NASCAR Realignment refers to current changes in the schedule of NASCAR's Nextel Cup Series. In a January 2003 press conference, NASCAR's Chairman of the Board, Bill France, Jr., caused a stir when he interrupted the conference to announce big changes for 2004. France said that many tracks were under fire and being looked at as having race dates taken from them, and given to other facilities. Among the scenarios being looked at by France were how tracks did with ticket sales, and how the weather affected those races. Two tracks immediately looked at by the media were the North Carolina Speedway and Darlington Raceway. Both tracks' events almost never sold out, and the weather, especially at North Carolina Speedway, had been a major problem, as rain forced many races to be postponed until the next day, typically Monday, which is even worse for tracks because most people who planned to attend the race on a Sunday couldn't be there on a Monday because they had to work. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States. ... NASCAR Nextel Cup logo The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series is NASCARs top racing series. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A joint press conference by U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the White House. ... The phrase Chairman of the Board has several meanings: Chairman of the Board is the term used to denote the leader of a corporations board of directors. ... It has been designated the: International Year of Rice (by the United Nations) International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO) 2004 World Health Day topic was Road Safety (by World Health Organization) Year of the Monkey (by the Chinese calendar) See the world in... The North Carolina Speedway, affectionately known as The Rock, was home to NASCAR racing from 1966 to 2004. ... Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. ... The North Carolina Speedway, affectionately known as The Rock, was home to NASCAR racing from 1966 to 2004. ...

Basically, the message being sent with the realignment was "Sell out, have good weather, or lose".

Realignment 2004

"Realignment 2004" was announced in June 2003 at the Winston Cup race weekend at the Michigan International Speedway. While there weren't very many changes, those changes were still big. In June 1997, the California Speedway began hosting a Winston Cup race. Since the track's host city, Fontana, is located just outside Los Angeles, many fans flocked to the first race, and very quickly, the Los Angeles area became NASCAR's largest market. So, it was announced that Darlington's Mountain Dew Southern 500, held on Labor Day weekend for many, many years, would be moved to November for 2004. In the process, the North Carolina Speedway's November date, the Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400, would move to Fontana, become the Pop Secret 500, and be run from the late evening into the night on the West Coast on the day before Labor Day, while also being shown live on NBC in primetime. The move of the race to September left the Rockingham, North Carolina-based track with just one race to run in 2004—its February date, the Subway 400. 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The NASCAR Championship is the championship held in NASCARs top stock car racing series. ... Michigan International Speedway is a two-mile (3. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII in Roman) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The California Speedway is a two-mile, low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California, approximately 40 miles east of Los Angeles on the site of the former Kaiser Steel mill. ... Fontana is a city located in San Bernardino County, California. ... This article is about the largest city in California. ... The Mountain Dew Southern 500 was a 500 mile (805 km) NASCAR Nextel Cup race. ... Labour Day (or Labor Day) is an annual holiday that resulted from efforts of the labour union movement, to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers. ... The weekend is a part of the week lasting one or two days in which most paid workers do not work. ... The Sony HD 500 is a NASCAR Nextel Cup stock car race held at the California Speedway in Fontana, California. ... In general, the term West Coast is a nickname for the coastal states of the Western United States, comprising California, Oregon and Washington, and sometimes Alaska and Hawaii (see Pacific States). ... NBC, formerly called the National Broadcasting Company, is an American television broadcasting company based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... PrimeTime is a television newsmagazine from ABC News. ... Rockingham is a city located in Richmond County, North Carolina. ... The Subway 400 was the second race of the NASCAR Nextel Cup season until 2004, held a week after the Daytona 500. ...

