Bishop, California
Bishop is a city in Inyo County, United States. Though Bishop is the only incorporated city and the largest populated place in Inyo County, the county seat is located in Independence. Bishop is located at an elevation of 4,150 feet; the town was named after Bishop Creek. Located near numerous tourist attractions, Bishop is a major resort town; the population of the city was 3,879 at the 2010 census, up from 3,575 at the 2000 census. The population of the built-up zone containing Bishop is much larger, however. More than 14,500 people live in a compact area that includes Bishop, West Bishop, Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, the Bishop Reservation, it is by far the largest settlement in Inyo County. A number of western films were shot in Bishop, including movies starring John Wayne, Charlton Heston and Joel McCrea. Bishop lies west of the Owens River at the northern end of the Owens Valley, it is on U. S. Route 395, the main north-south artery through the Owens Valley, connecting the Inland Empire to Reno, Nevada.
US 395 connects Bishop to Los Angeles via State Route 14 through Palmdale. Bishop is the western terminus of U. S. Route 6; the Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony control land just west of the town. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power controls much of the upstream and surrounding area. Bishop is to the east of the Sierra Nevada, west of the White Mountains. Numerous peaks are within a short distance of Bishop, including Mount Humphreys, to the west, White Mountain Peak in the northeast, pyramidal Mount Tom northwest of town. Basin Mountain is viewed to the west from Bishop. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.9 square miles, over 97% of it land. Bishop is known as the "Mule Capital of the World" and a week-long festival called Bishop Mule Days has been held since 1969 on the week of Memorial Day, celebrating the contributions of pack mules to the area; the festival attracts many tourists from the Southern California area.
Bishop is well known in the rock climbing community. Near the city are numerous climbing spots that attract visitors from around the world. There are over 2,000 bouldering problems in Bishop; the two main types of rock are volcanic granite. Bishop Visitors Bureau Bishop Area Chamber of Commerce City of Bishop Inyo National Forest Supervisor's Office Paiute Indian Reservation Paiute-Shoshone Cultural Center Museum Laws Rail Museum Keoughs Hot Springs Eastern Sierra Regional Airport Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest The City of Bishop in Inyo County, California was named for one of the first European settlers in the area, Samuel A. Bishop. Owens Lake was named for Richard Owens, a member of John C. Fremont's 1845 exploration party which included Ed Kern; the entire valley became known as The Owens Valley. The Paiute Indians called Owens Lake by the name of “Pacheta” and the Owens River “Wakopee.” Geographically, Inyo County is today the second largest county in California with a population of over 18,000 residents.
The county is so big that several eastern states put together would fit neatly within its boundaries. Inyo County contains the lowest points in the contiguous United States. A difference of nearly 15,000 feet; the “Inyo” in Inyo County is believed to be a Paiute word meaning “dwelling place of the great spirit,” although some scholars are now convinced that it is a mistranslation of the word, “Indio,” Spanish for Indian. It is possible that the Paiute were trying to explain to the earliest English speaking settlers in the Owens Valley that this was their land by using a form of “Indio” they had learned from other Indian tribes, who in turn, had learned it from the Spanish or Mexicans, not realizing that not all Europeans spoke the same language, thus Inyo may mean “Indian Land.” The first American explorers in the Owens Valley of Eastern California included the famous mountain men Jedediah Smith in 1826 and Joseph Walker in 1834. This remote area of California had never been explored by the Spanish and though it was shown as Mexican territory on early maps, the Eastern Sierra region remained unvisited by them.
