Start Your Engines!

Inspired by Griffin Spier's One More Spark, the goal of Start Your Engines! is to focus on various what-if scenarios. All of his ideas will be incorporated, and even more, will be included. The results of every race will be simulated in full using NASCAR Racing: 2003 Season. Included in this timeline are fictional teams such as Pacific Coast Racing, a team founded in 1948 renowned for two things: their ingenuity, and their fanatical devotion to Chrysler and its brands, PCR satellite team Kelman Racing, and Kennedy Racing, a Pontiac team, alongside fictional drivers from various NASCAR video games; users can also add their own teams and/or drivers here. Also, well-known NASCAR busts such as Danica Patrick and Trevor Bayne will have much more success in this timeline.
The following mods will be used for this timeline:
*Cup:
**1987-1988: Aero88
**1989-1996: Cup90 (Cup Physics version)
**1997-1998: WC98
** 1999-2002: Cup2000
** 2003: Cup03
**2004: Cup04
**2005-2006: Cup05
**2007-2012: NNC07
**2013-2014: BR Gen6
**2015-2016: Gen6 2015
** 2017: MENCS17
**2018: MENCS18
**2019-2020: MENCS19
**2021-present: NCS22
*Xfinity:
**1988: Aero88
**1989-1996: Cup90 (CTS Physics version)
** 1997-2010: PWF GNS
**2011-2012: SRD NWS11
**2013-2014: DMR NNS13
**2015-2016: NXS16
**2017-2018: NXS17
**2019-present: SRD NXS20
*Trucks:
**1995-2008: PWF CTS
**2009-2013: NCTS 09
**2014-present: CWS 15
*Dash:
**2021-present: Pinty's Series
Detailed race reports, pictures, and additional lore and news for each race can be found at NR2003 Mock Season. Eventually, the series should go on YouTube once editing software and an excellent-quality microphone could be provided for play-by-play commentary (in-studio scenes would require a camera and a suit and/or cordless microphone or headset depending on the budget), as well as graphics packages and music from the broadcasting networks of the time. The Starting Grid music is "Centipede Circle" by Edd Kalehoff. Paint schemes are done by Trevor807 and several other people.
Not to be confused with TbombtheAltHistorian's timeline Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!.
==1987==
*What if Tim Richmond was still alive? - After the NASCAR championship banquet in 1986, Tim Richmond fell ill and missed the beginning of the 1987 season and died two years later. In this what-if, the #25 and #35 ran at the same time. 
**Richmond stayed in the #25 Folgers Chevrolet, and Benny Parsons drove the green #35 Folgers Chevrolet until his 1988 retirement.
** Ken Schrader stayed in the #90 Ford for Junie Donlavey until the end of the 1996 season. After 1997, Richmond moved to the #12 Ford for Penske Racing. He stayed in the car until his retirement in 2007.
**Ryan Newman instead drove the #39 from 2002-2008 full-time, moving to the #39 US Army Chevrolet at Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009, as in our timeline, then to the #31 JCB Chevrolet at Earnhardt-Childress Racing in 2014, then to the #6 Valvoline Ford at Roush Racing for 2019 (John W. Henry never bought a 50% stake in the team in 2007), and finally back with Team Penske to the #39 in 2020.
**Meanwhile, Ricky Craven drove the #35 from 1993-98, then Wally Dallenbach, Jr. drove from 1998-99, before Casey Atwood ran select races in 2001 and full-time from 2002-09, then Landon Cassill replaced him from 2010 onwards.
**Folgers sponsored the #35 car from 1987-88, DuPont sponsored the #35 from 1993-99, GMAC sponsored from 2001-09, and Folgers returned to sponsoring the car in 2010, while GMAC (now rebranded as Ally since 2010) moved to the #25.
===What doesn't Change===
*Bobby Allison's crash in the Winston 500 still happened.
==1988==
*What if Bobby Allison never had his crash? - In the 1988 Miller High Life 400, Bobby had a scary crash that wound up ending his career. In this what-if, Allison retired at the end of the 1991 season. 
**The #12 and #84 ran at the same time in the 1989 season.
**Allison spent his final two seasons driving for his own team.
**Hut Stricklin drove for Allison in the Busch Series in 1990 and 1991, before replacing him in the Cup Series in 1992.
*What if Chrysler returned in 1988 instead of 2001? - In our timeline, Chrysler tried breaking back into NASCAR with the Chrysler LeBaron, but General Motors and Ford had built unwavering support bases, though the LeBaron was fielded in ARCA from 1989 to 1998 to great success. In this timeline, Chrysler began fielding the LeBaron in the Winston Cup Series in 1988, with ten cars on track, including Tim Johnson (no relation to the Johnsonverse Tim) in the #80, Grant Adcox in the #24, Sterling Marlin in the #44, Phil Parsons in the #55, Michael Waltrip in the #30, Ken Schrader in the #90, Lake Speed in the #83, Jimmy Means in the #52, Ryan Kelman in the #86, and Richard Petty in the #43. Chrysler fielded the LeBaron until 1997, when it brought back the Dodge brand with the Dodge Avenger (though Dodge branding was limited to the Chrysler Pentastar on the A-pillar, which has been a Pacific Coast Racing tradition since 1988), then switching to the Intrepid in 1999, then the Stratus (as an interim car until the Charger begins production under NASCAR's homologation rules) in 2004, then the Charger in 2005 and finally the Challenger in 2019, with the Dart being an eligible bodystyle from 2013 to 2016 that several small teams ran. Sabco always fielded Chrysler products since its 1989 inception, and has continued to do so as Chip Ganassi Racing.
*What if Coca-Cola Superspeedway existed? - Coca-Cola Superspeedway is a restrictor-plate fantasy track made by Papyrus for NR2003. It doesn't exist in real life, but in Start Your Engines!, it does, being built outside Denver, CO in 1988 and getting two dates in 1989.
*What if Richard Petty didn't have his early season crash at the Daytona 500? Petty would remain much more competitive until his retirement in 1992.
*What if another NASCAR country album was made? - In 1975, a bizarre country album with songs sung by NASCAR drivers of the day (including Richard Petty, Neil Bonnett, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, and Darrell Waltrip) was released, known as NASCAR Goes Country. In Start Your Engines!, a second album called NASCAR Goes Country: Volume II was released. This new album brought back Petty, Bonnett, Yarborough, Waltrip, and Allison, and also added Dale Earnhardt, Tim Richmond, Rusty Wallace, and then-rookie Tim Johnson. Most of the album ranged from mediocre to cringe-inducing, except for the two songs sung by Johnson, these being "Big Iron" by Marty Robbins (who himself ran several NASCAR races between 1966 and his death in 1982), and the Guy Mitchell version of "Heartaches by the Number", which received praise due to the fact Johnson could actually sing.
===What doesn't Change===
* Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway is still reconfigured and renamed Richmond International Raceway.
* Phoenix International Raceway still takes the Winston Western 500's old spot on the schedule.
* Restrictor plates are still mandated at Daytona and Talladega.
*The tire war between Goodyear and Hoosier still takes place.
==1989==
*What if NASCAR never left Riverside? - In this timeline, the residents who complained about the noise were "bribed" with lifetime passes to all races at Riverside to shut them up, and the track stayed on the schedule for at least one date, this being the Budweiser 400. In 1991, it was moved back to its original late June date, where it remains to this day.
*What if the Winston Cup Series raced at Pike's Peak International Speedway, The Milwaukee Mile, and Road America? - In this timeline, PPIR is built in 1984 instead of 1997, and NASCAR makes two stops at Pike's Peak and The Milwaukee Mile. For Pike's Peak, the Coors 400 is run between the Pepsi 400 and Milwaukee's second date, the Mountain Dew 400, which has the side-effect of moving the Diet Coke 400 at Coca-Cola Superspeedway between Phoenix and the season finale at Atlanta, while a second date for Coca-Cola, the Sprite 500, is added between the July Talladega date and Watkins Glen. Milwaukee's first date, the Pabst Blue Ribbon 400, falls between the spring Martinsville and Talladega dates. As of 2021, Pikes Peak and The Milwaukee Mile both have one date, while Coca-Cola retains both.
*What if Grant Adcox was still alive? - The seat requirement was enacted much earlier. As a result, Adcox survived, and raced until 2006. Adcox won three races in 1987, and went full-time in 1988, driving the #24 Tab Chrysler.
===What Doesn't Change===
*Sears Point Raceway is still added to the Winston Cup schedule, meaning there are now two road course races in California. Sears Point takes the old Budweiser 400 weekend, while the Budweiser 400 is moved to the week between the Autoworks 500 and the Atlanta Journal 500. In 1991, Sears Point (now Sonoma) moved to the last weekend of January, becoming the season opener like Riverside used to be, where it remains today.
==1990==
*What if Rob Moroso was still alive? - Moroso was a promising BGN prospect. In 1990, he moved to the Cup Series and struggled, and then died in a car crash after the Tyson Holly Farms 400. In this timeline, Moroso lived, and he became the twelfth Chrysler on track along with Richard Petty, Ryan Kelman, Grant Adcox, Sterling Marlin, Ken Schrader, Lake Speed, Michael Waltrip, Jimmy Means, Phil Parsons, Tim Johnson, and Chloe Johnson (who joined the series as a rookie in 1989). Starting in 1999, Moroso Racing and Rudd Performance Racing merged to form Moroso-Rudd Racing, with Moroso in the #82 and Ricky Rudd in the #83. After the 2015 season, Moroso retired. His replacement was Dakoda Armstrong.
*What if there was a superspeedway in the San Francisco Bay Area? - This one is more of a personal what-if for BNSF1995. This track, called San Jose Motorplex, is located in nearby Gilroy. The track used will be Progressive Speedway.
