Brian France's Take on the state of the sport, heading into NASCAR 2010

  NASCAR's Brian France: a new game plan for the new season -- "more contact" (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   CONCORD, N.C.
   So what to make of the just-concluded annual January NASCAR Media Tour?
   First, that NASCAR execs Brian France, Mike Helton, Robin Pemberton and John Darby are tired of hearing complaints from drivers, car owners and fans, so they've decided to make 2010 a season of change: both on the technical front and out on the track – the NASCAR mantra: 'Let 'em race.'
   Like Pemberton said 'Go at it, boys, and have some fun.'
   Well, that certainly gives everyone pause for thought, particularly drivers, who must now decide how rough they really want to play with each other. Maybe NASCAR tracks ought to set up some grandstands out on the sidelines of the drivers' motorhome lot for the post-race action….
   If the action is exciting as it appears it may be, the job market for body specialists may suddenly be red-hot.
   And if ESPN/ABC can get their 3D-TV sports machine geared up, NASCAR-in-3D could be something else this season…
  Second, that the state of NASCAR media itself is pretty darned depressed. The tour, some 150-strong, was filled with some of the best-and-brightest NASCAR journalists…most either just out of work, still out of work, or quite underemployed. And the Charlotte and Raleigh papers added yet writers to the ranks of the departed as the tour was going on.
  
  

   So what will Rowdy Kyle Busch offer us this year, with NASCAR loosening the reins on drivers? (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

  On the PR side of the game, well, things don't really look that much better. The annual PR shuffle is still playing out, and some teams, even just a few days before SpeedWeeks opens at Daytona, are still without PR people. The only two PR camps that appear solid and rolling are the Rick Hendrick and Jack Roush operations.
   One big PR man missing from the tour this time was Jim Hunter, NASCAR's long-time power-behind-the-throne, the man whose wisdom and dry wit has helped keep the sport running. He's been fighting a bad disease since October, but he says he'll be at Daytona for SpeedWeeks, and France says "things are going well. He is about to get his clean bill of health back and join us for the opening of SpeedWeeks. And I know he is really looking forward to seeing all of you guys."
   Third, that the Ford camp is fired up, and the new NASCAR racing boss, Jamie Allison, looks as hyper as Rusty Wallace. Team owner Jack Roush and his number two, Geoff Smith, are in a very feisty mood; must be feeding the guys a lot of red meat over at that shop.
   
  

  Yes, Dale Earnhardt Jr. now has a beard...will it bring him better luck than he had in 2009? (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

  Fourth, that the Rick Hendrick operation is exuding just as much confidence as ever that they've got this little part of the sport's world on a yo-yo string. No chinks in the arm were visible at all. In fact Hendrick was showing off yet more new buildings and expansions.
    Fifth, the rest of the Chevrolet camp, including the HQ up in Detroit, appears in some disarray, or at least a state of confusion. Car owners Richard Childress and Chip Ganassi sounded no closer to closing the gap on Hendrick. And Childress has to deal with some major loose ends – he's lost one entire team, because of sponsorship issues (Casey Mears is looking for a full-time, or even part-time Cup ride), and Kevin Harvick, starting his 10th season with the Childress Cup team, still appears ready, even anxious, to leave at the end of the season and the end of his contract – an uncertainty that certainly won't make things run any smoother until he does make up his mind what's next.
    Dodge and Toyota?
   Well, the Joe Gibbs operation looks quite solid; Kyle Busch has been signed to a new contract, Joey Logano and crew chief Greg Zipadelli are ready to crank it up another notch after a successful rookie season, and Denny Hamlin and crew chief Mike Ford are now solid championship material.
   Michael Waltrip and GM Ty Norris keep adding good men to key positions, and the addition of crew chief Pat Tryson could be a major plus.
   Just what to make of Toyota's Red Bull operation, though, isn't easy to see. Brian Vickers made the chase and should be the anchor; but teammate Scott Speed never really got going in his rookie year.
  
  

   Will all three Richard Childress teams be on the same page this season? More important, will it be the right page? (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

