Carl Michael Edwards was born August 15, 1979 in Columbia, MO and competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series for Roush Fenway Racing.

It has took Edwards 6 years to move from the Camping World Truck series to the Elite Sprint cup series during which time he has won Nationwide Series Championship and had numerous other wins as well.

In the first 10 years of Edwards career he has created some  impressive statistics;

• - two NASCAR-sanctioned track championships
• - three Rookie-of-the-Year honors
• - over 75 feature wins while racing on a variety of tracks

Racing is in Edwards blood and he is the son of another successful racing driver, Carl Edwards, Sr, who has been racing modified stock cars and USAC midgets for over 40 years. Carl Edwards started his career at the age of 13  racing 4 cylinder cars around Missouri and Illinois. Through 1994 to 1996 Carl collected numerous awards.

In 1997 Edwards started to compete in the NASCAR Dirt Modified division going on to win Rookie-of-the-Year honors in 1998 in the modified division at Capital Speedway in Holt Summit, Mo.

Next Edwards moved onto the Pro-Modified division in 2000 winning 13 races, becoming rookie of the year and capturing the Capital Speedway Track Championship. Not content with this he went on to compete in three Sportsman division races and won all three races.

In 2003 Carl joined the Roush Fenway Racing and drove the No. 99 Superchips Ford F-150 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The first season that he raced in saw lead to him winning three times, having one pole, 13 top-five finishes, 15 top-10 finishes and the Raybestos Rookie-of-the-Year award. Edwards success continued in 2004 where he won the opening race at Daytona, then went on to win at Kansas and Bristol.

The 2006 season started slowly with Carl Edwards running a full schedule however Carl soon rebounded and eventually finished 12th overall in the Cup point standings.

In 2008 Carl was one of the top contenders in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series and gave a consistent performance throughout. During the Chase he won 3 of the last 4 races narrowly losing the final race to Jimmie Johnson. In 2008 he was also awarded the Richard Petty Driver of the Year Award and the Tag Heuer Top Racecar Driver of the Year Award.

You can read about more NASCAR racing drivers at JustCustomz.com.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Edwards
http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/cedwards00/cup/index.html
http://www.carledwards.com/

Kasey Kahne was born April 10, 1980 in Enumclaw, Washington and left when he was 17 to pursue his passion in sprint car racing in the mid-west. After 6 seasons Kasey soon became one of the big names in NASCAR racing.

Before competing in the NASCAR races he use to race with the help of his father at the age of just 14 in micro-midget races near his home-town. After just 2 years he won his first competition capturing the Hannigan (Wash.) Speedway Mini-Sprints championship and the Northwest Mini-Sprints championship.

Between 1998 and 2002 Kahne continue to nurture his ability by competing in World of Outlaws, All-Star Circuit of Champions, Gumout Racing Series and Northern Sprint Tour winged sprint car series. By 2001 Kahne success in these races had come to the attention of the NASCAR community and he was given the opportunity as a part-time driver for Busch Series ride for the 2002 season.

In the first year Kasey achieved a top-10 finish at Michigan International Speedway in August then in the following year he had his first Busch Series win and scored four top-five and 14 top-10 finishes.

It wasn’t long before Kasey’s winning success attracted the attention of Ray Evernham who gave Kasey a full-time position on his team. That year the 2004 Rookie of the Year recorded 13 top-five finishes and completed the season 13th in the point standings, missing the Chase for the Cup by a mere 28 points.

In 2008 Kasey saw 2 more victories in addition to winning the Sprint All-Star Race. Just before the 2009 season began Gillett Evernham Motorsports was absorbed into Petty Enterprises which then went on to become know as Richard Petty Motorsports. The change was very advantageous to Kasey and allowed him to work with the legendary Richard Petty and saw 2009 as Kasey’s best season since the 2006 breakout season.

When Kasey is not racing he enjoys spending time with family and friends, working on his sprint cars at Kasey Kahne Racing (KKR) or raising money for charity. Each year Kahne raises money through special events for chronically ill children and their families.

You can read about more NASCAR racing drivers at JustCustomz.com.

References

http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/kkahne00/cup/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasey_Kahne
http://www.kaseykahne.com/

Mark Martin was born on 9th January 1959 in Batesville AR but now lives in Davtona Florida with his wife and 5 children.