*What if Michigan and Pocono each lost a date? - Until the advent of the Pocono doubleheader, these tracks' two dates were always close together. In this timeline, both tracks lose a date in 1990 in favor of other venues. Pocono regained its second date in 2020 by way of a weekend doubleheader but lost the second date to Gateway two years later.
* What if Ontario Motor Speedway was never demolished? - In this timeline, the track was still purchased by the Chevron Land Company, but they did so without any idea what they wanted to do with the land, as well as the Ontario Motor Speedway Historical Society taking the company to court in a drawn-out legal battle. By 1987, they settled, and sold the facility to the society. ARCA held a race here in 1988, a 1/2 mile dragstrip was built for NHRA in 1989, and in 1990, the Los Angeles Times 500 was run once again as the season finale, where it stays to this day.
*What if Mark Martin's penalty never happened? - Martin never got his illegal carburetor spacer penalty at Richmond after it was discovered the penalty had been manufactured by NASCAR itself to manipulate the championship in Dale Earnhardt's favor. This championship-fixing controversy ended up dominating the rest of the season, and the tension didn't dissipate until 1994.
*What if Willy T. Ribbs returned to NASCAR? - In this timeline, Ribbs returned to NASCAR in 1990 to run the #04 for Kennedy Racing with sponsorship from ShowBiz Pizza Place, which still exists in this timeline due to different management and alternates with Chuck E. Cheese's, depending on the race. Ribbs retired at the end of the 2006 season, with Louise Kennedy replacing him beginning in 2007.
===What Doesn't Change===
* Ricky Rudd's rear tire changer Mike Rich is still killed at the Atlanta Journal 500 after Bill Elliott spins on pit road, and pit road speed limits and "lollipops" are implemented.
*Days of Thunder is still released, though Cole Trickle's #46 car and other cars were Chrysler LeBarons prepared by PCR instead of Chevrolet Luminas; as a result, the logo for Manny Brown's Chrysler dealerships appears on the hood of Trickle's car rather than the City Chevrolet logo. There is also a scene where, during Cole's troubles, Tim and Chloe Johnson call him a "drunk driver".
==1991==
*What if J.D. McDuffie was still alive? - McDuffie retired after the 2000 season (by then, he had only run select events), though he remained a team owner. His replacement was then-22-year-old Crissy Hillsworth, who has driven the #76 Pontiac since 2001; after McDuffie's retirement, he gave up his longtime #70 to PCR to give Hillsworth a new identity. 1994 also saw McDuffie's team switch to Chrysler. Wendy’s joined as the team's sponsor in 2003.
* What if the convoluted pit road rules used early in 1991 were never implemented? - Exactly what it says on the tin.
==1992==
*What if Clifford Allison was still alive? - Allison never had the crash that took his life at Michigan in 1992. He moved up to the Cup Series in 1996, and retired after the 2016 season. He drove the #84 Snickers Ford for Stavola Bros. Racing from 1996 to 1997, the #30 Gumout (later Sara Lee, Viagra, and CF Sauer) Dodge for Bahari/Eel River Racing from 1998 to 2001, the #4 Kodak Chevrolet/Pontiac for Morgan-McClure Racing from 2001 to 2002, and finally the #28 Texaco-Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing from 2003 to 2016.
===What Doesn't Change===
*Richard Petty still retired at the end of the season.
*Jeff Gordon still makes his debut at the season finale.
==1993==
*What if Jeff Gordon drove for Bill Davis Racing? - The plan was for Gordon to move up to the Cup Series in 1993 to drive the #22 Maxwell House Ford. However, upon being noticed by Rick Hendrick, Gordon immediately jumped ship to Hendrick Motorsports. In this scenario, Gordon drove the #22 Maxwell House Ford in 1993, and stayed in the ride until the 2015 season, after which he retired. This one change has many, MANY knock-on effects: 
**Chase Elliott replaced him in the #22, which was renumbered to #9 for 2018 onwards with permission from Evernham Motorsports
**Bill Davis Racing's downfall never happened
**For Gordon's Cup debut in the 1992 Hooters 500, Davis fielded a second car, the #23, with sponsorship from Gordon's then-sponsor in the Busch Series, Baby Ruth
** Bobby Labonte drove the #23 Baby Ruth car until the end of the 2011 season, with Jason Leffler replacing him from 2012 onwards, as Dale Jarrett stayed in the #18 car
**John Andretti stayed in the #43 Dodge, retiring after the 2013 season
**Reed Sorenson stayed in the #41 in 2009, and became a journeyman driver in 2010, Phoenix Racing fielded the #51, and Michael Waltrip fielded the #01; as a side note, Waltrip ran the correct font for the #01 in the 2011 Daytona 500 with the blessing of Dale Earnhardt
** Ward Burton drove a third car, the #24, from 1996 to 2007 (MBNA sponsored the car from 1996 to 1998, and Caterpillar from 1999 onward)
** Scott Wimmer has driven the #24 since 2008
**Randy LaJoie stayed in the Busch Series
**The #23 Winston Ford fielded by Travis Carter from 1994-1999 is instead the #32
**Penske's #22 is instead the #02, and had much of the same drivers as in real life (Kurt Busch in 2011, Sam Hornish Jr. in 2012, and Joey Logano from 2013 to the present day); after Chase Elliott switched to #9 in 2018, the #02 at Penske became the #22, reserving the #02 for any R&D cars Pacific Coast Racing may wish to run
**BDR switched to Chrysler in 1994 instead of Pontiac (thanks to Jeff Gordon's strong rookie campaign in 1993, this move dealt a major blow to Ford), and remains loyal to Chrysler, as they never switched to Toyota in any series
**The #24 that William Byron currently drives in real life is the #5, as was the original plan; its sponsorship comes from Farmers Insurance and Liberty University
**Andrew Murstein formed his own team with Doug Bergeron, DGB-Medallion Racing, in 2009, fielding the #09 car (from 2009-2011, the driver was A.J. Allmendinger, Marcos Ambrose drove the car from 2012-2014; Ambrose stayed in the #47 until 2011, and Sam Hornish, Jr. drove from 2015 onward); Bergeron's share was bought out by Murstein at the end of 2014, and the team is now simply known as Medallion Racing. The team fielded Dodges in 2009, Fords from 2010-2017, and Chevys from 2018 onward.
**The famous DuPont scheme is still seen, but instead of the #24 car (as that number was taken by Bill Davis Racing), it's on the #35 driven by Ricky Craven from 1993 to 1998 (Steve Grissom drove the #41 in 1995 and 1996, while Robert Pressley drove the #29 during those years, and Jeff Green drove the #33 Skoal Bandit Chevrolet; the ill-fated ISM Racing entry sponsored by Tabasco has the number 45 instead), then Wally Dallenbach Jr. from 1998 to 1999, at which point sponsorship was transferred over to the #25 car after Budweiser jumped ship for DEI; from 2000 to 2002, Jack Sprague drove the #25, with Brian Vickers taking over in 2003, driving the car for only a year until Ricky Hendrick moved up to the Nextel Cup Series in 2004 and took over; he still runs the #25 Axalta Chevrolet to this day.
*What if Alan Kulwicki and Davey Allison were still alive? - Kulwicki's plane crash almost happened in this timeline, but the plane was hijacked by a pilot who knew what he was doing, and successfully landed the plane; a shaken Kulwicki vowed to take Amtrak from that day forward. Davey Allison, meanwhile, never had his helicopter crash at all. Kulwicki continued driving for his own team, switching to Chrysler in 1995, and retired after the 2009 season, while Allison left Yates in 2003 to drive the #90 Fujifilm Ford (which had been acquired from the remains of Donlavey Racing) for Steele Racing with Brett Favre (now Brett Favre Racing after the death of Harold Steele in 2011), and retired after the 2012 season.
*What if Cale Yarborough successfully fielded the Mercury Cougar? - See this link. Because he successfully fielded it, Mercury returned to NASCAR for the first time since 1980 (barring Mercury engine parts used by Pacific Coast Racing during the "Junkrat" years and the Mercuries that ran in the Busch Series, Goody's Dash Series, and ARCA), and lured back their old golden boys, Wood Brothers Racing; they switched to the Sable in 1997, and continued running until Ford pulled them and Lincoln at the end of 2002, though Sables could still be found in the Busch Series throughout 2003, and they lingered in ARCA as late as 2009. On NR2003, it will be used on a Chevrolet body, as no 1993 Mercury Cougar body exists in the Cup90 mod. Mercury stays in NASCAR until the end of 2002, using this template from 1999 to 2002 (1997-98 will probably use layer parts from the Cup2000 template).
*What if SABCO never sold "The Duke"? - "The Duke" is the nickname for a chassis that Kyle Petty scored four wins with in the early 90s. SABCO sold the chassis to an ARCA Midwest Series team at the end of 1993, without Felix Sabates knowing. When they got it back, they found it in a sad state, and couldn't make it competitive again. In this timeline, "The Duke" was never sold, and Kyle Petty used it until it was rendered illegal by the advent of the SAFER Car in 1997. "The Duke" is still used by Petty Enterprises' ARCA program with a 2011 Dodge Charger body.
===What Doesn't Change===
*New Hampshire International Speedway is still added to the Winston Cup schedule.
*Electronic scoring is still introduced.
== 1994==
*What if Neil Bonnett was still alive? - Bonnett never had the crash at the 1990 TranSouth 500 at Darlington. From 1990, he drove the #31 Mom 'N' Pop's Country Ham Lumina for Richard Childress before retiring at the end of 1996. He then became a broadcaster for TNN and later NBC/TBS full-time. As a result, Dale Jarrett drove for Wood Brothers Racing in 1990.
*What if Rodney Orr was still alive? - Orr ran full-time in 1994, and didn't do terribly, but gradually improved in performance as time passed. He retired after the 2011 season.
