NASCAR is second only to the NFL in American popularity.

If one follows the national Sports media in this country, you may often hear the term "four major sports leagues." They refer to the National Football League (NFL,) Major League Baseball (MLB,) the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Hockey League (NHL.) These entities are where our home town teams play, and for decades they have been a fabric in our American Sports Culture. They have unofficially been labeled our nation's top four sports.

So let me make it official: NASCAR should be mentioned in this discussion. In fact, I will go further and claim stock car racing is number two, second only to professional football in America!

The sport sometimes still appears stuck in the south where its roots are. You don't hear about NASCAR much on talk radio where the major media are on the west coast and in the northeast. The cable sports panels hardly ever mention the "good ol' boys." To the non-fan, to even mention the fact that NASCAR competes well with the major sports seems silly. But, make no mistake, there is a huge fan base that watch and go to the races, buy the gear and follow their favorite drivers.

I should say 'worship their drivers.' Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson and Tony Stewart top the list of brand names that rabid die-hards follow like housewives tune into soap operas. With no pun intended, those personalities drive the sport. Forty three of them in every race. This is the most important difference from all those professional 'team' sports. But wait, Stock Car Racing is a team sport! From the car owner to the crew chief down to the pit crew, it is as much as a team effort as anything played with a stick and ball.

In 2008, according to television ratings and merchandising sales figures, there is no question that the NFL leads the pack. No other sport in the United States attracts half the viewers or sells the most gear as the National Football League.

Looking at the average Nielsen TV Ratings for the last complete regular season, the NFL leads with a 10.2 share. Second is NASCAR Sprint Cup with 4.2, which is more than double than the next number the list. Tied for the third position is the NBA and MLB at 2.0, and professional Hockey comes in at a dismal 1.1 rating. College Sports do respectable with football at 3.8 and 1.6 for basketball.

Clearly, NASCAR wins the battle for second place when it comes to the ratings through the season, however,

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