regular season points championship is awarded to the driver who scored the most points in the first 26 races (regular season). This championship does not award any bonus points to the winning driver. Otherwise, the points system and playoff format remained the same.
The MENCS trophy was in the form of a chalice that stood at three feet tall and weighed 68 lbs. Made of machined aluminum and taking over 300 hours of craftsmanship, the trophy's exterior was decorated with the outlines of all 23 NASCAR Cup Series tracks. The cup portion was said to hold approximately 600 ounces of liquids, or 37 cans of Monster Energy.
| Season | Team | Driver | Car |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Furniture Row Racing | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota Camry |
| 2018 | Team Penske | Joey Logano | Ford Fusion |
| 2019 | Joe Gibbs Racing | Kyle Busch | Toyota Camry |
| Date | Article | Author/Source |
|---|---|---|
| 25 February 2017 | Monster Energy Teams up With Award Winning Singer/Songwriter Jamie Lynn Spears for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series | Monster Energy |