Present day Walker Lake in western Nevada, the Walker River on the California/Nevada border and Walker Pass in the southern Sierra were named for their discoverer, Joseph Walker. The most renowned early explorer to visit the area was John C. Fremont, he was the first Republican candidate to run for President of the United States in 1856 and a famous Union Civil War general. Sanctioned by the federal government, his 1845 mapping party to the Eastern Sierra included the celebrated Indian scout Kit Carson, for whom the capitol of Nevada, Carson City, was named. In the party were Ed Kern for whom Kern County, California was named, Richard Owens, who gave his name to the Owens Lake near Lone Pine and the Owens Valley itself. Fremont lost a cannon that he had brought along in case of Indian attacks somewhere near present day Bridgeport, California. Someone will stumble across the rusty old cannon someday; the City of Bishop came into being due to the need for beef in a booming mining camp some eighty miles to the north, Nevada, (Aurora w
Traffic sign
Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of or above roads to give instructions or provide information to road users. The earliest signs were simple wooden or stone milestones. Signs with directional arms were introduced, for example, the fingerposts in the United Kingdom and their wooden counterparts in Saxony. With traffic volumes increasing since the 1930s, many countries have adopted pictorial signs or otherwise simplified and standardized their signs to overcome language barriers, enhance traffic safety; such pictorial signs use symbols in place of words and are based on international protocols. Such signs were first developed in Europe, have been adopted by most countries to varying degrees. Various international conventions have helped to achieve a degree of uniformity in Traffic Signing in various countries. Traffic signs can be grouped into several types. For example, Annexe 1 of the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, which on 30 June 2004 had 52 signatory countries, defines eight categories of signs: A.
Danger warning signs B. Priority signs C. Prohibitory or restrictive signs D. Mandatory signs E. Special regulation signs F. Information, facilities, or service signs G. Direction, position, or indication signs H. Additional panelsIn the United States, Ireland and New Zealand signs are categorized as follows: Regulatory signs Warning signs Guide signs Street name signs Route marker signs Expressway signs Freeway signs Welcome signs Informational signs Recreation and cultural interest signs Emergency management signs Temporary traffic control signs School signs Railroad and light rail signs Bicycle signsIn the United States, the categories and graphic standards for traffic signs and pavement markings are defined in the Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices as the standard. A rather informal distinction among the directional signs is the one between advance directional signs, interchange directional signs, reassurance signs. Advance directional signs appear at a certain distance from the interchange, giving information for each direction.
A number of countries do not give information for the road ahead, only for the directions left and right. Advance directional signs enable drivers to take precautions for the exit, they do not appear on lesser roads, but are posted on expressways and motorways, as drivers would be missing exits without them. While each nation has its own system, the first approach sign for a motorway exit is placed at least 1,000 metres from the actual interchange. After that sign, one or two additional advance directional signs follow before the actual interchange itself; the earliest road signs were milestones, giving direction. In the Middle Ages, multidirectional signs at intersections became common, giving directions to cities and towns. In 1686, the first known Traffic Regulation Act in Europe is established by King Peter II of Portugal; this act foresees the placement of priority signs in the narrowest streets of Lisbon, stating which traffic should back up to give way. One of these signs still exists in the neighborhood of Alfama.
The first modern road signs erected on a wide scale were designed for riders of high or "ordinary" bicycles in the late 1870s and early 1880s. These machines were fast and their nature made them difficult to control, moreover their riders travelled considerable distances and preferred to tour on unfamiliar roads. For such riders, cycling organizations began to erect signs that warned of potential hazards ahead, rather than giving distance or directions to places, thereby contributing the sign type that defines "modern" traffic signs; the development of automobiles encouraged more complex signage systems using more than just text-based notices. One of the first modern-day road sign systems was devised by the Italian Touring Club in 1895. By 1900, a Congress of the International League of Touring Organizations in Paris was considering proposals for standardization of road signage. In 1903 the British government introduced four "national" signs based on shape, but the basic patterns of most traffic signs were set at the 1908 International Road Congress in Paris.
In 1909, nine European governments agreed on the use of four pictorial symbols, indicating "bump", "curve", "intersection", "grade-level railroad crossing". The intensive work on international road signs that took place between 1926 and 1949 led to the development of the European road sign system. Both Britain and the United States developed their own road signage systems, both of which were adopted or modified by many other nations in their respective spheres of influence; the UK adopted a version of the European road signs in 1964 and, over past decades, North American signage began using some symbols and graphics mixed in with English. Over the years, change was gradual. Pre-industrial signs were stone or wood, but with the development of Darby's method of smelting iron using coke, painted cast iron became favoured in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Cast iron continued to be used until the mid-20th century, but it was displaced by aluminium or other materials and processes, such as vitreous enamelled and/or pressed malleable iron, or steel.