* What if Ernie Irvan never had his crashes? - Irvan drove the #88 for Robert Yates Racing until retiring at the end of the 2008 season. Dale Jarrett drove the #18 Interstate Batteries car for Joe Gibbs Racing until his 2008 retirement. Kyle Busch stayed in the #5 Kellogg's car for another year, and Casey Mears continued the #25 National Guard car for another year as well.
* What if Shawna Robinson had a better ride? - With the success of Johnson, Armstrong and Smith, Robinson was called up to drive the #81 Home Depot Chevrolet/Pontiac for Joe Gibbs Racing from 1994-1998, being replaced by rookie Tony Stewart for 1999 and the car renumbered to #20. Robinson moved to the #84 Miller High Life Dodge for Moroso-Rudd Racing from 1999 until her 2015 retirement.
===What Doesn't Change===
* NASCAR still starts racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
*Ayrton Senna is still killed at the San Marino Grand Prix, and the winner of the Winston Select 500 dedicates it to him.
*Mario Andretti still retires from racing.
==1995==
*What if GMC entered NASCAR? - When the Craftsman Truck Series was created in 1994, General Motors entered GMC as the fourth manufacturer. Their reasoning was so the series would have a Pontiac equivalent. Factory support for GMC was pulled after the 1999 season, but GMC Sierras could still be seen as late as 2002.
===What Doesn't Change===
*The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is still created.
==1996==
*What if Casey Elliott was still alive? - In 1994, Elliott planned to move up to the Busch Series. However, he would succumb to bone cancer in 1996 at only 22. In this scenario, Elliott never had his cancer, and was able to move up to the Busch Series and eventually the Cup Series in 1996 in the #94. Because of this, his uncle Bill Elliott used the #9 in honor of Melling Racing, the team he drove for from 1981 to 1991, as he used the #94 in honor of his nephew, with Melling using the #92 instead. For the 1997 Brickyard 400, Ron Barfield ran the #93. Elliott drove the #19 Dodge until the end of the 2021 season, with his replacement to be determined.
=== What Doesn't Change ===
* The CART/IRL split still occurs.
==1997 ==
*What if Kelley Earnhardt became a NASCAR Cup driver?
*What if John Nemechek was still alive? - Either his crash never happened, or it did, but he survived. Either way, he moves up to the Winston Cup Series in 1999, and is still racing today. Because he survives, John Hunter Nemechek is simply known as Hunter Nemechek.
*What if Tim Steele never had his crash? - In 1998, Steele started driving the #15 Nike/Sony Ford owned by his father Harold and Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre. Steele retired after the 2016 season, and Parker Kligerman was his replacement.
*What if NASCAR never left North Wilkesboro? - Instead of sending both of North Wilkesboro's races to Texas and New Hampshire, respectively, the historic track retained the Tyson Holly Farms 400, and New Hampshire never got its second date. In 2011, the First Union 400 was revived on the weekend occupied by Kansas IOTL.
*What if Oldsmobile returned? - In 1997, with the advent of the SAFER Car, the Oldsmobile Alero was one of the eligible bodystyles; there was some debate as to whether it was truly an Alero, as it was built on the GM W platform (the same platform used by the Pontiac Grand Prix of the time), and therefore should have been the Oldsmobile Intrigue; however, the Intrigue wouldn't begin production until May 5 of that year, meaning it was ineligible under NASCAR's homologation rules. Only a few small teams ran the model, did not do well due to a lack of factory support, and Oldsmobile quietly left for the last time at the end of 1998 (barring Team Menard using an Alero in 2000), never to be seen again before shutting down altogether in 2004; Aleros could still be found in the Busch Series as late as 2002, and ARCA as late as 2011. It will use this template.
===What Doesn't Change===
*Texas Motor Speedway and California Speedway still join the schedule. The former comes under heated circumstances, as Texas World Speedway had heavily lobbied to be put back on the schedule after completing the necessary work to get the track back to NASCAR standards. After a drawn-out legal fight over the course of 1996, a compromise is reached: Texas Motor Speedway will hold races on odd-numbered years, and Texas World Speedway on even-numbered years; conversely, the track that doesn't hold any NASCAR races that year will instead host IndyCar, and vice-versa. Texas' second date remains at Rockingham, and Texas lost its sole date in 2019 due to increasingly-poor track conditions. Texas World Speedway, meanwhile, closed in 2017 after a money-laundering scheme was discovered that scuttled the track's reputation and finances. They were replaced by Circuit of the Americas. California, meanwhile, was removed in 2015 following complaints that there were too many races in the state, and a study showed it was the least-popular of the five California-based tracks.
*Atlanta Motor Speedway is still reconfigured.
* Homestead-Miami Speedway is also still reconfigured, though to ensure better competition.
==1998==
*What if the #64 Arby's FansTeam car actually raced? - In 1997, Bahari Racing co-owner Dick Bahre planned to start a team funded by fans that would debut in the 1998 season. The car number was going to be the #64, and would've been sponsored by Arby's. However, the team didn't get the required 2,500 signatures in time, and Arby's dropped out, with Bahre moving to Mansion Motorsports. In this scenario, the team races a Chevrolet in the 1998 season (as one t-shirt and the TNN website showed a Chevy), with a rookie from a different series driving. For more, see this link.
*What if Lincoln returned to NASCAR? - See this link. In 1998, Lincoln became the sixth manufacturer in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series (fielding the Mark VIII, later rebadged as the Continental in 1999 due to the Mark VIII being discontinued in 1998), alongside Chevrolet (with the Monte Carlo), Dodge (with the Avenger), Ford (with the new Taurus), Mercury (with the Sable), and Pontiac (with the Grand Prix). Like Mercury, it, too, left NASCAR in 2003 due to the Ford Motor Company paring its focus down to just its main marquee in order to counter the growing threat presented by Dodge; Lincolns could still be seen in the Busch Series as late as 2006, at least three are still running in ARCA, and actually returned to Cup from 2015 to 2020. On NR2003, it will use this template from 1999 to 2002, and these template layers for 1998 only.
*What if the Florida wildfires never happened? - The Pepsi 400 was held in July and broadcast on CBS as planned. Jeff Green and Geoff Bodine ran the paint schemes that wound up unused in OTL (Green's Tampa Bay Rays scheme and Bodine's patriotic scheme).
*What if Steve Park didn't have either of his wrecks (1998 and 2001)? - Park wound up being a much better driver; he stayed with DEI until the end of the 2005 season, and went back to the Truck Series for 2006 onwards due to being more comfortable there. Darrell Waltrip stayed in the #17 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet for the rest of the season, while the #45 Tabasco Pontiac shut down after 1998 with Todd Bodine and Rich Bickle sharing the car in 1998. Waltrip still sold his team to Tim Beverly after the season, however.
=== What Doesn't Change===
*Las Vegas Motor Speedway still joins the schedule.
*The "Tabasco Fiasco" still happens, though the car is numbered 45 instead of 35 as the latter number was taken by Hendrick Motorsports, though instead of switching from Pontiac to Chevrolet, the team switched to Dodge, receiving technical support from Pacific Coast Racing. PCR unsuccessfully fought with Tabasco to keep ISM Racing in the Dodge camp, as Tabasco had a deal with Pontiac, and Pontiac was none too pleased with Chrysler's "meddling".
*"Freak" is still built.
==1999==
*What if Darrell Waltrip drove for DEI instead of Travis Carter? - In real life, Waltrip had a horrible tenure with Travis Carter, missing several races during that time. Before Waltrip drove for Travis Carter, there were rumors that, if Waltrip couldn't find a ride, he would drive a second car for DEI, using equipment acquired from Buzz McCall's American Equipment Racing team. In this timeline, Waltrip drove the #17 MBNA Chevrolet for DEI in 1999 and 2000; he still retired after the 2000 season and became a color commentator for Fox from 2001 to 2019. The #17 was taken by his brother Michael, who used the number for his Michael Waltrip Racing team starting in 2007 (Roush's #17 team IOTL is instead #66). The #66 (which still became #23) was driven by Todd Bodine instead.
*What if the three-digit numbers were reinstated? - Before the 1999 season, it was announced that, because the amount of cars entering each race outstripping the amount of available numbers between 0-99, for the first time since 1971, three-digit numbers could be fielded once again.
===What Doesn't Change===
*Homestead-Miami Speedway is still added to the schedule.
*Greg Moore still dies in a CART race at California Speedway. His death spurs NASCAR to mandate the HANS Device.
==2000==
*What if Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin, and Tony Roper were still alive? - In 2001, Petty and Roper began running in the Winston Cup Series full-time, with Petty in the #45 Sprint Intrepid and Tony Roper in the #63 TracFone Monte Carlo. Irwin stayed in the #42 Cingular Intrepid. Kyle Petty stayed in the #44 car until his 2008 retirement, with Chad McCumbee succeeding him in 2009; he's currently the listed owner of Adam's #45 Dodge. Buckshot Jones stayed in the Busch Series. Michael Waltrip Racing started as a two-car operation with the #00 and #55 due to Dale Jarrett staying at JGR. Adam also has a son, Joshua Richard "Josh" Petty (b. 2002), who currently drives the #46 full-time in the Xfinity Series and is expected to one day move up to the Cup Series, with Labonte Motorsports (which currently fields the #46) willing to give up that number to Petty.
*What if Cale Yarborough was still a team owner? - Yarborough still fields the #98 today. The car fielded by Mike Curb, Phil Parsons and then Premium Motorsports from 2011-2016 is instead the #89.
