NASCAR Off to the Races

No doubt, NASCAR is incredibly popular nationwide with 13 million fans attending races at 22 tracks in 19 states. It's definitely gone down the track of big business. Even six years to the week after his death at the Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt, Sr. items are still selling strong on eBay, a true testament to his legacy to the sport. Yet, with the start of a new season last Sunday (Feb. 18), items related to son Dale, Jr. (pictured) have been selling even hotter, nearly 7,500 over the last two weeks compared to 1,500 related to his father. By comparison, 4,500 items related to fellow driver Tony Stewart and 2,000 items related to last year's NASCAR champ Jimmie Johnson sold over the same period.

This year also is debuts the Car of Tomorrow, a newly revamped stock car that supposedly reduces costs, increases safety and promotes competitive racing. If you can't afford your own racing team, you may be interested in a die cast model one-tenth the original size. Not as fast as the real thing but much more economical to maintain.

Over the last quarter-century, Hollywood has even tried to get into the NASCAR act, some with more success than others. It all started with "Six Pack" (starring Kenny Rogers) in 1982, which was followed by "Stroker Ace" (with Burt Reynolds) in 1983, and then "Days of Thunder" (starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman) in 1990, but the one auto racing movie that has seemed to have any zip (and good reviews) was the most recent, last year's "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," starring Will Ferrell (right).

Tag: NASCAR