An American wins in the U.S.: Though Mario Andretti wasn't born in the United States, his family moved to Pennsylvania when he was a teenager and he became a U.S. citizen in '64. He made Americans proud when he won the Formula One title in '78, but Andretti had his best red, white and blue moment in '77. In his famous Lotus 78 wing car, he became the only American to win a Formula One race held in the United States when he won the U.S. West Grand Prix at Long Beach, Calif.

Operation Desert Storm: -- In '91, when NASCAR's top level of racing was still sponsored by Winston, tobacco-maker R.J. Reynolds came up with a unique plan for the Daytona 500. The company had five unsponsored drivers paint their cars to represent the five branches of the U.S. Armed Services. This came during the middle of Operation Desert Storm. The drivers were Alan Kulwicki (No. 7, Army); Greg Sacks (No. 18, Navy): Mickey Gibbs (No. 24, Air Force); Dave Marcis (No. 71, Coast Guard) and Buddy Baker (No. 88, Marines).

Memorial Day paint schemes: At the dawn of the new century, NASCAR embraced military paint schemes as a way to appeal to its patriotic fans. Souvenirs, especially die-cast cars, with military and patriotic paint schemes, flew off the shelves. These have been especially popular in conjunction with the Memorial Day races held in Charlotte. In '00, five Cup drivers drove with military paint schemes as a Tribute to Freedom in the Millennium. In May of '07, eight Cup drivers and two Busch drivers drove with American Heroes paint schemes.

Earnhardt goes for the gold: NASCAR's best patriotic paint scheme ever was driven in Charlotte on May, but it didn't have anything to do with the Olympics. In honor of the '96 Olympic Games held in Atlanta and the U.S. Olympic team, Earnhardt Sr. drove in U.S. colors for NASCAR's all-star race, then called The Winston.