Martin started his career as a teenager racing on the dirt tracks in Arkansas. In 1974 he raced in a car built and sponsored by his father. Following his success he joined the ASA racing series and went on to win rookie of the year. He finished his ASA racing career after winning 22 races and 4 championships.

In 1987 Mark decided to give racing in NASCAR a try by racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. After winning in a race in Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware he was spotted by NASCAR race car owner Jack Roush. In 1988 Roush and Martin started a 19 year relationship that would see Martin driving the #6 car.

In the 19 years of racing Marck Martin he has had 40 career NASCAR Cup wins and second in the Sprint Cup Series point standings five times. Unfortunately in all the 19 years of racing for Roush he was unable to capture the championship.

In October 6, 2006 it was announced that Martin would split his time with the Busch Series driver Regan Smith in the Ginn Racing #01 U.S. Army Chevrolet in 2007. This was due to limits imposed by NASCAR which meant that Roush racing could not have a team present for all 20 races he wanted to run in 2007.

In 2007 Martin became the only part-time driver in history to not win the opening race and lead the points standings. In July 25, 2007 Dale Earnhardt announced that he had acquired Ginn Racing and Mark Martin joined him as a driver for DEI starting at the 2007 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard sharing the #01 car with Regan Smith.

The next year on July 4, 2008 Martin and Hendrick Motorsports announced that Martin would replace Casey Mears in the #5 car for the 2009 season.

You can read about more NASCAR racing drivers at JustCustomz.com.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Martin
http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/mmartin00/cup/index.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/sprint/drivers/4

Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr was born April 29, 1951 and had a career as a NASCAR race driver racing in the top division. He is mostly remembered for his success in the Winston Cup Series where he won 76 races including the Daytona 500. His aggressive driving style gave him the nicknames of “Ironhead”, “Mr Restrictor Plate”, “The Man in Black” and “The Intimidator”.

Dale was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina to Martha Coleman and Ralph Earnhardt who was also one of the best short-track drivers in North Carolina. His father did not want Dale to follow him in a career in racing but Dale’s stubborn nature led him to drop out of school and race anyway.

Dale married three times and was first married when he was 17 to Latane Brown and had his first son with her in 1969, unfortunately they were divorced shortly after in 1970. A year later Dale met his second wife Brenda Gee who was the daughter of the NASCAR builder Robert Gee. Together they had a daughter, Kelley King, and a son Ralph Dale Jr but they were divorced shortly after the birth of their son. Finally in 1982 Dale married Teressa Houston who gave brith to a daughter, Taylor Nicole, in 1988.

Dale’s racing career started in 1975 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina at the longest racing circuit the World 600. In his first race he drove a Dodge Charger and finished in 22nd place.

Earnhardt’s rookie season was very impressive capturing 4 poles, having 11 Top 5 finishes and 17 Top 10 finishes. He also finished 7th in the points standings despite missing four races after breaking his collar bone. These impressive statistics were one factor that lead to him winning Rookie of the Year honors.

After his rookie season was over Dale Earnhardt started to his winning races with Doug Richert as his crew chief initially racing in the Busch Clash. Then winning at Atlanta, Bristol, Nashville, Martinsville and Charlotte leading to him winning his first Winston Cup championship.

1981 Osterlund sold his team to J.D Stacy which prompted Dale to leave and join Richard Childress Racing. Following a suggestion be Childress he joined Bud Moore and raced for 2 seasons in the #15 Wrangler Jeans Ford Thunderbird.

When the 1983 season ended Dale returned to Richard Childress Racing swapping teams with Ricky Rudd. During the 1984 and 1985 seasons he won five races and had ten Top 5 and sixteen Top 10 finishes.

Through the 1990’s he had many mores successful races and in 1995 Dale had one of the most controversial moments in his career. He was racing at the August Bristol race when he bumped Labonte’s car causing him to spin out of control. Although Dale won the race the spectators Booed and made obscene gestures.

Whilst racing in the 2001 Daytona 500 Dale was involved in an accident where he hit the barrier at the side of the track at about 150 mph. As the car slide across the track it was hit by #36 Pontiac driven by Ken Schrader. To observers the collision looked relatively minor however when Ken looked into the car it caused him to jump back and immediately summon the medical team. The death of Dale led to a plethora of changes to ensure the safety of the drivers.

You can read about more NASCAR racing drivers at JustCustomz.com.