Since 1945 most signs have been made from sheet aluminium with adhesive plastic coatings. Befo
Costa Mesa, California
Costa Mesa is a city in Orange County, California. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to a suburban and edge city with an economy based on retail and light manufacturing; the population was 109,960 at the 2010 United States Census. Members of the Gabrieleño/Tongva and Juaneño/Luiseño nations long inhabited the area. After the 1769 expedition of Gaspar de Portolà, a Spanish expedition led by Junípero Serra named the area Vallejo de Santa Ana. On November 1, 1776, Mission San Juan Capistrano became the area's first permanent European settlement in Alta California, New Spain. In 1801, the Spanish Empire granted 62,500 acres to Jose Antonio Yorba, which he named Rancho San Antonio. Yorba's great rancho included the lands where the communities of Olive, Villa Park, Santa Ana, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach stand today. After the Mexican-American war, California became part of the United States, American settlers arrived in this area and formed the town of Fairview in the 1880s near the modern intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Adams Avenue.
However, a flood in 1889 wiped out the railroad serving the community, it shriveled. To the south, the community of Harper had arisen on a siding of the Santa Ana and Newport Railroad, named after a local rancher; this town prospered on its agricultural goods. On May 11, 1920, Harper changed its name to Costa Mesa; this is a reference to the city's geography as being a plateau by the coast. Costa Mesa surged in population during and after World War II, as many thousands trained at Santa Ana Army Air Base and returned after the war with their families. Within three decades of incorporation, the city's population had nearly quintupled. Costa Mesa is located 37 miles southeast of Los Angeles, California, 88 miles north of San Diego, California and 425 miles south of San Francisco, Costa Mesa encompasses a total of 16 square miles with its southernmost border only 1 mile from the Pacific Ocean. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.7 square miles. 15.7 square miles of it is land and 0.05 square miles of it is water.
Costa Mesa has a semi-arid climate with mild temperatures year round. Rain falls in the winter months, is close to nonexistent during the summer. Morning low clouds and fog are common due to its coastal location; the 2010 United States Census reported that Costa Mesa had a population of 109,960. The population density was 7,004.0 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Costa Mesa was 75,335 White, 1,640 African American, 686 Native American, 8,654 Asian, 527 Pacific Islander, 17,992 from other races, 5,126 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 39,403 persons; the Census reported that 106,990 people lived in households, 2,232 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, 738 were institutionalized. There were 39,946 households, out of which 12,298 had children under the age of 18 living in them, 16,478 were opposite-sex married couples living together, 4,369 had a female householder with no husband present, 2,392 had a male householder with no wife present. There were 3,013 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, 281 same-sex married couples or partnerships.
10,963 households were made up of individuals and 2,775 had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68. There were 23,239 families; the population was spread out with 23,682 people under the age of 18, 12,847 people aged 18 to 24, 38,211 people aged 25 to 44, 25,106 people aged 45 to 64, 10,114 people who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.7 males. There were 42,120 housing units at an average density of 2,682.9 per square mile, of which 15,799 were owner-occupied, 24,147 were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2%. 42,517 people lived in owner-occupied housing units and 64,473 people lived in rental housing units. During 2009–2013, Costa Mesa had a median household income of $65,830, with 15.1% of the population living below the poverty line. As of the census of 2000, there were 108,724 people, 39,206 households, 22,778 families residing in the city.
The population density was 6,956.3 inhabitants per square mile. There were 40,406 housing units at an average density of 2,585.2 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 69.48% White, 1.40% Black or African American, 0.78% Native American, 6.90% Asian, 0.60% Pacific Islander, 16.57% from other races, 4.27% from two or more races. 31.75% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 39,206 households out of which 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.8% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 41.9% were non-families. 28.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.3% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.34. In the city, the population was spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 39.0% from
Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, United States. It covers about 151 sq mi near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population is around 380,000, making it the 9th-most populous city in California and the 52nd-most populous city in the nation; the Bakersfield–Delano Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Kern County, had a 2010 census population of 839,631, making it the 62nd-largest metropolitan area in the United States. The more built-up urban area that includes Bakersfield and areas around the city, such as East Bakersfield and Rosedale, has a population of over 520,000. Bakersfield is a charter city; the city is a significant hub for both oil production. Kern County is the most productive oil-producing county and the fourth-most productive agricultural county in the United States. Industries include natural gas and other energy extraction, mining, petroleum refining, distribution, food processing, corporate regional offices.
The city is the birthplace of the country music genre known as the Bakersfield sound. Archaeological evidence indicates the presence of Native American settlements dating back thousands of years; the Yokuts lived in lodges along the branches of the Kern River delta and hunted antelope, tule elk, bear and game birds. In 1776, Spanish missionary Father Francisco Garcés became the first European to explore the area. Owing to the remoteness and inaccessibility of the region, the Yokuts remained isolated until after the Mexican War of Independence, when Mexican settlers began to migrate to the area. Following the discovery of gold in California in 1848, settlers flooded into the San Joaquin Valley. In 1851, gold was discovered along the Kern River in the southern Sierra Nevada, in 1865, oil was discovered in the valley; the Bakersfield area, once a tule reed-covered marshland, was first known as Kern Island to the handful of pioneers, who built log cabins there in 1860. The area was subject to periodic flooding from the Kern River, which occupied what is now the downtown area, experienced outbreaks of malaria.
In 1862, disastrous floods swept away the original settlement founded in 1860 by the German-born Christian Bohna. Among those attracted to the area by the California gold rush was Thomas Baker, a lawyer and former colonel in the militia of Ohio, his home state. Baker moved to the banks of the Kern River in 1863, at what became known as Baker's Field, which became a stopover for travelers. By 1870, with a population of 600, what is now known as Bakersfield was becoming the principal town in Kern County. In 1873, Bakersfield was incorporated as a city, by 1874, it replaced the dying town of Havilah as the county seat. Alexander Mills was hired as the city marshal, a man one historian would describe as "... an old man by the time he became Marshal of Bakersfield, he walked with a cane. But he was a Kentuckian, a handy man with a gun, not lacking in initiative and resource when the mood moved him." Businessmen and others began to resent Mills, cantankerous and high-handed in his treatment of them.
Wanting to fire him but fearing reprisals, they came up with a scheme to disincorporate leaving him without an employer. According to local historian Gilbert Gia the city was failing to collect the taxes it needed for services. In 1876, the city voted to disincorporate. For the next 22 years, a citizen's council managed the community. By 1880, the town had a population of 801, by 1890, it had a population of 2,626. Migration from Texas, Louisiana and Southern California brought new residents, who were employed by the oil industry; the city reincorporated on January 11, 1898. On July 21, 1952, an earthquake struck at 4:52 am Pacific Daylight Time; the earthquake, which measured 7.5 on the moment magnitude scale and was felt from San Francisco to the Mexican border, destroyed the nearby communities of Tehachapi and Arvin. The earthquake's destructive force bent cotton fields into U shapes, slid a shoulder of the Tehachapi Mountains across all four lanes of the Ridge Route, collapsed a water tower creating a flash flood, destroyed the railroad tunnels in the mountain chain.
Bakersfield was spared. A large aftershock occurred on July 29, did minor architectural damage, but raised fears that the flow of the Friant-Kern Canal could be dangerously altered flooding the city and surrounding areas. Aftershocks, for the next month, had become normal to Bakersfield residents until, on August 22 at 3:42 pm, a 5.8 earthquake struck directly under the town's center in the most densely populated area of the southern San Joaquin Valley. Four people died in the aftershock, some of the town's historic structures sustained heavy damage. Between 1970 and 2010, Bakersfield grew 400%, making it one of the fastest-growing cities in California. Bakersfield's close proximity to mountain passes the Tejon Pass on Interstate 5 between the Los Angeles metropolis and the central San Joaquin Valley, has made the city a regional transportation hub. In 1990, Bakersfield was one of 10 U. S. communities to receive the All-America City Award from the National Civic League. In 2010, the Bakersfield MSA had a gross metropolitan product of $29.466 billion, making it the 73rd-largest metropolitan economy in the United States.
Bakersfield lies near the southern "horseshoe" end of the San Joaquin Valley, with the southern tip of the Sierra Nevada just to the east. The city limits extend to the Sequoia National Forest, at the foot of the Greenhorn Mountain Range and at the en
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, as well as a diverse residential neighborhood of some 58,000 people. A 2013 study found, it is part of Central Los Angeles. A heritage of the city's founding in 1781, Downtown Los Angeles today is composed of different areas ranging from a fashion district to Skid Row, it is the hub for the city's urban rail transit system and the Metrolink commuter rail system for Southern California. Banks, department stores, movie palaces at one time drew residents and visitors into the area, but the district declined economically and suffered a downturn for decades until its recent renaissance starting in the early 2000s. Old buildings are being modified for new uses, skyscrapers have been built. Downtown Los Angeles is known for its government buildings, parks and other public places; the earliest known settlements in the area of what is now Downtown Los Angeles was by the Tongva, a Native American people. European settlement arrived after Father Juan Crespí, a Spanish missionary charged with exploring sites for Catholic missions in California, noted in 1769 that the region had "all the requisites for a large settlement".
On September 4, 1781, the city was founded by a group of settlers who trekked north from present-day Mexico. Land speculation increased in the 1880s, which saw the population of the city explode from 11,000 in 1880 to nearly 100,000 by 1896. Infrastructure enhancements and the laying of a street grid brought development south of the original settlement into what is today the Civic Center and Historic Core neighborhoods. By 1920, the city's private and municipal rail lines were the most far-flung and most comprehensive in the world in mileage besting that of New York City. By this time, a steady influx of residents and aggressive land developers had transformed the city into a large metropolitan area, with DTLA at its center. Rail lines connected four counties with over 1,100 miles of track. During the early part of the 20th century, banking institutions clustered around South Spring Street, forming the Spring Street Financial District. Sometimes referred to as the "Wall Street of the West," the district held corporate headquarters for financial institutions including Bank of America and Merchants Bank, the Crocker National Bank, California Bank & Trust, International Savings & Exchange Bank.
The Los Angeles Stock Exchange was located on the corridor from 1929 until 1986 before moving into a new building across the Harbor Freeway. Commercial growth brought with it hotel construction—during this time period several grand hotels, the Alexandria, the Rosslyn, the Biltmore, were erected — and the need for venues to entertain the growing population of Los Angeles. Broadway became the nightlife and entertainment district of the city, with over a dozen theater and movie palaces built before 1932. Department stores opened flagship stores downtown, including The Broadway, Hamburger & Sons, May Company, JW Robinson's, Bullock's, serving a wealthy residential population in the Bunker Hill neighborhood. Numerous specialty stores flourished including those in the jewelry business which gave rise to the Downtown Jewelry District. Among these early jewelers included the Laykin Diamond Company and Harry Winston & Co. both of which found their beginnings in the Hotel Alexandria at Fifth and Spring streets.
The Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal opened in May 1939, unifying passenger service among various local and long-distance passenger trains. It was built on a grand scale and would be one of the "last of the great railway stations" built in the United States. Following World War II, the development of the Los Angeles freeway network, increased automobile ownership led to decreased investment downtown. Many corporate headquarters dispersed to new suburbs or fell to mergers and acquisitions; the once-wealthy Bunker Hill neighborhood became a haven for low-income renters, its stately Victorian mansions turned into flophouses. From about 1930 onward, numerous old and historic buildings in the plaza area were demolished to make way for street-level parking lots, the high demand for parking making this more profitable than any other option that might have allowed preservation; the drastic reduction in the number of residents in the area further reduced the viability of streetfront businesses that would be able to attract pedestrians.
For most Angelenos, downtown became a drive-out destination. In an effort to combat blight and lure businesses back downtown, the city's Community Redevelopment Agency undertook the Bunker Hill Redevelopment Project in 1955, a massive clearance project that leveled homes and cleared land for future commercial skyscraper development; this period saw the clearing and upzoning of the entire neighborhood, as well as the shuttering of the Angels Flight funicular railway in 1969. Angels Flight resumed operation in 1996 for a period of five years, shutting down once again after a fatal accident in 2001. On March 15, 2010, the railway once again opened for passenger service following extensive upgrades to brake and safety systems. With Class A office space becoming available on Bunker Hill, many of DTLA's remaining financial corporations moved to the newer buildings, leaving the former Spring Street Financial District devoid of tenants above ground floor. Following the corporate headquarters' moving six blocks west, the large department stores on Broadway shuttered, culminating in the 1980s.
However, the Broadway theaters saw much use as Spanish-language movie houses during this time, beginning with the conve
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. Since 2017, it has been named for its sponsor, Monster Energy, but has been known by other names in the past; the series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, when the series began leasing its naming rights to the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, it was referred to as the Winston Cup Series. A similar deal was made with Nextel in 2003, it became the Nextel Cup Series. Sprint acquired Nextel in 2005, in 2008 the series was renamed the Sprint Cup Series, which lasted until 2016. In December 2016, it was announced that Monster Energy would become the new title sponsor starting in 2017; the championship is determined by a points system, with points being awarded according to finish placement and number of laps led. The season is divided into two segments. After the first 26 races, 16 drivers, selected on the basis of wins during the first 26 races, are seeded based on their total number of wins.
