The series debuted in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, with the inaugural race held at Charlotte Speedway on June 19, 1949. Jim Roper was declared the winner after Glenn Dunaway was disqualified for a rules infringement. The division was renamed the Grand National in 1950, a label intended to confer greater professional legitimacy on the fledgling championship. Through the 1950s and 1960s, the majority of races were held on dirt-surfaced short oval tracks; Darlington Raceway, which opened in 1950 as the first purpose-built paved superspeedway over one mile, represented the beginning of the shift to asphalt.
In 1971, following a ban on cigarette advertising on television, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company became the series title sponsor, and the championship was known as the Winston Cup Series from 1971 to 2003. A telecommunications firm took over in 2004, giving the series the Nextel Cup name; a subsequent corporate merger produced the Sprint Cup name from 2008 to 2016. Monster Energy sponsored the series from 2017 to 2019. Beginning in 2020, NASCAR adopted a multi-partner model with several Premier Partners — including Busch Beer, Coca-Cola, Xfinity, and Freeway Insurance — rather than a single title sponsor, and the championship became the NASCAR Cup Series.
The modern season consists of 36 races held at approximately 30 oval circuits and 6 road courses, spread primarily across the United States. The Daytona 500, held each February, is the most prestigious event on the schedule and traditionally opens the season.
Since 2004, the championship has been decided by a playoff system. After 26 regular season races, 16 drivers advance to the final ten races of the year. The postseason has been structured in several ways since its introduction; for most of its history it has featured elimination rounds — a Round of 16, Round of 12, and Round of 8 — that progressively cut the contender field down to a Championship 4 who compete in the season finale for the title, with the championship awarded to whichever of the four finishes highest in that final race. The format was briefly replaced in 2026 by a return to the original Chase structure used from 2004 to 2013, which relies on points accumulation rather than elimination.
In 2017, stage racing was introduced. Races are divided into two or three stages with the top finishers at the end of each stage awarded bonus championship points, adding mid-race competitive pressure and shifting pit strategy considerations.
Cup cars use EFI V8 engines displacing 358 cubic inches and producing over 850 horsepower. The current specification, known as the Next Gen car, was introduced in 2022 and brought major changes including independent front and rear suspensions with double wishbones, center-lock wheels, a rear diffuser, and improved cost controls intended to lower the barrier to competitive participation. Three manufacturers — Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota — contest the series, with manufacturer championships awarded alongside the driver and team titles.
Track configurations range from Martinsville Speedway at 0.526 miles to Talladega Superspeedway at 2.66 miles. Superspeedways at Talladega and Daytona require a restricted engine specification to control speeds. Road course events are held at circuits including Sonoma Raceway, Watkins Glen International, and the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.
Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and Jimmie Johnson share the record for most championships with seven titles each. Johnson won five consecutive titles from 2006 to 2010, a record for consecutive championships. Chevrolet leads all manufacturers in all-time race wins and titles.
The 1979 Daytona 500 was a turning point for the sport's national profile, being the first stock car race broadcast live in its entirety on national television. A collision between leaders Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison on the final lap, followed by a trackside fistfight, drew a large audience trapped indoors by an eastern United States snowstorm and brought the sport to millions of new viewers. The broadcast demonstrated the series' potential for dramatic live television and accelerated investment in media rights that would define the sport's growth through subsequent decades.