* What if Nickelodeon sponsored a NASCAR stock car? - Since 2000, Nickelodeon has sponsored the #32 Ford (later Chevrolet) for PPI Racing. It was driven by Jerry Nadeau from 2000 to 2007, and is currently driven by former Hendrick developmental driver Boston Reid. Go FAS Racing instead fields the #65. As an aside, Nickelodeon is not mismanaged in this timeline due to someone other than Cyma Zarghami or Brian Robbins heading the network. The rundown of represented shows:
**2000: Generic scheme
** 2001: Invader Zim
**2002: The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and The Fairly OddParents (alternates races)
** 2003: My Life as a Teenage Robot
**2004: Danny Phantom and Drake & Josh (alternates races)
**2005: Avatar: The Last Airbender
**2006: All Grown Up
**2007: Back at the Barnyard
**2008: iCarly
**2009: The Penguins of Madagascar
**2010: T.U.F.F. Puppy and Victorious (alternates races)
**2011: Winx Club
**2012: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Legend of Korra (alternates races)
** 2013: Adventure Time
**2014: Henry Danger
**2015: Harvey Beaks
**2016: The Loud House
** 2017: Welcome to the Wayne
**2018: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
**2019: SpongeBob SquarePants 20th Anniversary and Rainbow Butterfly Unicorn Kitty (alternates races)
**2020: The Casagrandes and It's Pony (alternates races)
**2021: The Patrick Star Show
**2022: Middlemost Post
*What if the Unocal 76 Challenge was never discontinued? - The award program for winning from the pole was never discontinued, still existing today as the Sunoco Challenge.
==2001==
*What if Dale Earnhardt was still alive? - Earnhardt's crash never happened, and he continued driving the #3 Goodwrench Chevrolet until retiring at the end of 2003 following a farewell tour to drive the Corvettes between 2004 and 2008, at which point Jeff Burton inherited the car; he retired after the 2013 season (scaling back to part-time duties for 2014 and joining the NBC booth in 2015), and Austin Dillon has driven the car ever since. Earnhardt's survival also has numerous knock-on effects for the future of NASCAR as a whole. This also means Ron Fellows moved to the Cup Series in 2002 to drive the #81 Pennzoil Chevy, which he ran until 2005. Earnhardt ran select events for DEI in 2004 and 2005 in the #33 Wrangler Chevy before retiring for good. He also currently runs select events for the SRX, using his trademark #3.
*What if the double yellow line rule was never implemented? - Self-explanatory.
*What if Jimmie Johnson drove for DEI? - Since Jeff Gordon drove for Bill Davis instead of Rick Hendrick, he never discovered Jimmie Johnson. Instead, Jimmie was signed by DEI to drive the #3 Lowe's Chevrolet in the Busch Series for 2001, and moved up to the Cup Series in 2002, using the #48. He still retired after the 2020 season, and Kyle Larson has replaced him ever since.
*What if Turner put NASCAR races on TBS instead of TNT under the 2001-2006 television contract? - In our timeline, Turner originally intended to put races on TBS, but when TNT introduced their new slogan "We Know Drama", they moved NASCAR to that network. In this timeline, NASCAR remained on TBS, broadcasting the same races TNT did between 2001 and 2014, using the classic NASCAR on TBS theme, "Zipliner".
*What if CBS was still in NASCAR? - In this timeline, CBS is still in NASCAR, under the 2001-2006, 2007-2014, and 2015-2024 television contracts, using the classic 1998-2000 theme and much of its broadcasting team; Ken Squier returned to the booth after Mike Joy left for Fox, while Greg Gumbel took over hosting duties. CBS broadcasts the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, and the summer portion of the schedule.
*What if Blaise Alexander was still alive? - Blaise drove a third Evernham car, the #91 for five races in 2002, before moving up to the Cup Series in 2003. He stayed in the ride until the end of 2003, after which he left for Penske Racing to drive the #77 from 2004 to 2010 (Michael Waltrip stayed with DEI for one more season in the #01). Between 2011 and 2020, Blaise drove the #2 for the same team, retiring after the 2020 season; Austin Cindric took over the car in 2021. Brad Keselowski has driven the fourth Hendrick car, the #52, since 2010 (Mark Martin drove the #52 in 2009 as a one-year stopgap, before moving to Stewart-Haas Racing from 2010 to 2013).
*What if Casey Atwood wasn’t rushed up to the Cup Series? - Atwood stayed in the #27 for 2001, and did five races for Hendrick Motorsports in a third car, the #35. He moved up to the Cup Series full-time in 2002 in the car, and moved to Evernham Motorsports in 2010 in the #91.
===What Doesn't Change===
*Chicagoland Speedway and Kansas Speedway are still added to the schedule. However, like with the Texas tracks, Chicagoland is run on odd-numbered years, while Chicago Motor Speedway is run in even-numbered years, and the track that didn't host a NASCAR race that year hosts IndyCar.
*Kentucky Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway are still added to the Busch Series schedule, with Kentucky eventually getting a race in the Sprint Cup Series from 2011 to 2020, when it is removed from the schedule in favor of Bowman-Gray, and Nashville Superspeedway getting a Cup Series date in 2021.
*9/11 still happened, and the New Hampshire 300 was still delayed.
*Tony Stewart's flip in the Daytona 500 still occurred.
==2002==
*What if Ricky Hendrick never had his injuries and was still alive? - Ricky never had the injuries that forced him into retirement, and as a result, drove the #5 car in 2002 and 2003 full-time, with Brian Vickers driving the #55 instead. The Hendrick plane crash still happened, but there were multiple survivors, including Ricky, John Hendrick's twin daughters Kimberly and Jennifer, and pilot Elizabeth Morrison; everyone else aboard, including general manager Jeff Turner, chief engine builder Randy Dorton, DuPont executive Joe Jackson, Tony Stewart's pilot Scott Lathram, and the other pilot, Richard Tracy, were killed. Morrison was booked on charges of reckless endangerment. Hendrick moved up to the Cup Series in 2004 in the #25 car, which he still drives today. Brian Vickers drove the #52 from 2004 to 2006, and Casey Mears drove the car in 2007 and 2008.
*What if Bill Lester moved to the Cup Series? -
===What Doesn't Change===
*Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes still dies in a car crash, and all of the DEI cars still honor her by painting a black stripe under their left headlight decals.
==2003==
* What if Jerry Nadeau never had his career-ending crash? - Nadeau stayed in the #32 Nickelodeon Ford until 2007, before joining Hendrick from 2009 to his 2017 retirement, in the #5 Amp Energy/Mountain Dew car; he drove the #01 Army Chevrolet for DEI in 2008 as a one-year stopgap. Mark Martin drove the #52 for 2009, and moved to Stewart-Haas Racing from 2010 to his 2013 retirement to drive the #66 Burger King Chevrolet. Kasey Kahne remained at Evernham Motorsports until 2013, when he joined Petty Enterprises in the #07 7-Eleven Dodge, and moved to the #68 DHL Dodge for Andretti Autosport in 2018.
*What if the No Bull 5 stuck around for one more year? - In this timeline, the No Bull 5 was held for one more year before Nextel took over title sponsorship of the Cup Series.
===What Doesn't Change===
*Pontiac still leaves at the end of the season, but in this timeline, they never go under and eventually return in 2015 (more on that below).
* The Approved Body Configuration (ABC) is still introduced (represented by the Cup03-5 cars from 2003-05, and Default Cup from 2006 to 2012).
==2004==
* What if the Chase never happened? - With the replacement of Winston with Nextel as the title sponsor for the Cup Series, Brian France wanted to incorporate a postseason playoffs for the last ten races called the "Chase for the Cup". Dale Earnhardt, however, balked at the idea of NASCAR "copying the NFL", and France, wary of alienating one of the sport's biggest drivers, backed down and kept the 1975 Bob Latford format in place.
*What if the Green-White-Checkered finish was never implemented? - This is a simple one. The GWC is never implemented, and neither was freezing the field on a caution. This one is for practical reasons, owing to limitations with NR2003.
*What if there was no video game exclusivity? - In this timeline, EA Sports never scored the exclusive license to make NASCAR games, though they still make NASCAR games. Papyrus released NASCAR Racing: 2004 Season (NR2004) alongside EA Sports' NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup, and continues making NASCAR games to this day, having released NASCAR Racing: 2022 Season (NR2022) alongside NASCAR 23 and Atari's NASCAR Heat 2023. The difference between the three series is night-and-day:
** The EA Sports games are more arcadey, though still realistic enough. NASCAR 09 used manufacturers, NASCAR 10 reintroduced production cars, and also introduced the NASCAR Camping World East and West Series. NASCAR 11 saw the return of Fight to the Top mode (with new features such as factory support for owned teams, the ability to create and name your own team and hire multiple drivers, and the ability to purchase equipment from other teams or use older-model cars such as the Ford Taurus or Dodge Stratus or even some brands that are not in NASCAR, such as Oldsmobile, Buick, Mercury, Lincoln, and others; players can also play Fight to the Top without a 20-season limit like previous games had done), and also did away with fantasy drivers in the Whelen Modified Tour in favor of real drivers such as Mike Stefanik, Ron Silk, and Bobby Santos III; it also added the Whelen All-American Series, which players now start out driving in in Fight to the Top driving pavement late models. NASCAR 12 introduced the new Nationwide Series bodystyle and manufacturers to the Camping World Truck Series and Whelen Modified Tour. NASCAR 13 brought back the Swap Car command, and added the ARCA Racing Series. NASCAR 14 introduced the new bodystyle for the SAFER Car. On an unrelated note, EA never fell to greed in this timeline; in fact, the company is heavily against microtransactions and loot boxes, and doesn't milk the franchises they acquire.
**NASCAR Heat focuses on immersion. Every game since Dirt to Daytona has used the same style of career mode, though starting with NASCAR Heat 2004, Infogrames followed EA Sports' lead and added the Busch Series; that game also had the option to use a Pontiac body in the Busch Series, and replaced the street stocks in the Dodge Racing Series with dirt late models (though the street stocks were brought back in NASCAR Heat 2009). Proceeding games would take inspiration from EA Sports, adding such features as a Team Communicator (though with more complex commands), various challenges, more unlockables, and eventually replacing fantasy drivers altogether with more obscure real drivers.
