A small, square number "3" sticks to the rear window of a brand new Lexus. A similar but larger "91" adorns the back of a loaded $40,000 pickup towing a 25-foot boat to Lake Pleasant.

These numbers, which represent the car numbers of some of NASCAR's biggest stars, illustrate a trend that has been emerging for the better part of a decade. Its popularity once relished in just a few Southeastern states and by blue-collar fans, NASCAR is on its way to becoming our nation's most popular organized sport.

When Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) President Bryan Sperber was growing up in Daytona Beach, NASCAR was about as Southern as grits and rebel flags, and its races were sponsored by beer, tobacco and oil companies. In his lifetime, he has seen the sport evolve into one of the nation's leading and most profitable sources of entertainment.

Sperber remembers the days when his dad would drive racecars home from the track, a stark contrast to today's network-televised races boasting more than 72 million fans and hundreds of millions of dollars in endorsements.

"About five years ago, I was at Daytona, and I had the chance to escort Donald Trump and his wife around the property," Sperber says. "We ran into a Supreme Court Justice wearing a Richard Petty jacket. That opened my eyes to NASCAR's broadening appeal. Since then, having celebrities is nothing out of the ordinary," he adds.

While Sperber managed a NASCAR raceway in California he grew accustomed to seeing the likes of Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Tommy Lasorda, the Winans brothers and other celebrities and athletes at NASCAR races.

Valley NASCAR Fans

While hosting an NFL Super Bowl remains one of any city's most coveted events, it will typically generate in revenues approximately what an ASU study estimates NASCAR pumps into our local economy each year -- nearly $300 million. In 2005, for the first time, a NASCAR broadcast on Fox claimed one of the largest prime-time TV audiences, second only to the Super Bowl.

Of the fans watching, almost half earn more than $50,000 a year, a stark contrast to the rebel, flag-waving Southern boy NASCAR fans of yore.

Amy Meadows is one such fan. She isn't southern or a boy, but one of many Valley residents who have made NASCAR an obsessive hobby. Meadows can tell you who won the NASCAR races the weekends she gave birth to each of her children. The day Dale Earnhardt died at the track, Meadows broke down, and like many fans, grieved for weeks.

On any given weekend, Meadows, now an Earnhardt Jr. fan, can be found egging on her husband, who pulls for Rusty Wallace, as they watch the races in their living room or at PIR. "They drive opposing cars, so it can get pretty heated," Amy's husband, Dan, says.

Dan Meadows, Discount Tire Direct's operations manager, oversees about 100 employees from his office, where two authentic NASCAR tires and wheels have found a home near the door. Numerous die-cast NASCAR models, posters and magazines line his credenza. The Discount Tire Busch Series car races across the background of his PC.

For those who don't understand the intense loyalty of NASCAR fans, Meadows says you must attend a race in person to feel and understand the power of the sport.

"I took her to her first race at Riverside, California, in 1989," Dan says of his wife, Amy, arguably as devoted a NASCAR fan as any. "That hooked her, being there in person."

The NASCAR Experience

PIR boasts enough space to seat more than 100,000. Still, last spring's Subway Fresh 500 at PIR sold out weeks prior to the event. "It's not just the racing. From the moment you arrive, your senses are assaulted with all sorts of things to do and see," PIR president Bryan Sperber says of the NASCAR experience.

The raceway, which during NASCAR week is transformed into a city of at least 100,000 people, offers live entertainment, shopping, two sports bars and of course the race itself.

"It's a full 15 to 16 hours of entertainment, part national sporting event, part festival," Sperber says. "It's much more than what happens between the green flag and the checkered."

Grandmother and avid NASCAR fan Jo Ann Hlavac agrees. "The smells of the racetrack, 50,000 grilles all cooking at the same time, you can hear the cars, it's very good on your senses," says Hlavac, owner and operator of LaidbackRacing.com.

Hlavac's Web site, a track guide for NASCAR fans, began as a resource for tailgaters. Last month, more than 44,000 fans visited her unadvertised site.

"As late as the mid-'90s there were never lines at the women's restroom," Hlavac recalls. "When we camped at the tracks, you'd maybe find a woman at every tenth campsite. Since then, it has exploded."

Hlavac, who estimates she has been to about 120 NASCAR races, says the amenities at tracks have also improved in recent years. Newer tracks, like PIR, offer shower houses, upscale bars and a favorite for many female fans: shopping.

Hlavac enjoys shopping, but says she mainly uses it as an excuse to lure other female fans out to the track, where she knows they'll be hooked on the experience. "Women aren't into it until they go to a race," she says. "TV just doesn't do it justice. My sister had never been to a race, but now she has to go to visit all the vendors."

Fame and Fortunes

Thirty-four-year-old Jeff Gordon has cashed in more than $50 million in NASCAR race earnings since he began racing in 1991. That doesn't include endorsements, which ESPN reports bring in more than $10 million each year.

One NASCAR Web site reports Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s annual income, including souvenirs and sponsorships, at about $40 million.

NASCAR driver J.J. Yeley has yet to make a fraction of Gordon or Earnhardt's annual take. NASCAR.com reports his earnings this year at a meager $818,308, but then again, the Phoenix native is only 29.

"When I go to Phoenix International Raceway now, compared to five, 10 years ago, it's just quadrupled. It's amazing to see the number of people," Yeley says of NASCAR's popularity in Arizona.

"There are families that will scrape and save all year so they can go to one race," Yeley says. On the other hand, "you see that a lot of people are obviously able to take time off to travel to races," he says, describing fans who drive full-size RV's across the country to camp at raceways.

"To me, I don't distinguish between what a fan does for their occupation as long as they're out there having a good time," Yeley adds.

As NASCAR attracts more upper- and middle-class fans, officials say the sport is keeping minorities and diversity in the driver's seat. NASCAR reports 40 percent of its fans are women. Valley television demographics from PIR races report 30 percent of Valley NASCAR viewers are Hispanic. Even Japanese Toyota now runs a truck in the NASCAR Craftsman truck series.

Revving Economic Engines

"Tracks have adapted," Sperber says of NASCAR's growth. "We have all sorts of options, from value priced tickets at $35 all the way up to club tickets with hospitality and suites. You see all walks of life drawn to NASCAR, from corporate CEOs to good, hardworking fans."

Even 20 years ago, full-scale NASCAR events were limited to the Southeast. Now Chicago, Los Angeles and Phoenix have raceways. New York City and Seattle have both broken ground on their own NASCAR stadiums.

"It's not as much a traditional sport experience where somebody may come in from the suburbs, watch the event and go home," Sperber adds of NASCAR's impact on the local economy.

"Our events tend to draw people in from all parts of the country for multiple days. That really ramps up the economic impact. Probably half the audience is from out of state, staying in our hotels, eating at our restaurants."

And, at the end of the day, that's something on which local businesses and politicians can all agree.

NASCAR's Checker Auto Parts 500 will take place on Nov. 13.