Well, I think in the grand view of things, NASCAR is as American as baseball or apple pie. Of course, it is a sport based completely off the illegal activity of the moonshine business, with the assorted drivers getting together to see who's shine-car is faster. To answer you questions:
1) Economically speaking, NASCAR is still a very powerful tool indeed. So many companies strive to be a part of NASCAR by sponsoring a car or a driver, and with success on the track comes more success in the sales department. I know atleast for me, when NASCAR moved to become the NEXTEL Cup, I myself switched to NEXTEL for my cell-phone service because of the imbeded NASCAR features and promotions I recieve with my phone. As for other things, atleast with me companies like Budweiser and NAPA are well-established brands in my house, so seeing their advertisements does nothing for me...
Getting to the automotive side, it is a tough question to answer. On the one hand, the sport is still driven (if not by the drivers themselves) by brand loyalties and manufactuer backing. Although the stock cars of today are a far cry from those of the '50s-'70s, they still are nonetheless based off of street models. The phrase "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday" generally applies to the overall idea of the NASCAR relationship with car sales, but it isnt nearly effective as it was all those years ago. Keep in mind that the cars we drove on the road at the time were nearly identical to those that were on the track. Cars like the Ford Torino Talledega, Dodge Daytona, Plymouth Superbird, and Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 were all street versions of the cars that raced on the track... A big difference from today, in which almost all of the NASCAR cars are based on FWD models such as the Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS and Ford Fusion. There has been a push in NASCAR to return to something closer to street versions of the cars of which they are based upppon with the "Car of Tomorow" but I seriously doubt that it will have any effect on the sales of these new cars, as most NASCAR fans are allready driving them to begin with.
2) Certainly NASCAR is a cornerstone of American sporting events. If you look at a list of the biggest events, you will probably find a top five that consists of the Superbowl, Daytona 500, World Series, Indy 500, and NBA Finals. I belive that NASCAR is currently rated second only to Football (thats the "real" [lol] Football) in terms of popularity with males, and I belive that NASCAR is first in popularity with Women. With events like the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, NEXTEL All-Star Shootout (formerly The Winston), EA-Sports 500, etc thre is no question that the popularity of NASCAR is immense. Consider this: ABC/ESPN fought long and hard for the rights to carry NASCAR in 2007, presumably from NBC for giving them their rights to the NFL. This will be the first time ABC has carried NASCAR since the early 1990s, and realising it's popularity, they jumped at the chance to grab it...
3) I think on the world stage, NASCAR has given the US somewhat of a negative image. I'm my "How the World Views the United States" thread, often times NASCAR would come up with "furrinerrs" suggesting that we are inferior or backwards considering their favorite racing sport, F1. It is a difference of culture I suppose, but even in the US, NASCAR does not necessiarily carry the most positive ideals with it... Often times people associate NASCAR fans with rednecks, white trash, etc. It is unfortunate, as many of the fans are the exact opposite. If anything NASCAR has helped create a sport that is still uniquely American, and is based on one of the most American ideals ever; Breaking the law.
4) As a culture, NASCAR is most certainly its own thing. Although it has become radically comercialized in the past decade, it is still unique to so many people across the country. It is still a stand-out sport, and many people stay away from it because it is NASCAR. But as it's popularity grows, I think the overall culture of NASCAR may decline. I would consider things such as the week-long tailgates in the infield at most major racetracks as HUGE parts of the NASCAR culture, and to truely exprieince what NASCAR culture is like, you only need to spend a few mins. down in the infield. I think added to all of that is the fact that so many small NASCAR events and tracks have sprung up across the country since the sport's introduction in the late 1940s.
It's a long topic to discuss, and hopefully my knowlege of the sport (I'm a HUGE NASCAR Fan) helped you out. Feel free to credit, I'm not ashamed of my liking of NASCAR...
