Today is

By: Ikedi Ani-okoye

Californian Jimmie Johnson made NASCAR chronicle by becoming only the 2nd driver to win three sequent NASCAR Sprint Cup Programme (2007 - 2008). The 33 twelvemonths old has mastered the second most popular and the 2nd richest motorsport after Pattern One, claiming 42 race wins in his career.

Johnson is bit of the highly flourishing Hendrick Motorsports aggroup and he and his trusty Lowe's Chevrolet Antelope had to move patiently until the tenth race of the season, the Tube Fresh Fit 500, to claim his over triumph of the twelvemonths.

It appears he only ascertained his battling form in the latter part of the year when it truly counted. He claimed three of the ten 2008 'Chase for the Championship' events, putting him in an unassailable guide for the NASCAR crown yet again.

President's 2008 Victories

• 12 April - Railroad Cleanse Fit 500 - Phoenix Worldwide Raceway
• 27 July - Allstate 400 at the Workshop - Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• 31 August - Cola 500 - Auto Lodge Speedway
• 7 September - Chevy Rock 'n Roll 400 - Richmond Supranational Speedway
• 28 September - Encampment World RV 400 - Kansas Speedway
• 19 Oct - Alkalizer QuikPak 500 - Martinsville Speedway
• 9 November - Chequer O'Reilly Automatic Parts 500 - Phoenix Planetary Raceway

NASCAR under threat

As with most sports, NASCAR has married the long list of casualties of the recent economic melt. Sponsorships have begun to disappearance away with unenviable hasten and some of the single drive teams have still been forced to throw in the towel.

Fortuitously some of the bigger teams have been capable to form relationships with business partners who are not under the proverbial money whiplash but the most recent soul, Chip off Ganassi Racing, obstructed its doors permanently, adding 70 more workers to the long list of discharged Americans.

Sponsorships disappearance and fans lessen

The business troubles have also had a starred result on the number of race fans able to sustain the races live. Dwindling crowds are creating concern for race organisers who are attemping everything to seduce their mainly blue neckband fan base rear to the tracks with all-inclusive ticket packages offering discounts on hotel rooms and still nutrient.

It is going to be gripping to see whether NASCAR survives the horror of the 2008 economic meltdown. If you analyse that cars have to be transported around the States, concealing vast distances in semi-trailer trucks, it is certainly only a matter of time before the tall diesel fuel fuel prices take this hugely popular sport to its knees.

Pattern One aswell on the endangered list

Pattern One racing is also under the microscope, with the powers-that-be thinking right out the box in an exertion to make it more sparing and environmentally friendly. Detractors are discovered to close the doors on motorial racing in perpetuity in the hope that it will spare the weak planet, so if you're a motor sports fan, your weekly race fix might be under serious danger.

Drive an F1 car while you may

The one way to vexation the want for hasten in Southward Africa is to flag down your very own F1 racing car and take it spheric the track a couple of times. There are devoted racing companies in Southmost Africa that allow you to drive an F1 car....best make for the tracks before the endangered motorial racing becomes extinct!