Since 2017, the NASCAR Cup Series champion has received a trophy in the form of a chalice with outlines of the race tracks on the series schedule. On Thursday, NASCAR announced the trophy will have a new name: the Bill France Cup, named in honour of the sanctioning body’s founder and his son.
“As the sport ushers in a new era, it’s fitting that my father’s name is associated with the highest mark of excellence in our sport,” NASCAR chairman Jim France stated. “My father and brother’s vision for NASCAR has been realized, many times over, as millions of fans follow and engage each week with the best racing in the world.”
Designed by Jostens, the silver trophy was introduced in 2017 with the arrival of Monster Energy as the title sponsor, replacing the flag-based of the Nextel/Sprint Cup era. During the premier series’ three-year period as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, the trophy was simply referred to as the Monster Energy Cup. With NASCAR’s new sponsorship model for 2020, the trophy will remain mostly the same save for updating any Monster Energy branding.
The track outlines on the Bill France Cup will update accordingly in the future as new circuits are added and replaced; for 2020, twenty-four courses will be featured. Standing at 37 inches (nearly 94 cm) and weighing 68 pounds (30.8 kg), the Cup can hold approximately 600 ounces (17.74 l) of liquid.
France Sr. founded NASCAR in 1947, from which stock car racing began to grow as he oversaw the construction of tracks like Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. Under his son Bill France Jr., the Cup Series saw even greater expansion as the Winston Cup Series, booming into a national and international sport.