**NASCAR Racing Season is a simulator first and foremost. NASCAR Racing: 2004 Season, too, took notes from EA, and added the Craftsman Truck Series and Busch Series by default, as well as a more in-depth career mode and replay data being saved while accelerating time. NASCAR Racing: 2010 Season took note of the growing offline league community and added a director's mode that allows races to be edited and posted to YouTube. This also means that Papyrus didn't shut down in this timeline. We’ll go more in-depth on all these games on a later date.
**This means that Activision, Eutechnyx, 704Games, and Motorsport Games never made NASCAR games.
* What if the grandfather clause didn't exist?
*What if Kevin Grubb never did drugs? - This means that Grubb is still a regular in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and is still alive.
===What Doesn't Change===
*Toyota still enters the Truck Series with the Tundra.
==2005==
*What if NASCAR never left Rockingham? - The Ferko lawsuit was declared a mistrial (through a set of complex circumstances), and as a result, not only did Texas and California not get their second dates, but Darlington and Rockingham still retain both of their dates, including the Southern 500 being on Labor Day weekend. Neither Texas nor California ever received a second date.
*What if Racing Champions and Hot Wheels still produced diecasts? - In this timeline, neither company left NASCAR, and still makes diecasts alongside Lionel.
===What Doesn't Change===
*Rusty Wallace and Ricky Rudd still retire at the end of the season, after going on a joint retirement tour with Dale Earnhardt.
*Mark Martin still announces he's retiring at the end of 2005, but doesn't actually do so until 2013.
*The Busch Series still starts racing in Mexico. However, they are still racing there today along with Montreal.
==2006==
* What if Shane Hmiel never did drugs?
=== What Doesn't Change===
*Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and Cars are still released. As in Days of Thunder, Tim and Chloe make cameo appearances in both movies; in the former, they call Ricky Bobby "Cole Trickle on Steroids", and in Cars, they are named Tim and Chloe Sprocket and are seen getting into a shouting match with a Piston Cup official over Chick Hicks' on-track conduct, and are later seen before the tiebreaker race deriding it as a "rating stunt" and a "glorified sprint race", and saying the championship should be decided by which of the three racers had the most wins, which they state was Lightning McQueen. Their complaining in Cars referenced how outspoken PCR drivers tend to be on various issues, such as when Tim said of the CART-IRL split "what a bunch of babies".
==2007==
*What if the Car of Tomorrow was never made? - Because Dale Earnhardt never died, NASCAR wasn't spurred to make safety enhancements. For one, they had already mandated the HANS Device after Greg Moore was killed in a CART crash at California Speedway in 1999, and numerous safety enhancements had already been implemented with the new body in 1997, colloquially called the SAFER Car. The controversial CoT, as a result, never existed, and the Gen-4 car stuck around until 2013, when it was replaced by the Gen-6 car, though in this timeline, the car was merely a new body for the SAFER Car to better reflect cars in the showrooms, which had become taller since 1997. It was replaced by the new Next Gen car in 2021, again a new body for the SAFER Car chassis to better reflect car design trends.
*What if Benny Parsons was still alive? - In this timeline, Parsons' cancer never occurred. He joined the TBS broadcast crew for the 2007-2014 contract as planned, and rejoined NBC's crew under the 2015-2024 contract in place of Steve Letarte. As of 2021, he is still active as a color commentator for NBC/NBCSN at the age of 80.
*What if Hoosier returned? - In late 2006, Goodyear workers went on strike, putting tire production in jeopardy. NASCAR met with Hoosier and created a backup plan that called for Hoosier to produce tires for the 2007 season. In our timeline, the strike ended before the plan was needed, but in Start Your Engines!, it didn't, and most of the season was run on Hoosier tires across all three national series and all regional series that had been running Goodyears. Hoosier's return ended up being one of the top stories of Speedweeks, along with the various cheating scandals during qualifying. Goodyear tires finally returned in time for the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega in the fall.
*What if Dr. Jerry Punch wasn't the lead broadcaster for ESPN from 2007-09? - In this timeline, Paul Page (who was the play-by-play for NHRA broadcasts at the time) was the play-by-play for all ESPN/ABC races from 2007 to 2014, as Jerry Punch and Marty Reid stayed on pit road, and Allen Bestwick (who never had his 2004 hockey incident) stayed at TBS. ESPN/ABC's coverage was also much better, with no "Heidi Game" moments or other oddities. Also in this timeline, neither the SpeedWorld or Wide World of Sports brands were ever retired in favor of generic ESPN branding or ESPN on ABC.
*What if the Lifelock 400 at Kansas wasn't a fustercluck? - Self-explanatory.
===What Doesn't Change===
*Toyota still entered the Nextel Cup and Busch Series with the Camry.
*Bobby Hamilton still died.
*IROC still folded.
==2008==
*What if Dale Earnhardt Jr. never left DEI? - Because his father never died, Junior didn't become disillusioned with the team under his stepmother Teresa's control, and he remained in the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet until his 2019 retirement. In 2020, Tyler Reddick replaced him.
===What Doesn't Change===
*The Great Recession still happens.
*The Nextel Cup Series still becomes the Sprint Cup Series, and the Busch Series still becomes the Nationwide Series.
==2009==
*What if Yates Racing never went under? - In this timeline, Robert Yates continued owning his team until his 2017 death; his son Doug took control and renamed it to Yates Racing in the 2018 season. Yates still acquired the #96 Hall of Fame Racing team, however.
* What if Jeremy Mayfield was clean? - Because Mayfield was clean, he was more successful in NASCAR. He spent his final years in the #88 for Robert Yates from 2009 (replacing Ernie Irvan) to his 2015 retirement.
*What if Dale Earnhardt Inc. never merged with Chip Ganassi Racing?:
** Instead of merging with CGR, DEI instead merged with Richard Childress Racing to stave off the effects of the Great Recession, forming Earnhardt-Childress Racing (ECR), a six-car operation (in this timeline, the four-car limit was never established in 2010).
**Dale Earnhardt Jr. continued driving the #8 Budweiser car, Martin Truex, Jr. kept the #1 Bass Pro Shops car, Kevin Harvick stayed in the #3 Reese's car, Jeff Burton retained the #31 Caterpillar car, Jimmie Johnson was retained in the #48 Lowe's car, and Clint Bowyer moved over to the #30 Cheerios car; the #14 driven by Sterling Marlin (who retired at the end of 2008) was absorbed into the #1 team, and the #01 driven by Jerry Nadeau (who moved to Hendrick Motorsports) was absorbed into the #8.
** Because of this, CGR never switched to Chevy from Dodge, and remained a three-car operation with the #40 of David Stremme, the #41 of Reed Sorenson, and the #42 of Juan Pablo Montoya. From 2010-2018, Jamie McMurray returned to Ganassi to replace Stremme in the #40, like in real life, though McMurray used the #40 instead of the #1. Bryan Clauson took the #41 since 2010, and like in real life, Kyle Larson replaced Montoya in the #42 for 2014 onward.
** The #41 for Stewart-Haas Racing is instead the #00.
**The current lineup for ECR is Truex in the #1, Austin Dillon in the #3, Tyler Reddick in the #8, Jeffrey Earnhardt in the #30, Ty Dillon in the #31, and Kyle Larson in the #48. Because of this, Kurt Busch stayed with Furniture Row Racing until the end of the 2018 season, and Stewart-Haas Racing hired Ryan Truex to drive the #00 Haas Automation Chevy (later Pontiac). For the 2019 season onwards, Busch has used the #40. Hillman Racing used the #140 instead, Casey Mears remained at Germain Racing until it shut down in 2017, and Cole Custer still replaced Ryan from 2020 onwards.
*What if Petty Enterprises never merged with Gillett-Evernham Motorsports? - In this timeline, Petty Enterprises was more successful in the 2000s, as Adam Petty brought renewed confidence and more sponsorship money to the team (STP stayed with the team in 2001 and 2002 using the paint scheme from the 2000 DirecTV 500, and has sponsored the #43 and #45 full-time since 2003 with the #43 using a mainly-blue paint scheme, and the #45 using a mainly-red one, due to their desire to sponsor a Petty; Cheerios co-sponsored the #43 from 2000 to 2008). Because of this, owner Richard Petty saw no need to merge with any team. Petty Enterprises is currently a five-car operation with the #07 of Matt DiBenedetto, the #42 of Erik Jones (Ganassi agreed to give the #42 back to Petty for the 2010 season), the #43 of Michael Annett, the #44 of Chad McCumbee, and the #45 of Adam Petty, and is widely considered one of the best teams on the grid, reaching levels unseen since Richard himself drove the #43. Evernham (Gillett was bought out by Evernham in late 2010) currently fields the #19 and #91 for Casey Elliott and Casey Atwood, respectively. The #19 car that Joe Gibbs fields for Carl Edwards is instead the #54, and Gaunt Brothers Racing remained a part-time operation.
===What Doesn't Change ===
*Tony Stewart still left Joe Gibbs Racing to become an owner-driver for Stewart-Haas Racing. However, crew chief Greg Zipadelli and sponsor Home Depot followed him to the #14 Chevrolet, and Chevron took over as sponsor of the #20 until being replaced by Dollar General in 2013 and DeWalt in 2015 with the coming of Matt Kenseth.
*The Craftsman Truck Series still becomes the Camping World Truck Series.
==2010==
* What if Brian Vickers was always healthy? - Vickers ran the full season in 2010. He has run the #55 car for Michael Waltrip Racing since 2012 full-time.
* What if the five-car limit was never abolished? - Self-explanatory. NASCAR instead expanded the limit to six cars in 2004.
*What if Roush Racing never went under? - Because the team gained new confidence, Roush remains one of the most consistent teams on the grid, with Greg Biffle continuing to drive the #16 Ford to this day; he plans to retire after the 2021 season.
