Sprint Cup (trophy)
The Sprint Cup is a trophy that is awarded to the winner of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It is made of sterling silver with a wood base and was created by renowned silversmiths Tiffany & Co., whose other major trophy in sports have included the World Series (Major League Baseball) Commissioners 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 tall and weighs 27 pounds[1]. It was designed in 2003 by Bruce Newman[2] and was first awarded in 2004 to series champion Kurt Busch. 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 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.
In fact, there are more Sprint Cup trophies than the one handed out to the championship driver. 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
- ^ Racingone.com, "Nextel Cup Unveiled"
- ^ 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"
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