They compete in the last ten races, where the difference in points is minimized. This is called the NASCAR playoffs; the series holds strong roots in the Southeastern United States, with half of the races in the 36-race season being held in that region. The current schedule includes tracks from around the United States. Regular season races were held in Canada, exhibition races were held in Japan and Australia; the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race, had a television audience of about 9.17 million U. S. viewers in 2019. Cup Series cars are unique in automobile racing; the engines are powerful enough to reach speeds of over 200 mph, but their weight coupled with a simple aerodynamic package make for poor handling. The bodies and chassis of the cars are regulated to ensure parity, electronics are traditionally spartan in nature. In 1949, NASCAR introduced the Strictly Stock division, after sanctioning Modified and Roadster division races in 1948. Eight races were run on the Daytona Beach beach/street course.
The first NASCAR "Strictly Stock" race was held at Charlotte Speedway on June 19, 1949. Jim Roper was declared the winner of that race after Glenn Dunaway was disqualified for having altered the rear springs on his car; the division was renamed "Grand National" for the 1950 season, reflecting NASCAR's intent to make the sport more professional and prestigious. It retained this name until 1971; the 1949 Strictly Stock season is regarded in NASCAR's record books as the first season of GN/Cup history. Martinsville Speedway is the only track on the 1949 schedule. Rather than having a fixed schedule of one race per weekend with most entrants appearing at every event, the Grand National schedule has included over sixty events in some years. There are two or three races on the same weekend and two races on the same day in different states. In the early years, most Grand National races were held on dirt-surfaced short oval tracks that ranged in lap length from under a quarter-mile to over a half-mile, or on dirt fairgrounds ovals ranging from a half-mile to a mile in lap length.
One hundred ninety-eight of the first 221 Grand National races were run on dirt tracks. Darlington Raceway, opened in 1950, was the first paved track on the circuit over one mile long. In 1959, when Daytona International Speedway was opened, the schedule still had more races on dirt racetracks than on paved ones. In the 1960s as superspeedways were built and old dirt tracks were paved, the number of races run on dirt tracks was reduced; the last NASCAR race on a dirt track was held on September 30, 1970 at the half-mile State Fairgrounds Speedway in Raleigh, North Carolina. Richard Petty won that race in a Plymouth, sold by Petty Enterprises to Don Robertson and rented back by Petty Enterprises for the race. Between 1971 and 2003, NASCAR's premier series was called the Winston Cup Series, it was sponsored by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company cigarette brand Winston. In 1971, the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act banned television advertising of cigarettes; as a result, tobacco companies began to sponsor sporting events as a way to spend their excess advertising dollars and to circumvent the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act's ban on television advertising.
RJR's sponsorship became more controversial in the wake of the 1998 Tobacco Industry Settlement that restricted avenues for tobacco advertising, including sports sponsorships. The changes that resulted from RJR's involvement in the series as well as from the reduction in schedule from 48 to 31 races per year established 1972 as the beginning of NASCAR's "modern era"; the season was made shorter, the points system was modified several times during the next four years. Races on dirt tracks and on oval tracks shorter than 250 miles were removed from the schedule, transferred to the short-lived NASCAR Grand National East Series. NASCAR's founder, Bill France Sr. turned over control of NASCAR to Bill France Jr.. In August 1974, France Jr. asked series publicist Bob Latford to design a points system with equal points being awarded for all races regardless of length or prize money. This system ensured that the top drivers would have to compete in all the races in order to become the series champion.
