Since 1975, drivers from around the world gather to compete in a global race that is one of the three international events, behind both the Olympics and the World Cup. Racing is not a new phenomenon; in fact the first automobile race was started in France in 1911; the Grand Prix. In European Monarchies, racing has been considered a gentleman’s sport, with the nobility largely competing in races while the rest of the populous watched. In European Republics, that have no peerage, it is largely the domain of the wealthy. In the United States, any able driver who can find a sponsor can race. The National Stock Car Association of Racers, with roots going back to the Confederacy and alcohol smuggling between the wars, is looked down upon by European racers do to its heavy reliance on sponsors and commericialization.
Those who race in the Automotive Cup are decided by various means and are mostly limited by rules demanding racers use cars from their own countries. In most European nations, the racers are selected by parliaments from their own members. In France, they are elected by the National Assembly, and usually are the winners of the previous year’s Grand Prix. The Greek government owns its own racer (Greece has been granted exemption from the national-only cars, since Greece produces no high-speed automobiles, but rather the state produced Greeco), and usually employs the winner of the Greek Army’s own racing events. The United States decides its competetior by whoever wins that year’s Stars and Stripes 500 (held in Dayton, Ohio). Since commercial sponsors are prohibited from advertising on the cars (which are traditionally painted in their nation’s colors), American racers who are not independently wealthy rely upon private sponsors and donations.
The races are not the classic ovals, but rather closed courses with many bends and turns, designed to test the skill of the drivers. The Cup is held in a different country, where a new race track is design and built.
Year: Host: Winner:
1975: Germany: France
1979: Sweden: Italy
1983: Brazil: Italy
1987: United States: United Kingdom
1991: Arab Republic: Sweden
1995: Germany: Italy
1999: Italy: Germany
2003: France: United States
2007: Poland-Lith: United Provinces
2011: Japan:
