Sprint Cup (trophy)

Sprint Cup Trophy
The Sprint Cup Trophy, shown with the NEXTEL Cup insignia used from 2004 through 2007.
Awarded for	Winning the Sprint Cup Series championship
Presented by	NASCAR
Location	Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Country	United States
First awarded	2004
Currently held by	Jimmie Johnson

The Sprint Cup Trophy is the trophy presented to the championship winner of the premier series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). It is made of sterling silver with a wood base and was created by renowned silversmiths Tiffany & Co., whose other major championship trophies in sports have included the World Series (Major League Baseball) Commissioner's Trophy, the NFL's Vince Lombardi Trophy, given to the champions of the Super Bowl and the Larry O'Brien Trophy, handed to the playoff champions of the NBA following the NBA Finals.

The trophy is 24 inches (61 cm) tall and weighs 27 pounds (12 kg). ^[1]. It was designed in 2003 by Bruce Newman^[2] and was first awarded in 2004 to series champion Kurt Busch and the latest one being awarded to Jimmie Johnson in 2010. The Sprint Cup is awarded to the driver who scores the most points after the Chase for the Sprint Cup at a post season awards banquet in Las Vegas (formerly New York City) in December and is crowned the champion for that season. The winner maintains permanent possession of the trophy, some teams will display the trophy in their race shop. Also teams who have not won a Sprint Cup will usually have a reserved display case located in their race shop for the trophy.

Traditionally, there are three Sprint Cup trophies handed out; one each to the championship driver, team, and primary sponsor.

There is a permanent Sprint Cup trophy at the Daytona 500 Experience next to Daytona International Speedway featuring all of the past champions into perpetuity. Another Sprint Cup is located within NASCAR's New York City offices that is put on display during "Championship Week", when the annual awards ceremony and banquet honoring that year's champion is held and another one travels from track-to-track as part of the Sprint Experience tour.

References

1. ^ "Racingone.com, "Nextel Cup Unveiled"". Racingone.com. http://www.racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=20658. Retrieved 2010-12-24. 
2. ^ Matthew Scharle, who worked as an independent contractor for the Franklin Mint when they designed it in 2002-03, filed a lawsuit against NASCAR demanding the rights to the design or compensation. NASCAR won the case and credits the design to Newman, who was the Franklin Mint's president at the time. SceneDaily.com, "NASCAR victory in trophy case upheld"