==2011==
* What if the Sprint Cup Series raced at Iowa Speedway? - Along with the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series, the Sprint Cup Series began racing at Iowa in 2011.
*What if Trevor Bayne wasn't a bust? - Bayne became a dependable driver upon moving up to the Cup Series full-time in 2012. He still drives for Wood Brothers Racing. This means that Paul Menard drove the #12 with Ryan Blaney in the #39 (the second Furniture Row Racing car is the #87 instead), and after his retirement, Ryan Newman reunited with Penske for 2020 driving the #39 Menard's Dodge, and Ty Majeski replaced him in the #6.
*What if tandem drafting never existed? - Since the Car of Tomorrow never existed, neither did their flat noses. Although the superspeedway bodies used for the SAFER Car do have flat noses, the rear bumpers aren't low enough to make the tandem viable.
===What doesn't change===
*Dan Wheldon is still killed in an IndyCar race at Las Vegas, and all cars carry tributes to him the next weekend at Talladega.
==2012==
*What if Team Red Bull was still in NASCAR? - Scott Speed continued driving the #182 (as 82 and 83 were taken by Moroso-Rudd Racing) until 2014, when he decided to focus on his Global Rallycross Championship career. A. J. Allmendinger returned to the team to replace Speed, and the car was renumbered back to #84. David Reutimann replaced Brian Vickers in the #83, and Alex Bowman drove the #182 as a third car in 2014; Matt DiBenedetto replaced him in 2015. After he left at the conclusion of 2015, the #82 was shut down. When Reutimann retired after the 2020 season, Justin Haley took over the #83.
===What Doesn't Change ===
*Juan Pablo Montoya still destroyed a jet dryer at the Daytona 500.
*The row between Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer still occurred, though at Coca-Cola instead of Phoenix.
==2013==
*What if Jason Leffler was still alive? - Because Kenny Irwin, Jr. survived, Leffler didn't move to the Cup Series until 2002, when he started driving the third car for Joe Gibbs Racing. With more Cup experience, Leffler knew what to do to prevent his tragic accident from happening.
*What if Tony Stewart never broke his leg? - Because he never did so, his performance never started slipping, combined with a more liberal rules package that perfectly suited his driving style and the Kevin Ward Jr. affair never happening. As of 2020, Stewart is still active in the Cup Series, still driving the #14 Pontiac (more on that below).
*What if Spingate never happened? - Because the Chase never existed, Spingate was rendered pointless. Michael Waltrip Racing is still competitive, and NAPA never left the team (as an aside, MWR never expanded to three cars until 2015, when Brett Moffitt was signed to drive the #56; NAPA was on the #55 instead; the team switched to Honda as its star team in 2015). Aaron's sponsors Chase Elliott instead, and its spot in the #55 is taken by AAA Insurance. Clint Bowyer stayed with the #17 team until the end of the 2018 season, being replaced by Michael's daughter Macy Waltrip.
*What if Dodge never left NASCAR? - In this timeline, Dodge maintained a loyal base, including Team Penske, Moroso-Rudd Racing, McDuffie Racing, Bill Davis Racing, Petty Enterprises, Evernham Motorsports, Chip Ganassi Racing, and of course, Pacific Coast Racing. The merger with Fiat still happened, but they allowed Dodge to remain in the sport due to their base, and even brought Plymouth back as a performance car brand for the 2021 season.
*What if Danica Patrick wasn't a bust? - This may seem blunt, but let's face it, she was a bust (Black Flags Matter says so). In this timeline, emboldened by the successes of Chloe Johnson, Belle Armstrong, and Jenny Smith (again, no relation to their Johnsonverse counterparts), Patrick found more success in NASCAR, and is still in the #10. Aric Almirola and Smithfield are currently in the #46 for Labonte Motorsports.
* What if Robby Gordon stayed in NASCAR? - Gordon still runs road courses every season. He switched from Dodge to Nissan for 2021.
*What if Michael Annett never had his wreck? - Annett moved up to the Cup Series in 2014 to drive the #43, replacing the retiring John Andretti. Pilot/Flying J also serves as an associate sponsor for the #43, acting as the primary sponsor for ten races. Aric Almirola drove another car, the #42, from 2010 to 2017, followed by Bubba Wallace from 2018 to 2020, and Erik Jones since 2021.
===What Doesn't Change ===
*What we know as the Generation 6 car is still introduced, but in this timeline, instead of being a new body for the Car of Tomorrow chassis that is marketed as a new car, it is a new body for the existing SAFER Car chassis, the first major update since the introduction of the Approved Body Configuration (ABC) in 2003. The main goal was to return the "stock" in stock car, as the low-profile bodies of the original SAFER Car design did not lend themselves to properly representing the cars in the showrooms, especially the Dodge Charger, whose NASCAR counterpart was too sleek compared to the muscle car it actually is; the Nationwide Series had fixed this by introducing its own new body for the SAFER Car in 2011, better representing the Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger (though their version of the Chevrolet Impala was given the derisive name "Frankenpala", and the Nationwide Camry was also too angular compared to its street counterpart; this was intentional on NASCAR's part to prevent a new Aero War from breaking out, though one did break out in the Sprint Cup Series once Pontiac and Honda made their entrance).
==2014==
==2015==
*What if Pontiac never went under? - In this timeline, while Pontiac still left NASCAR at the end of 2003 (with one or two being run in the Cup Series until 2004, the Busch Series until 2005, and in ARCA as late as 2007), they never went bust during the Great Recession; instead, Buick went bust, and Pontiac was reorganized as GM's performance division, selling the Grand Prix, G6, G8, Trans-Am, Firebird, and GTO. GM, wanting to counter the growing threat from Dodge and Toyota, elected to bring Pontiac back to NASCAR in 2015 with the G8 in the Sprint Cup Series, and the Firebird in the Xfinity Series (they had already been providing factory support for the Whelen Modified Tour and Pinty's Series). The model would change over the years (in the Cup Series, Pontiac switched to the G6 in 2017, then to the Trans-Am in 2019), but it's still Pontiac. Their flagship team is Stewart-Haas Racing.
* What if Honda entered NASCAR? - 2015 also sees Honda throw its hat into the NASCAR ring with the Accord. With the Next Gen car, this what-if may become outdated.
===What Doesn't Change===
*Justin Wilson is still killed at Pocono in an IndyCar race, and Tony Stewart still lends his private jet to them.
==2016==
* What if Bryan Clauson was still alive? - After doing five races in 2009, Clauson ran for Rookie of the Year in 2010 in the #41 Juicy Fruit Dodge. He still does sprint car races from time to time, though due to having more experience in Cup, Clauson successfully prevented his death.
*What if the Charter System never existed? - Brian France was considering this, but again, Dale Earnhardt convinced him it was a bad idea due to its potential of being exploited by poorly-performing teams at the expense of more competitive ones, and alienating existing or potential team owners. The field remains an even 42 (due to NR2003 being incapable of using 43 computer opponents without a very specific exploit), as a result, rather than 40 or less, and teams never shut down in droves, notably HScott Motorsports, which has Justin Allgaier and Aric Almirola as drivers (after the death of Harry Scott, Jr. in 2017, the team was sold to Terry and Bobby Labonte, who renamed it Labonte Motorsports). Rick Ware Racing also only has one car: the #27 for Cody Ware.
===What Doesn't Change===
*Donald Trump is still elected president.
==2017==
*What if Carl Edwards never retired? - Edwards still drove the #54 for Joe Gibbs Racing until retiring at the end of 2022; Ty Gibbs succeeded Edwards for 2023. Daniel Suárez instead drove the #87 Arris Toyota for Furniture Row Racing from 2017 to 2018, with Christopher Bell in the car in 2019 and 2020, and Kaz Grala since 2021.
* What if NASCAR never introduced stage racing? - Because the Chase was scrapped, there was no need for stage racing to create artificial drama.
*What if Tommy Baldwin Racing improved, not worsened? - Baldwin switched to Dodge for 2017 with support from Pacific Coast Racing. It expanded to two cars in 2019 with James Buescher, and switched to Nissan in 2021.
===What Doesn't Change ===
*Monster Energy still takes over as title sponsor for the Cup Series, and the name still becomes the clunky-sounding Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
==2018==
* What if Furniture Row Racing never shut down? - Self explanatory.
*What if NASCAR didn't buy ARCA? - In 2018, NASCAR acquired ARCA, and by 2020, was implementing needless rule changes that led to an EXTREMELY boring race at Talladega that year. In this timeline, ARCA remains independent.
*What if the Charlotte Roval was never used? - Self explanatory.
===What Doesn't Change===
*Brian France still gets arrested for a DUI on the day the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series ran at Watkins Glen, and still resigns and is replaced by his uncle Jim.
*"Freak" is still totaled at Talladega.
==2019==
*What if NASCAR never made year-to-year changes to the rules package? - Instead of constantly tweaking the cars every year and wildly changing the racing product, NASCAR hasn't touched the package since the SAFER Car was introduced in 1997 (due to the manufacturers having more input in the cars), and has given teams more leeway on what's acceptable; examples include gear ratio limits never being introduced (Toyota was simply told to make its engines better-suited for long runs). Because the racing product never degraded, sponsors never left NASCAR in droves, and the growth NASCAR experienced in the 90s and 2000s has been sustained. For example, Home Depot, 5-Hour Energy, and Lowe's never left the sport, still sponsoring the #14 of Tony Stewart, the #40 of Clint Bowyer, and the #48 of Jimmie Johnson, respectively.
*What if Macy Waltrip was a NASCAR driver? - Macy moved up to the Cup Series in 2019, replacing Clint Bowyer in the MBNA Honda, as Bowyer moved to Furniture Row Racing to drive the #78 Toyota for Furniture Row Racing, with Kurt Busch moving to Chip Ganassi Racing, like in real life.