Realignment 2005

"Realignment 2004" was unpopular with many, but unlike "Realignment 2005", the previous realignment in the schedule wasn't tied in with a lawsuit. In April 1997, two months before they debuted in Fontana, the Winston Cup Series began racing at the Texas Motor Speedway in Justin, Texas, near Fort Worth. O. Bruton Smith's Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which also oversees operations of tracks like the Bristol Motor Speedway and the Atlanta Motor Speedway, which have two race dates a year, thought that the first race at Texas was popular enough to warrant another date. Soon, the company began pressing NASCAR to give them another date. Then, it boiled over. Early in the 2000s, SMI shareholder Francis Ferko filed a lawsuit against NASCAR, saying that it failed to come through on a "promise" to give Texas a second date. NASCAR denied making any promise of any kind. What's even odder is that although he wanted the second date, too, when presented with the lawsuit by Ferko, Smith had no interest in filing it, so Ferko went in on his own. A lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in which the party commencing the action, the plaintiff, seeks a legal remedy. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII in Roman) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in Justin, Texas, which is within Denton County, Texas. ... Justin is a city located in Denton County, Texas. ... Fort Worth is the sixth-largest city in the state of Texas, located about 30 miles west of Dallas on the West Fork Trinity River and forming part of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. ... Bristol Motor Speedway is a NASCAR short track located in Bluff City, Tennessee, near Bristol. ... Atlanta Motor Speedway is a superspeedway in Hampton, Georgia, USA, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. ... A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or company (including a corporation) that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a joint stock company. ...

In May 2004, NASCAR announced that they and Texas had reached a settlement. Texas would be given a second date, but at a cost. The France family, most of whom are involved in some way with NASCAR, also owns the International Speedway Corporation (ISC), which oversees operations of tracks like the Daytona International Speedway and the Talladega Superspeedway. ISC took the one date from the North Carolina Speedway, which it also owns, and gave it to Texas, and then sold the track to SMI. This not only cost Rockingham its Nextel Cup date, but left it with no dates in any of NASCAR's national racing series—Nextel Cup, Busch Series, or Craftsman Truck Series—in 2005. The ISC also owns the Phoenix International Raceway, and they gave them a second date for 2005 as well. It has been designated the: International Year of Rice (by the United Nations) International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO) 2004 World Health Day topic was Road Safety (by World Health Organization) Year of the Monkey (by the Chinese calendar) See the world in... International Speedway Corporation (NYSE: ISCA) is a corporation whose primary business is the ownership and management of NASCAR race tracks. ... Daytona International Speedway is a superspeedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. ... Talladega Superspeedway is now the official name of a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama, that was formerly Alabama International Motor Speedway. ... NASCAR Busch Series logo The Busch Series is a stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR. It is NASCARs second division (often compared to Triple-A baseball), and is a proving ground for drivers who wish to step up to the organizations top level, the Nextel... NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series logo The Craftsman Truck Series is a popular NASCAR racing series that features modified pickup trucks. ... Phoenix International Raceway is a one mile tri-oval race track located in Avondale, AZ. It opened in 1964, but wasnt used by NASCAR until 1988, with the first race won by the late Alan Kulwicki. ...