This system remained unchanged from 1975 until the Chase for the Championship was instituted in 2004. Since 1982, the Daytona 500 has been the first non-exhib
IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the premier level of open-wheel racing in North America. Its parent company began in 1996 as the Indy Racing League, created by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George as a competitor to CART. In 2008, the IndyCar Series merged with the Champ Car World Series; the series is self-sanctioned by IndyCar. The series' premier event is the Indianapolis 500. Due to the legal settlement with CART, the Indy Racing League was unable to utilize the name IndyCar until the beginning of the 2003 season. For 1996–1997, the series was referred to as the Indy Racing League, with no genre designation. For 1998–1999, the series garnered its first title sponsor, was advertised as the Pep Boys Indy Racing League; the contract was not renewed after the second year. In 2000, the series sold its naming rights to Internet search engine Northern Light for five seasons, the series was named the Indy Racing Northern Light Series. After only two seasons, the sponsorship agreement ended when Northern Light reevaluated its business plan and ended all sponsorships.
The league reverted with no title sponsor. The IndyCar Series name was adopted beginning in 2003, as the series was now entitled to use it. In 2006, IndyCar forged an alliance with Simmons-Abramson Marketing, promising to be "actively engaged in the league's marketing, public relations, sponsorship and branding efforts—from its IndyCar Series to the venerable Indianapolis 500". Simmons co-authored the new IndyCar theme song, "I Am Indy". For the 2008 season, DirecTV served as a presenting sponsor, although this deal only lasted one year due to objections by the series' new cable broadcaster Versus, as it was owned by competitor Comcast. Izod was announced as the series title sponsor beginning on November 5, 2009. Exact financial terms were not disclosed but the deal was reported to be worth at least $10 million per year for 5 years, but ran only 4 of the announced 5 seasons, as Izod ended its sponsorship after the 2013 season. In 2014, Verizon Communications became title sponsor of the series through 2018.
Verizon declined to renew the deal. In January 2019, it was announced that Japanese communications company NTT would become title sponsor and official technology partner of the IndyCar Series, its U. S. subsidiary NTT Data has been a sponsor of Chip Ganassi Racing since 2013. Since the series inception, IndyCar Series events have been broadcast in the United States on several networks, including ABC, CBS, ESPN, Fox Sports Networks, TNN. Beginning in 2009, Versus began a 10-year deal to broadcast 13 IndyCar races per season, whereas the remaining races, including the Indianapolis 500, would remain on ABC through 2018; as of the 2018 season, ABC aired 5 races per-season, with NBCSN or other NBCUniversal networks airing the remainder of the schedule. On March 21, 2018, it was announced that NBC Sports would become the sole U. S. rightsholder under a new three-year contract. NBCSN will continue as the primary broadcast outlet for most races, overflow content will be available through its subscription service NBC Sports Gold.
Eight races per-season will be televised by NBC—including the Indianapolis 500, marking the first time in 54 years that the race will not be televised by ABC. In the United Kingdom, since the launch of BT Sport in August 2013 races are shown on one of the BT branded channels or ESPN. Previous to August 2013, the IndyCar Series races were broadcasts on the Sky Sports family of networks, with the viewing figures of the IndyCar races in the UK outnumbering those of NASCAR races; the IndyCar Series had highlights of all the races on the channel Five British terrestrial channel and Five USA, but has since been discontinued since the 2009 season. In Portugal, all of the IndyCar Series are broadcast on Sport TV. In February 2013, Sportsnet announced that it would become the official Canadian broadcaster of the IndyCar Series beginning in the 2013 season in a five-year deal with the series; the new contract will include broadcasts on the Sportsnet regional networks, Sportsnet One, City, along with mobile coverage and French rights sub-licensed to TVA Sports.
Additionally, Sportsnet would originate coverage from the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Indianapolis 500, Honda Indy Toronto with Bill Adam, Todd Lewis, Rob Faulds. Canadian driver Paul Tracy joined Sportsnet as an analyst. Rede Bandeirantes and DAZN serve as the Brazilian broadcast partners in that country since 1986 and 2019, respectively. Grupo Bandeirantes sports channel BandSports show live races and race highlights. ESPN has been the international broadcast partner of IndyCar Series in Latin America. Eurosport has been the international broadcast partner of IndyCar in most of Europe. In the late 2000s, the official website streamed online all races and practice sessions unrestricted; that service is now limited in the United States to television subscribers of the respective television network broadcasters. The IndyCar Series is not an open formula motor sport archetype. A spec-series, the league mandates chassis and engine manufacturers which teams must use each season; the league mandates horsepower level, aerodynamic configuration, maximum engine speed to which all entrants must adhere.
The league mandates direct control over all drivers, with an designated race boss in race con
California Roads portal