==2020==
*What if Matt Tifft wasn't sidelined by health issues? - Self-explanatory. He moved to Live Fast Motorsports for the 2021 season as an owner-driver in a second car.
*What if Auto Club Speedway wasn't announced as a short track for 2022?
*What if the COVID-19 pandemic never happened? - This assumes that the coronavirus either never left China, is so minor that it is literally just another form of the common cold that passes under the World Health Organization's radar, or straight-up doesn't exist, period. Not only did the season not stop, but the following happened as a result:
**The implementation of the Next Gen car (which in this timeline is known as the New Body Program II, as it's merely a new body on the existing SAFER Car chassis dating back to 1997; the number placement is deregulated, meaning the number can be placed anywhere between the wheel wells, though chrome numbers are allowed again) wasn't pushed back to 2022. Also, the new car doesn't have nearly as many safety issues as OTL.
**Kyle Larson never got fired from Chip Ganassi Racing by using a racial slur on an iRacing live stream, but he moved to ECR for the 2021 season to replace Jimmie Johnson.
**Leavine Family Racing never shut down, while Go FAS Racing never became a part-time team.
**The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo went ahead as planned, with the races during the games being aired on Fox so CBS wouldn't have to air the races against NBC's coverage.
=== What Doesn't Change ===
*John Andretti still died of cancer.
*Joe Biden was still elected president.
*The George Floyd protests still happened, with all four PCR cars running all-black, unsponsored paint schemes at Martinsville. This also means that the Black Lives Matter movement still happened, as did the Bubba Wallace noose misunderstanding at Talladega.
*Kobe Bryant still died in a helicopter crash.
*Ryan Newman's last-lap crash at the Daytona 500 still happened.
*The Cup Series still adopted the tiered sponsorship system.
*Clint Bowyer still retired and joined Fox after the season. He was replaced by Chase Briscoe in the #78.
==2021==
*What if the Dash Series came back? - In 2021, NASCAR announced the return of the old Dash Series, officially known as the Blue-Emu Dash Series. The series officially runs four models: the Chevrolet Sonic, Ford Focus, Dodge Neon, and Toyota 86, with one team running a Pontiac Sunfire and another running a Mazda Miata, marking Mazda's official debut in American NASCAR competition. Unlike the old Dash Series, the new series uses V8 engines. The initial series will use this carset created by Thunder98 on Stunod Racing, which uses the Pinty's Series mod.
===What Doesn't Change===
*The capitol insurrection still happened, and all four PCR cars ran red, white, and blue, unsponsored cars at the Sonoma season opener.
*Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin still formed 23XI Racing, and Bubba Wallace still moves over.
*The Cup Series still raced at Dirt Bristol, but in this timeline, NASCAR made more of an effort to wet the track and keep dust down.
*Atlanta still began its repave, but is being reconfigured back to the pre-1997 layout rather than an intermediate version of Daytona.
*The SRX was still founded.
*StarCom Racing still shut down at the end of the season, its equipment sold to Kennedy Racing.
== 2022 ==
*What if Chip Ganassi Racing never sold its NASCAR operations? - In this timeline, Ganassi stayed in NASCAR due to its continued popularity. Ross Chastain still moved to Trackhouse's second team, and Kurt Busch still moved to 23XI Racing, leaving the #40 team open; Daniel Hemric drove the latter car.
=== What Doesn't Change ===
* Gateway is still added to the Cup Series schedule.
*GMS still expands to the Cup Series, with Ryan Preece driving the car due to Ty Dillon driving for ECR.
*Tony Stewart still starts an NHRA team, only it is not a customer of Don Schumacher, and runs Pontiacs.
*The Busch Clash still moves to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
*Russia still invades Ukraine, and at Rockingham, all four PCR cars run unsponsored cars painted in the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
==2023==
* What if the Chicago street race never happened?
===What Doesn't Change===
* Jimmie Johnson still buys into GMS Racing, though it is renamed Johnson-GMS Motorsports. It will still move to Toyota for 2024.
* Kyle Busch still leaves Joe Gibbs Racing, though he moves to 23XI Racing.
==Current Cup Series Teams as of 2023==
2023 Manufacturers and Models
Make 	Model 	Year Introduced	Previous model	Factory Team(s)
Chevrolet	Camaro ZL1 1LE	2020 	Returning 	Hendrick Motorsports, Earnhardt-Childress Racing
Dodge 	Charger 	2005 	Returning 	Chip Ganassi Racing, Evernham Motorsports, Pacific Coast Racing, Petty Enterprises, Team Penske
Dodge 	Challenger 	2019 	Returning 	Chip Ganassi Racing, Evernham Motorsports, Pacific Coast Racing, Petty Enterprises, Team Penske
Ford 	Mustang 	2019 	Returning 	Roush Racing, Yates Racing, Wood Brothers Racing
Honda 	Accord 	2015 	Returning 	Michael Waltrip Racing
Nissan 	GT-R 	2021 	Returning 	Team Red Bull
Pontiac 	Trans-Am 	2019 	Returning 	Stewart-Haas Racing
Toyota 	Camry 	2007 	Returning 	Furniture Row Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota 	Supra 	2021 	Returning 	Furniture Row Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing
Note: Factory teams are teams that get direct support from their OEM. Equipment is then disseminated to non-factory teams.
Manufacturer	Team 	No.	Name 	Sponsor(s) 	Model
Chevrolet 	Earnhardt-Childress Racing	1 	Martin Truex Jr. 	Bass Pro Shops 	Camaro ZL1 1LE
Chevrolet 	Earnhardt-Childress Racing	3 	Austin Dillon 	GM GoodwrenchDowCheeriosAmerican EthanolBass Pro ShopsJack Daniel's 	Camaro ZL1 1LE
Chevrolet 	Earnhardt-Childress Racing	8 	Jeffrey Earnhardt 	BudweiserNationwide
Wrangler JeansCoca-Cola 	Camaro ZL1 1LE
Chevrolet 	Earnhardt-Childress Racing	48 	Kyle Larson 	Lowe'sKobalt Tools 	Camaro ZL1 1LE
Chevrolet 	Hendrick Motorsports 	5 	William Byron 	Farmer's InsuranceLiberty University 	Camaro ZL1 1LE
Chevrolet 	Hendrick Motorsports 	25 	Ricky Hendrick 	AxaltaNational GuardAlly Financial 	Camaro ZL1 1LE
Chevrolet 	Hendrick Motorsports 	35 	Landon Cassill 	FolgersPepsi 	Camaro ZL1 1LE
Chevrolet 	Hendrick Motorsports 	50 	Brad Keselowski 	John DeereMountain Dew AMP 	Camaro ZL1 1LE
Chevrolet 	Kaulig Racing 	16 	Shane Hmiel 	LeafFilter 	Camaro ZL1 1LE
Chevrolet 	PPI Motorsports 	32 	Boston Reid 	Nickeodeon 	Camaro ZL1 1LE
Chevrolet 	Rick Ware Racing 	27 	Cody Ware 	fluctuates between races 	Camaro ZL1 1LE
Chevrolet 	Spire Motorsports 	74 	Corey LaJoie 	fluctuates between races 	Camaro ZL1 1LE
Chevrolet 	Spire Motorsports 	79 	Stephen Leicht 	fluctuates between races 	Camaro ZL1 1LE
Chevrolet 	Trackhouse Racing 	01 	Ross Chastain 	TBA 	Camaro ZL1 1LE
Chevrolet 	Trackhouse Racing 	99 	Daniel Suárez 	CommScopeArris 	Camaro ZL1 1LE
Dodge 	AK Racing 	7 	James Kulwicki 	Walmart 	Charger
Dodge 	Andretti Autosport 	68 	Kasey Kahne 	DHL 	Challenger
Dodge 	Bill Davis Racing 	9 	Chase Elliott 	Aaron'sHootersAmoco 	Charger
Dodge 	Bill Davis Racing 	24 	Scott Wimmer 	Caterpillar 	Charger
Dodge 	Chip Ganassi Racing 	40 	Kurt Busch 	Coor's LightMonster Energy 	Challenger
Dodge 	Chip Ganassi Racing 	41 	Bryan Clauson 	Target 	Challenger
Dodge 	Evernham Motorsports 	19 	Daniel Hemric 	Dodge Dealers 	Challenger
Dodge 	Kelman Racing 	86 	Sophie Kelman (R) 	AT&T 	Charger
Dodge 	Labonte Motorsports 	46 	Aric Almirola 	Smithfield 	Charger
Dodge 	Labonte Motorsports 	51 	Justin Allgaier 	Brandt 	Charger
Dodge 	Labonte Motorsports 	53 	Bobby Labonte (restrictor-plate events only)	Kellogg's 	Charger
Dodge 	Moroso-Rudd Racing 	82 	Dakoda Armstrong 	Skoal Bandit 	Charger
Dodge 	Moroso-Rudd Racing 	83 	Noah Howe 	Tide 	Charger
Dodge 	Moroso-Rudd Racing 	84 	Spencer Boyd (R) 	Miller High Life 	Charger
Dodge 	Pacific Coast Racing 	60 	Katie Johnson 	MakitaCoca-ColaHasbro (The Transformers) 	Challenger
Dodge 	Pacific Coast Racing 	69 	Kelly Walker 	DickiesCoca-ColaHasbro (G.I. Joe) 	Challenger
Dodge 	Pacific Coast Racing 	70 	Ace Johnson
(restrictor-plate and
road course events only)	Pibb XtraCoca-ColaHasbro (Nerf) 	Challenger
Dodge 	Pacific Coast Racing 	80 	Andy Johnson 	NintendoCoca-ColaHasbro (My Little Pony) 	Challenger
Dodge 	Pacific Coast Racing 	85 	Suki Honda 	SpriteCoca-ColaHasbro (Potato Head) 	Challenger
Dodge 	Petty Enterprises 	07 	Matt DiBenedetto 	7-Eleven
Petty's Garage 	Challenger
Dodge 	Petty Enterprises 	42 	Erik Jones 	Click 'n Close
World Wide Technology
Columbia Sportswear
Petty's Garage 	Challenger
Dodge 	Petty Enterprises 	43 	Michael Annett 	STP
Coca-Cola
Pilot
Flying J
Petty's Garage 	Challenger
Dodge 	Petty Enterprises 	45 	Adam Petty 	STP
Wells FargoMarathon PetroleumCoca-Cola
Petty's Garage 	Challenger
Dodge 	Team Penske 	2 	Austin Cindric (R) 	Miller Lite 	Charger
Dodge 	Team Penske 	12 	Ryan Blaney 	VerizonMenard'sPPG 	Charger
Dodge 	Team Penske 	22 	Joey Logano 	Shell-PennzoilAAA Financial 	Charger
Ford 	Front Row Motorsports 	34 	Michael McDowell 	Love's Travel Stops 	Mustang
Ford 	Front Row Motorsports 	38 	Hunter Nemechek 	fluctuates between races 	Mustang
Ford 	Live Fast Motorsports 	05 	B. J. McLeod 	fluctuates between races 	Mustang
Ford 	Roush Racing 	6 	Ty Majeski 	ValvolineOscar MayerProgressiveiRacingKoch 	Mustang
Ford 	Roush Racing 	66 	Chris Buescher 	FastenalFifth Third Bank 	Mustang
Ford 	Wood Brothers Racing 	21 	Trevor Bayne 	Motorcraft 	Mustang
Ford 	Yates Racing 	28 	Robbie Allison 	Texaco Havoline 	Mustang
Ford 	Yates Racing 	88 	Alex Bowman 	UPS 	Mustang
Honda 	Beard Motorsports 	62 	Noah Gragson
(superspeedway events only) 	Beard Oil
South Point 	Civic
Honda 	Beard Motorsports 	62 	Ryan Newman (all other events) 	Beard Oil
South Point 	Civic
Honda 	Brett Favre Racing 	15 	Parker Kligerman 	Nike Sony 	Civic
Honda 	Brett Favre Racing 	61 	Bo Abraham 	Kodak 	Civic
Honda 	Brett Favre Racing 	90 	Shane Hmiel 	Fujifilm 	Civic
Honda 	Michael Waltrip Racing 	17 	Macy Waltrip 	MBNAAAA Insurance 	Civic
Honda 	Michael Waltrip Racing 	55 	Brian Vickers 	Square D 	Civic
Honda 	Michael Waltrip Racing 	56 	Brett Moffitt 	NAPA 	Civic
Nissan 	Robby Gordon Motorsports 	107	Robby Gordon
(road-course events only) 	Speed Energy 	GT-R
Nissan 	Robby Gordon Motorsports 	107	Ty Dillon (oval events only) 	Speed Energy 	GT-R
Nissan 	JTG Daugherty Racing 	47 	Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 	Cottonelle 	GT-R
Nissan 	JTG Daugherty Racing 	59 	Ryan Preece 	Kroger 	GT-R
Pontiac 	Kennedy Racing 	03 	Louise Kennedy 	AflacShowBiz Pizza Place 	Trans-Am
Pontiac 	Kennedy Racing 	09 	Katrina Goode 	Arby'sChuck E. Cheese 	Trans-Am
Pontiac 	Leavine Family Racing 	95 	Anthony Alfredo (R) 	Procore 	Trans-Am
Pontiac 	Stewart-Haas Racing 	00 	Cole Custer 	Haas Automation 	Trans-Am
Pontiac 	Stewart-Haas Racing 	4 	Kevin Harvick 	Jimmy John'sMobil 1 	Trans-Am
Pontiac 	Stewart-Haas Racing 	10 	Danica Patrick 	GoDaddyMobil 1 	Trans-Am
Pontiac 	Stewart-Haas Racing 	14 	Tony Stewart 	Home DepotOffice DepotOld SpiceBass Pro ShopsRush Truck CentersHaas AutomationMobil 1	Trans-Am
Toyota 	23XI Racing 	23 	Bubba Wallace 	DoorDashMcDonald'sDr Pepper 	Supra
Toyota 	23XI Racing 	67 	Kyle Busch 	M&M's 	Supra
Toyota 	Furniture Row Racing 	78 	Chase Briscoe 	5-Hour EnergyPeak AntifreezeFurniture Row 	Camry
Toyota 	Joe Gibbs Racing 	11 	Denny Hamlin 	FedEx 	Camry
Toyota 	Joe Gibbs Racing 	18 	Tyler Reddick 	Wendy's 	Camry
Toyota 	Joe Gibbs Racing 	20 	Cole Whitt 	Dollar GeneralReser'sSports Clips 	Camry
Toyota 	Joe Gibbs Racing 	54 	Ty Gibbs (R) 	Monster Energy 	Camry
==2021 Schedule==
No.	Race name 	Venue 	Track Type 	Date 	TV
1 	Dodge/SaveMart 350 	Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma 	Road course 	January 31 	Fox
 	Busch Light Clash At the Coliseum	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles 	Paperclip short track 	February 9 	CBS
 	Gatorade Twin 125's 	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	Superspeedway (restricted) 	February 11 	CBS
2 	Daytona 500 	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	Superspeedway (restricted) 	February 14 	CBS
3 	Subway 400 	Rockingham Speedway, Rockingham 	Intermediate 	February 21 	Fox
4 	Pennzoil 400 	Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas 	Intermediate 	February 28 	Fox
5 	Auto Club 400 	Auto Club Speedway, Fontana 	Superspeedway (unrestricted)	March 7 	Fox
6 	Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 	Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton 	Intermediate 	March 14 	Fox
7 	TranSouth Financial 500 	Darlington Raceway, Darlington 	Egg-Shaped Intermediate 	March 21 	Fox
8 	Food City 500 	Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol 	Short Track 	March 29 	Fox
9 	First Union 400 	North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro 	Short Track 	April 11 	Fox
10 	Silicon Valley 500 	San Jose Motorplex, Gilroy 	Superspeedway (restricted) 	April 18 	Fox
11 	FanShield 500 	Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale 	Intermediate 	April 25 	Fox
12 	Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 	Martinsville Speedway, Ridgway 	Paperclip Short Track 	May 2 	Fox
13 	GEICO 500 	Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln 	Superspeedway (restricted) 	May 9 	Fox
14 	Drydene 400 	Dover International Speedway, Dover 	Intermediate 	May 16 	Fox
 	NASCAR All-Star Open 	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord 	Intermediate 	May 23 	Fox
 	NASCAR All-Star Race 	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord 	Intermediate 	May 23 	Fox
15 	Coca-Cola 600 	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord 	Intermediate 	May 31 	CBS
16 	Diet Coke 500 	Coca-Cola Superspeedway, Denver 	Superspeedway (restricted) 	June 6 	Fox
17 	Pocono 400 	Pocono Raceway, Long Pond 	Superspeedway (unrestricted)	June 12 	CBS
18 	Pennsylvania 400 	Pocono Raceway, Long Pond 	Superspeedway (unrestricted)	June 13 	CBS
19 	Motorcraft 400 	Nazareth Speedway, Nazareth 	Intermediate 	June 20 	CBS
20 	FireKeepers Casino 400 	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn 	Superspeedway (unrestricted)	June 27 	CBS
21 	Pepsi Firecracker 400 	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	Superspeedway (unrestricted)	July 4 	CBS
22 	Harley-Davidson 250 	Road America, Lake Elkhart 	Road Course 	July 11 	CBS
23 	Foxwood Casino Resort 301 	New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon 	Intermediate 	July 18 	CBS
24 	Brickyard 400 	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway 	Superspeedway (unrestricted)	July 25 	CBS
25 	Bud 500 	Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol 	Short Track 	July 31 	CBS
26 	Music City USA 420 	Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, Nashville 	Short Track 	August 7 	CBS
27 	Tesla 500 	San Jose Motorplex, Gilroy 	Superspeedway (restricted) 	August 15 	CBS
28 	Go Bowling at the Glen 	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen 	Road Course 	August 22 	NBC
29 	Mopar 400 	Chicago Motor Speedway, Cicero 	Paperclip Intermediate 	August 29 	NBC
30 	Southern 500 	Darlington Raceway, Darlington 	Egg-Shaped Intermediate 	September 5 	NBC
31 	Pontiac Excitement 400 	Richmond International Raceway, Richmond 	Short Track 	September 11	NBC
32 	Ally 400 	Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon 	Intermediate 	September 19	NBC
33 	Goody's 500 	Martinsville Speedway, Ridgway 	Paperclip Short Track 	September 26	NBC
34 	DieHard 500 	Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln 	Superspeedway (restricted) 	October 3 	NBC
35 	Hollywood Casino 400 	Kansas Speedway, Kansas City 	Intermediate 	October 10 	NBC
36 	Bank of America 500 	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord 	Oval 	October 16 	NBC
37 	AC Delco 400 	Rockingham Speedway, Rockingham 	Intermediate 	October 24 	NBC
38 	Budweiser 400 	Riverside International Raceway, Riverside 	Road Course 	October 31 	NBC
39 	Sprite 500 	Coca-Cola Superspeedway, Denver 	Superspeedway (restricted) 	November 7 	NBC
40 	Atlanta Journal 500 	Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton 	Intermediate 	November 14 	NBC
41 	Los Angeles Times 500 	Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario 	Superspeedway (unrestricted)	November 21 	NBC
==Videos==
Coming soon!
===Full Races===
===Tests===
===Top-10 Moments===
===Intros===
===Other===
==See Also==
*List of music (Start Your Engines!)
*List of NASCAR Manufacturers (Start Your Engines!)
*List of eligible models that never ran (Start Your Engines!)
Category:Start Your Engines!