Compared to "Realignment 2005", "Realignment 2004", despite the big changes announced, was basically a whimper. The 2005 Nextel Cup Series schedule (by the way, the Busch Series schedules for 2004 and 2005 were be affected by these changes, while also having a major change announced for just its 2005 schedule) will look very different. For just over 10 years, the North Carolina Speedway hosted the second race of the season with the Subway 400, a week after the Daytona 500. Now that it is gone from the schedule forever, the California Speedway's Spring date, the Auto Club 500, was moved to that slot. The new race for Phoenix, called the Subway Fresh 500, was held on April 23, 2005, while the date that has been on the schedule since 1988 will continue to be run in November. The new Texas race, called the Dickies 500, will be held November 6, 2005, one week before the second Phoenix race. While Rockingham was the biggest loser with all these changes, losing its one date, Darlington might have paid an even bigger price. How? The new Texas race phases out the Mountain Dew Southern 500. In May 2005, the 500 and the Spring race at Darlington, the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400, merged to become the Dodge Charger 500, making it the only race Darlington will host in 2005. The race was held on a Saturday night (May 7, 2005) on Mother's Day weekend. The Daytona 500 is a 200-lap, 500 mile (805 km) NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. ... Spring is one of the four seasons of temperate zones. ... The Auto Club 500 is a NASCAR Nextel Cup stock car race held at the California Speedway in Fontana, California. ... The Subway Fresh 500 is a NASCAR Nextel Cup stock car race held at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. ... April 23 is the 113th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (114th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Dickies 500 is a NASCAR Nextel Cup stock car race held at the Texas Motor Speedway in Justin, Texas, USA. The inaugural race is scheduled to take place on November 6, 2005. ... November 6 is the 310th day of the year (311th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 55 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 is the name given to the annual spring NASCAR Nextel Cup race held at Darlington Raceway. ... The Dodge Charger 500 is a NASCAR Nextel Cup stock car race held at the Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. ... May 7 is the 127th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (128th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Originally conceived by Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War as a day honoring (in her opinion) the inherent pacifism of mothers, Mothers Day has become diluted and is now seen only as a day for celebrating motherhood and thanking mothers. ...

No realignment for 2006 Nextel Cup-wise

The 2006 Nextel Cup Series schedule was released on September 6, 2005. Other than a few dates being shifted, no major changes were made. [1] 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the day of the year. ...

However, there will be a slight realignment to the 2006 Busch Series schedule: the International Speedway Corporation recently bought the Pikes Peak International Raceway, and plan to shut it down by Halloween. The track's Busch race will be moved to the Martinsville Speedway, a track that hasn't hosted a Busch Series race since 1994. Pikes Peak International Raceway is a one mile oval Auto Racing track located in Fountain, Colorado, just south of Colorado Springs. ... Halloween is an observance celebrated on the night of October 31, most notably by children dressing in costumes and going door-to-door collecting sweets or money. ... Martinsville Speedway is an International Speedway Corporation-owned NASCAR stock car racing track located in Martinsville, Virginia. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...

Controversy surrounding the realignment

While NASCAR is taking major steps into the 21st Century with trying to expand the sport by taking it into new markets, the changes are also affecting NASCAR traditions. Rockingham has been a part of NASCAR since the 1960s, and, most of the time, producing great racing with its 1-mile configuration whose surface was tough on tires. But the Mountain Dew Southern 500 has been a part of NASCAR's top circuit since 1950. Seeing this race go is a very hard thing for longtime NASCAR fans to deal with. In fact, many of the changes announced by NASCAR in 2004, including the change to the points system, creating a 10-race shootout to determine the series champion, have turned many fans away from NASCAR's top division, in which they have begun supporting their local weekly racing short track more. Firestone tire A tire (U.S. spelling) or tyre (UK spelling) is a roughly toroidal shaped piece of synthetic rubber which covers the circumference of a wheel. ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Reasons for Rockingham losing its races and Darlington having theirs merge together

NASCAR has said Rockingham and Darlington lost their dates because they didn't sell all their tickets for those events, and that giving Darlington only one date would make a sellout more possible since it would be the only race taking place there next year.

Also, races at both tracks had been affected by rain many times over the past few years. Even if there was no rain, it was usually overcast, and any sunshine was very welcomed. Darlington's only race taking place in May also puts the scheduling of the race in the peak tornado season in the Southeast. Union City, Oklahoma tornado (1973) A tornado is a violently spinning column of air in contact with both a cumiliform cloud base and the surface of the earth. ... Southeast is the ordinal direction halfway between south and east. ...

However, Darlington's future seems secure, with a total sellout for the Dodge Charger 500 in 2005 and a predicted sellout for the 2006 race, even with the addition of a new 6,500 seat grandstands. The track owners have considered adding even more seats because of the strong attendance. The Dodge Charger 500 is a NASCAR Nextel Cup stock car race held at the Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...