Jimmie Kenneth Johnson was born on September 17,1975 in El Cajon, California and now drives the #48 Lowe’s/Kobolt Tools Chevrolet Impala that is co-owned by Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon. In 2009 Jimmie became the only NASCAR Sprint Cup champion to win 4 consecutive races in the Sprint Cup Series championships. He was also named athlete of 2009 and ‘Driver of the Decade’.

Jimmie started his racing career on 50cc motorcycles at the age of 5 years old winning the 60cc championship by the time he was 8. He then moved into racing cars competing in many different leagues eventually leading to him meeting Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick. In 1998 he joined the American Speed Association (ASA) circuit finishing 4th and picking up a Rookie of the Year. Whilst racing for the ASA he also started racing in the NASCAR nationwide series. He won his first and only Nationwide Series in 2001 at the Hills Brothers Coffee 300 at the Chicagoland Speedway.

In 2000 whilst Johnson was racing at Watkins Glen his brakes failed sending him head on into the Styrofoam insulation and guardrail. Amazingly Jimmie was uninjured in the crash.

Jimmie has many notable achievements in his career such as being the only driver to win the Daytona 500 and Allstate 400 in the same year and the only driver to win three Coca-Cola 600s in a row.

In 2006 Johnson launched the Jimmie Johnson Foundation which is dedicated to assisting families throughout the united states and strives to help people fulfil their dreams.

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Richard Lee Petty was born July 2, 1937 and is the second generation of NASCAR racers. His father was Lee Petty who won the first Daytona 500 in 1959 and was also 3 time NASCAR champion himself. He is commonly referred to as ‘the king’ and has raced in the Championship 7 times which has only been achieved by one other driver, Dale Earnhardt. In his career he has won 200 races, 7 of which were the Daytona 500.

Richard’s family has racing in their blood with his son Kyle Petty also now a NASCAR racing driver. However unfortunately Richard’s grandson Adam Petty was killed in an accident at New Hampshire International Speedway on May 12, 2000 shortly after Richard’s father Lee. After the accident the Victory Junction Gang Camp was set-up and is now run by Adam’s brother Austin.

Richard Petty began racing in 1958 when he was 21 years old but didn’t compete in his first race until the following year at the Canadian National Exhibition Grounds finishing 17th.

As time progressed Petty became more successful finishing 2nd in 1960 and winning races in 1963. In 1964 he won the Daytona 500 leading in 184 of the 200 laps and winning his first Grand National championship. In 1966 he overcame a 2 lap deficit to win his second Daytona 500 race making him the first racer to win 2 Daytona 500 races.

In 1965 Petty joined the boycott of NASCAR due to the banning of the Hemi engine through a change in the rules. During this time Petty took to the drag racing circuits but it his drag-racing career ended when he had an accident injuring several people and killing a 8 year old boy. In 1967 Petty entered a 48 competitions and won 27 of them earning him the title ‘King Richard’.

In the 1970’s the Chrysler Corporation removed their funding support for Petty’s team. In 1972 STP took over the support for Petty insisting that he should change his trademark blue colors for something closer to the STP colors. After a night of negotiations Petty and the STP management team reached a compromise and he would go on to race a newly build Dodge Charger winning many races.

The 1990’s would see the end of Petty’s career with his last top ten position coming in 1992 in the Budweiser at the Glen competition. In 1992 he chose to race in every competition in his Fan Appreciation Tour which took his around the states participating in award ceremonies and special events.

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The Red Bryon’s real name was Robert “Red” Byron and he was born March 12, 1915. He was the first driver to win NASCAR Sprint Cup in 1949 – the first NASCAR race.

Byron was born in Colorado but moved to Anniston, Alabama when he was young. He started his successful racing career, at only 17 year of age, competing in races held in Talledega. When the second world war broke out he served in the Air Force as a flight engineer on a B-24 bomber. Unfortunately his plane was shot down and he suffered a very serious leg injury that would leave him with a limp.

In 1948 Byron began racing in the new NASCAR Modified Series and then went on to complete in the Strictly Stock series which is now the Sprint Cup.

By 1951 Byron’s health was beginning to decline and he decided to no longer race. He joined several car related projects trying to develop a car to win the Grand Prix, neither of which were successful.

Whilst Byron was managing the Sports Car Club of America on November 11, 1960 Byron suffered a heart attack and died.

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