  And just what Roger Penske can do as King Dodge this season, well, Kurt Busch won't have Tryson as crew chief this season (Tryson decided to move on at the end of 2009), but he will have Steve Addington – an irony, considering Busch's kid brother Kyle essentially pushed Addington out the door, despite Addington leading him to 13 tour victories over the past two years – more wins than anyone but Jimmie Johnson. Of course if NASCAR's 'let 'em play' edict is firm, well, Penske has rowdy Brad Keselowski, who still has Hamlin's head in a vice after their several run-ins.
   France himself is leading the charge for change – the new flat-blade rear spoiler comes after complaints from fans about the wing. And the 'let 'em race' rule comes after driver complaints NASCAR trying to enforce calmer racing at Talladega.
   While the sport has essentially boiled down to Hendrick-versus-Roush, with bit parts by others, France points Hamlin and Juan Pablo Montoya as the newest success stories.
   And France insists the 2009 Cup season was "the most competitive in the history of NASCAR," despite complaints by drivers at times and by fans too.
   Still France points out the positives: "You really have at least 25 teams that believe they can get into the chase and compete for a championship."
   Now in theory that may be true, but out there where the boots are on the ground it looks a little different – there are 10 driver-teams head and shoulders above the rest, with two 'wild card' spots in the playoffs, if things go routinely. And the game, as played the last few years, has been for top teams to run the first 26 races fairly conservatively, most weekends, to avoid any big mistakes. After all, to make the chase, a driver need only be in the top-12 overall by early September.
  
  
  

   Pro wresler Ric Flair as new NASCAR president? Well, Brian France says drivers can take the gloves off (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  
  

  One major issue for France and his men to battle – TV ratings…which have been sinking the past two seasons (and of course not just for NASCAR).   
    ESPN's 3D may be a game changer.
   And NASCAR is using a Wall Street Journal report that the highly-touted NFL actually only carries 11 minutes of real live action during each three-hour game.
    France has spent the past three weeks in a series of meetings with teams and drivers, "listening more than talking," according to one participant. And change is coming. And Rick Hendrick says he sees more changes coming throughout the season. And Roush says he anticipates more changes over the next year too. Whether all that change just plays into the hands of the mega-team owners, who have hundreds of men in their shop, or to level the playing field remains to be seen. NASCAR may really need to loosen up its rules to make things happen for smaller teams.
    But what France focused on: "This is a contact sport.
    "We have got the best racing in the world -- what are things we can do to make it better? What are things we can do to open it up a little bit?
    "Whether it's specific changes or whether it's just how we officiate the events week-in and week-out, we are going to have an eye on putting things back in the drivers' hands. They are going to mix it up a little bit differently, because we are going to loosen it up."

   NASCAR's Murders' Row: The Rick Hendrick Gang. Can rival Jack Roush whip them this season? (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
   

    The rest of the stuff France talked about – the diversity efforts (which appear to be struggling, particularly in the weak general economy), the iRace computer games (cue computer whiz Dale Earnhardt Jr.), and 'green' initiative (expect fuel injection by 2011 in all three series) – may not seem like headline stuff. But those projects are key to keep NASCAR rolling, and France realizes it.
   The 'green' project – though there are those who decry that whole deal as a bunch of tree-hugging – may be crucial to NASCAR's seemingly somewhat tenuous relationship with Detroit (especially with the new Washington aspect to deal with).
    "NASCAR," France says, is "smarter about how we go about our energy 'footprint,' smarter about how we treat the environment.  
     "We went from literally nowhere 18 months ago to hiring Michael Lynch, our director of 'green' innovation.
     "In addition to being good stewards of the environment, we also want to be appealing to new, 'green' companies that are going to have technologies they want to verify or validate. And we want to be a place they are encouraged to do that."
   
   

   Now in the Ford camp, the Richard Petty-George Gillett team...the operation Ray Evernham built for Dodge (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
   

   One question: just how key is Detroit to NASCAR? Has NASCAR let its teams become too dependent on how Detroit plays the game? That's not a new question of course, with more than one in the sport worried that Detroit plays too big a role.
    Nevertheless France insists "while we are not economists…some things are stabilizing for us and our sport."
    And he points to the relative "stabilization" in Detroit (though just what is going on at General Motors, and just who is really in charge, is still up for debate): "A year ago there was a whole bunch of uncertainty," France said.
    "They had very challenging business models…at that point they were unsure about the funding they might get from Washington.
    "We were very supportive on that bill…and we were supportive with our car manufacturers.
    "All four car manufacturers in NASCAR are much healthier than they were just a year ago.
    "And they have all continued their investment; it may be different now, and it may be different in the future, but they have all still recognized NASCAR as a place that works for them."
    On the other hand, NASCAR's tracks are a different story. Many are 'downsizing,' taking away seats, some in creative ways, by opting for new wider seats.
     And France concedes "the rest of the economy is much trickier. Certain places, like Michigan, California, and Florida have been very hard hit."
    He does point to the efforts by his tracks to deal with the economy: "They have been cutting ticket prices…they have zeroed in on their race markets -- with the hotels and restaurants, to get discounts."
    But France's basic game plan here is simple – back to Curtis Turner basics: "We are going to open it up -- because we want to see what you want to see: More contact. This is a contact sport.
   "We want to see drivers mixing it up.
    "We want to see the emotion of the world's best drivers, just as much as everybody else does. And that is the goal."
   
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  NASCAR adding green to its racing logo (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)