Winston, NEXTEL, Sprint, Busch, or Nationwide?
Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
There has been a bit of a buzz going around the various NASCAR blogs these past few years, especially since the NEXTEL Cup Series became the Sprint Cup Series and the Busch Series became the Nationwide Series. The basic buzz is that now that each series has new sponsors they also get exclusive naming rights over the whole series including the past and people aren’t too happy about it - including me.
Let me explain; for 30 yrs NASCAR’s number one series was called The Winston Cup, and when Winston had to leave NASCAR as a sponsor NEXTEL became the new sponsor. Not only did NEXTEL get exclusive naming rights of NASCAR’s premier series, but they also got the naming rights for the entire 
series’ past. That’s right, Dale Earnhardt is a 7-time NEXTEL Cup Champion even though he died long before NEXTEL became the series sponsor. Now that Sprint is the series sponsor that also makes Dale Earnhardt a 7-time Sprint Cup Champion too!
Wow, between Winston, NEXTEL and Sprint, Dale Earnhardt is a 21-time Champion! Awesome!
Don’t you think that this is a little ridiculous? I mean those previous sponsors are as much a part of NASCAR’s storied past as the drivers are. Dale Earnhardt is a 7-time Winston Cup Champ, not a NEXTEL Cup or Sprint Cup Champ. Period. And you can’t tell me otherwise.
I think it is bad PR on NASCAR’s part to ignore it’s previous series’ sponsors in both the Cup and Grand National divisions. Even the announcers on TV have problems remembering that Benny Parsons is a Sprint Cup Champ now and not a Winston Cup Champ.
It is an insult to all those former Champions, former series sponsors, and the fans to call those previous championships anything else but what they were at the time they were won.
Don’t forget to enter my “Daytona 500: 50th Anniversary” contest today - time is running out!
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