NASCAR Renaming Top Series Title AGAIN - It' s Time for the NASCAR Dale Earnhardt Championship Cup
by Valerie J. Wood
For years, drivers raced for the NASCAR Winston Cup Championship Trophy. Then, the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (which owned Winston brand cigarettes) pulled out as the racing series main sponsor for NASCAR's top prize, and the highest bidder to sponsor the Series was Nextel. So, in 2004, NASCAR's top prize became the "NASCAR Nextel Cup." Nextel, however, has now merged with Sprint, and NASCAR is very close to announcing that in 2007 the top prize will likely be the NASCAR Sprint Cup. While we all realize that money (i.e., greed) is the main thrust of selling a series' sponsoring rights, it finally reaches a point where some sort of sanity and classy action by NASCAR should prevail in naming a trophy that represents reaching the pinnacle of the top racing series' championship. Whatever points system is used, the Series Champion has reached the highest level of the sport and the trophy given should reflect just that.
Never mind that the name "Winston Cup" sounded so regal that most fans after the 1980's thought it was a name, not necessarily a sponsor. Never mind that NASCAR, with it's amazingly neverending revisionist history aptitiude (this brings to mind the blundering phrase, "modernizing tradition" uttered with such apparent sincerity by NASCAR President Mike Helton) has been referring to Winston Cup Champions that were pre-2004 as "Nextel Cup Champions" even though they are NOT Nextel Cup Champions. Never were. Never will be. Confused? But wait, there's more!
Some of us are aware that there are a type of race car known as a sprint car. Not to be confused with the soon to be modernized traditional Sprint Car. Is NASCAR going to force the other racing series to change their names, as well? Or, are drivers who are racing for the Sprint Cup going to be racing in Sprint cars? Confused? You won't be after tonight's episode of NASCAR!*
Aren't we all glad that Major League Baseball just plays for the Commissioner's Trophy in the World Series, the NFL plays for the Vince Lombardi Super Bowl Trophy, and the NBA plays for the Larry O'Brien trophy? Hockey plays for Lord Stanley's Cup.All major professional sports leagues based in the USA play for a trophy which is either presented by the Commissioner or named after a person who made a significant, lasting, appreciated contribution to the sport. Even that Mecca of Stock Car Racing, Daytona, gives the winner of the Daytona 500 the "Harley Earle Trophy", named for the legendary and first design chief of General Motors. If NASCAR truly wants a resounding, classic, classy and totally appropriatly named title trophy for their top series, they might just try renaming their hardware the Dale Earnhardt NASCAR Championship Cup (and, if they really insist, then add as an afterword "presented by Sprint"). Constantly changing a series title every time a corporate sponsor changes names is utterly ridiculous and demeans the series at it's highest racing level.
It's time NASCAR took a step forward and stopped bowing to the almighty dollar every chance it gets. Rename the Champion's Trophy for once and for all -- the NASCAR Dale Earnhardt Championship Cup. A classy, gutsy, savvy and honorable move like this would certainly make the Series look less mercenary--and add a distinct touch of class that has certainly been missing. That would be a sweet move, indeed.
whereas I would love that, I think they would go with R. Petty first. Or they could go with other stars who never reached full potential....D. Allison, A. Kulwicki to name a couple. I prefer the Earnhardt Trophy, but I realize there are alot of E-haters so I don't know if it would become reality.
