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The title of "Next NASCAR" was claimed a while ago by the Rocket Racing League with their manned, rocket powered aircraft.

which doesn't seem to be doing much in the way of racing nowdays.

There are three things about Armadillo Aerospace to remember:

• They have (comparatively) low overhead for their facilities and personnel. While I think they now have a couple of full-time employees, it is just a couple of them... plus a couple of aeronautical engineering interns and others who are all making peanuts. John Carmack's salary doesn't figure into the equation (yet). Being in Texas and Oklahoma doesn't hurt either, especially with the decommissioned air base in Oklahoma that is desperate for customers and practically subsidizing Armadillo's efforts.
• They have been doing a couple of smallish contracts for NASA and a few other companies that are mainly propulsion studies. Armadillo is widely acknowledged as having the most practical experience with smaller liquid-fueled engines than almost anybody in the industry at the moment, where the cost of the rocket fuel is one of the major budget items for them, which is generally something most rocket launchers typically ignore due to how insignificant it is compared to operations and vehicle costs.
• Armadillo engines are being used with the Rocket Racing League, where at least six of them have been sold to paying customers. I believe this is the largest source of money at the moment, and something that looks like a steady source of future income.

John does post on here occasionally, so he might fill in some details, but there is a source of income for the company. They are also not stopping with these few revenue streams either, but have some huge ambitions for the future.

in this

In this video, the FAA sees this project as a preview of "citizen suborbital spaceflight."

I know what defines a rocket, and I didn't see any noticeable air intakes on the planes in the pictures, that's why I asked.

Having looked a little closer it seems that they're burning kerosene and carrying liquid oxygen as an oxidiser, so they really are rockets, not jets.

You forgot to mention their joint development project with NASA to develop LOX/methane fueled rocket engines and their contract with the Rocket Racing League to design and build the first generation of rocket X-Racers.

But aside from that you're right on the money. XCOR isn't some new upstart company; they've been in this business for a long time and take a long-term view towards development. Suborbital vehicle development is just the next step, not the beginning nor the end.

Hm... I tried submitting this story a couple times in the past week, with no luck. I've pasted my submission below, which has a little more info on why the Rocket Racing League could be significant, and a video of former Shuttle Commander Rick Searfoss test-piloting the rocket-plane prototype:

X Prize founder Peter Diamandis's Rocket Racing League has announced its first rocketplane team, headed by two F-16 pilots. The team's expected annual operating cost is up to $1 million, compared to $18 million for a NASCAR vehicle. A video is also available of former Shuttle Commander Rick Searfoss test-piloting a prototype racer at the 2005 X Prize Cup. It's hoped that the competition will help foster the development of more robust, economical, and reliable rocket technology.

I'm still not sure on whether or not this League will be successful. It's a neat idea, but it'll be tricky to do this well, without making it boring or too tacky.

"Fans at home will be treated to a three-dimensional course where the "tracks" pilots are following can be seen. Special effects for lap completions, barrier violations and penalties will also be a part of the show."

Nope, Google!

They already did a mock up of one of the racers with Google's logo plastered across the wingspan. (That's not to say Google actually signed up for that.)

Link

I wonder about this too. Even the "Venue concepts" in their photo gallery on their official website doesn't enlighten me too much.

They have four "artist conception" pictures of the planes taking off and three showing the planes zooming near what look like grandstands, but it gives no idea as to what the course would look like.

As someone else mentioned, it reminds me of the pod races of Star Wars.