The Champions Cup

11.11.2017

by Liz Allison

Photo: Phil Cavali Photography

On November 19, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion will be crowned at Homestead Miami Speedway. The championship hopefuls better be hitting the weights because the newly crowned champion will have to hoist a 68 pound Cup and not just any cup……The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champions Cup.

The newly revamped/redesigned Champions Cup is replacing the older version of the champions trophy, which dates back to 2004 when Sprint came on board as the naming sponsor of NASCAR’s premier series.

This trophy is more than your average Champions Trophy, not only heavy in weight but 37 inches tall and one that took Jostens three months to create.
The coveted trophy was kept under lock and key until the official unveiling that took place in August, prior to the start of the playoffs. Martin Truex Jr (regular season champion) Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson were some of the first drivers to lay their eyes on the massive cup.

The aluminum trophy was manufactured in Oklahoma City and then moved to NASCAR’s Daytona Beach headquarters before making the media rounds for the playoffs. The replica of the trophy will visit each race in the playoffs, serving as a reminder to the competitors what is waiting for the series champion at the season finale.

The design of the trophy is quite unique and one that initially came from a chandelier hanging in NASCAR’s corporate office in Daytona. The original rendition was scratched but what did remain is that all 23 tracks on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule are depicted in the design. What may look like loose scrolling and off line formation is actually the layout of each track intricately woven together. This was not an easy task and one that took more than 300 hours to create.

And for you curious ones wondering if its an actual Cup….the answer is YES. In fact, a Cup that can hold 600 ounces of the fluid of choice for the newly crowned 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion….and for the most curious minds…that’s 37 Monster Energy drinks.