NAPA and its part in US Motorsports

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09 Sep 2019

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NAPA is a big deal in the US Motorsport world. Not only do they sponsor some of the biggest formulas out there, they are synonymous with racing quality autoparts and tools.

When it comes to motorsports in Europe, most people tend to think of F1 Racing. Well in the United States, it’s a little more complicated than that. F1 Racing is popular yes, but so is NASCAR Racing, Drag Racing, IndyCar Racing and Sprint Car Racing. NAPA is a prominent brand in all of these racing formulas, so it’s probably worth knowing a bit more about them if you want an idea of how big a deal NAPA is in the US.

NASCAR Racing

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock-car racing. Typically, Americans use the term ‘stock-car’ to refer to vehicles that are used for racing but are not built specifically for racing. Whereas a ‘race car’ would be a specialist vehicle built solely for the purpose of racing. NAPA and Hendrick Motorsports have teamed up to support bright young NASCAR stars such as Chase Elliott.

Drag Racing

A drag race is a competition between two high powered vehicles racing side by side in a straight line for a distance of a quarter-mile (usually), and is held on a monitored drag strip/racetrack. John Lombardo Jr. is the man that drove the NAPA Auto Parts/Lucas Oil Chevy Camaro Top Alcohol Funny Car team to nine total wins in 2017.

IndyCar Racing

The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the premier level of ‘open-wheel racing’ in North America. Whilst looking a lot like F1 Racing, there are many subtle differences between the vehicles used. Alexander Rossi currently enjoys a long and successful career driving a NAPA and Honda powered vehicle in IndyCar races, and has a string of wins under his belt.

Sprint Car Racing

Sprint cars are high-powered race cars designed primarily for running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint Cars are one of the biggest race formulas in the USA, racing on the ovals almost every night of the week. ‘The World of Outlaws‘, often referred to as the greatest show on dirt, brings probably the biggest and most iconic image of Sprint Car racing to American audiences, with NAPA being one of the primary sponsors.