NASCAR's Brian France says the Daytona 500 will be a sellout, but concedes other tracks may not fare so well

 

 
Will the boss find a new Alan Kulwicki this season? Brian France is rootin' for the underdogs (Photo:Getty Images for NASCAR)

 

  By Mike Mulhern
  mikemulhern.net

  DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.
  The point man for this sport, as he has been the past 10 years, is Brian France, and this season may be his most trying yet.
  And the pain is beginning to show.
  France, like his legendary grandfather, is invariably optimistic and upbeat.
  And as ragged as things may appear at the moment, with the fragile U.S. economy, France is nevertheless cautiously optimistic things will eventually turn around.
  The only question is when.
  Bruton Smith, the sport's second-most-powerful man, as rival promoter to the France family, says things will begin picking up in the American economy between March 15th and 30th. Yes, Smith is being that precise….what kind of insider stuff he might know is unclear.
   Certainly racing is a sport that, so reliant on sponsorship dollars, and fans needing to spend a lot just on travel, is perhaps more susceptible to downturns in the economy than most others.
   But if the quality of the action on the track indeed generates more ticket sales and better ratings, then from what we've seen so far here, things could be improving already.
   And expect to see and hear every major figure in this sport weighing in on things with much more visibility than usual….particularly France and Smith themselves.
   Yes, things are tough all over. "However our tracks are doing a number of things to lessen the cost to the fans, and hotels in every host city are bringing prices down…."  France said. "That will help a little bit.
   "But we have to adjust to what the economy gives us."
   Hotel costs are a big issue.
   "That's more of a track issue, in each home market, and they work with local hotels, some better than others," France says. "I hope with the new sensitivity, that will improve. Still, it's limited what NASCAR itself can do."
   Tracks are doing more, France says, "and drivers are doing more. Drivers are talking about what they can do to give more back to the fans, considering the sacrifices fans are having to make.
   "Drivers and people in our do have a sensitivity to our economy. And we all have to work extra hard to earn the business of our customers.
   "Everyone understands what we're up against – track owners, team owners, drivers, all of the stakeholders in the sport. And I'll be meeting with every team owner over the next two weeks to discuss everything we can do together to weather this thing.
   "But what we do best is what our people do out on the track, and I'll be interested in seeing how all the new teams work out, there are a lot of new things going on.
   "That will be the best tonic we can give ourselves and our race fans.
   "Those new teams, that is very encouraging for us. Regardless of the economy, we wanted the car-of-tomorrow, the new car, and every other related cost to come down, as best as we can. And that will let a lot of potential car owners more willing to look at NASCAR now than they were three or four years ago.
   "We are very confident that our decisions, what we're trying to do in encouraging new owners, are coming to fruition. And it's coming at weak time in the economy
   "I'd like to see it go back to when Alan Kulwicki won the championship. He was very underfunded.
   "That would be a wonderful story for us to see unfold in 2009.
   "I am hoping there some underdog stories unfolding. That would be very pleasing to NASCAR."

   One major issue hanging over the country, of course, is the plight of Detroit's auto makers. General Motors just announced another round of layoffs, of some 10,000.
   France points out the long history of Detroit and NASCAR together, but he says "the bigger issue is all those jobs.
   "A lot of those people are our fans.
    "So we're very supportive of the car makers. I'm pleased the government has given them support, and I'm hoping they'll get more."

  Ticket sales? France says across the board "they are softer than we'd like to see.
  "But I believe there will be a sellout in Daytona.
   "But with other tracks be affected? Certainly.
   "My sense is tickets are definitely harder for race fans to buy right now.
   "And teams and tracks are doing more with less. Can we do more? Sure.
   "Budgets are coming down, layoffs have happened, people are doing more with less."
  
   One issue, it would seem, is for this sport's promoters themselves to work more closely together, create some synergies. The Los Angeles-Las Vegas area is clearly one to watch. Las Vegas has usually had big sellouts (though the Vegas market itself has been extremely hard hit by the economic slump), while California's Auto Club Speedway, just three hours down the road, has had trouble attracting fans.
   Should Bruton Smith and Lesa France Kennedy, the sport's top two promoters, be working more closely together themselves in markets like that, rather than battering each other like rivals?
   "There are individual markets…but they, and Marcus Smith, work well together right now. They all have a good relationship. And everybody is in the same boat."
   Of course this isn't the first economic crisis NASCAR has faced.
   "You've got to have a long view….you can't panic," France says. "You've got to stay on your course.
   "These things do happen…and we've been in the business for 60 years.
   "Now this is unprecedented, where we find the economy today.
   "But I have confidence in our people and in our business model that we will get through it better than most. And we will."
  
    There is an 'appearance' issue here too, that is tricky to deal with, for NASCAR itself and its sponsors, particularly the car makers – how to keep things in this sport from  appearing too ostentatious – flying around in private jets, wearing tuxedoes in New York City…..
   NASCAR's testing ban, for one, France concedes: "Everything we do has some unintended consequences.
   "The testing ban does save money…but that has the unintended consequence that we don't have cars on the tracks and we're not promoting the sport like we could," France said. "We knew that wouldn't be in our best interests, promotionally. But the cost benefit was too compelling, so that's where we are.
  "Now that was the right thing to do. It does save money.
   "Going to two-day shows would save money too, but would have unintended consequences.
   "We have to try to stay ahead of the unintended consequences, so we don't get surprised, and they are balanced correctly."

  
   THE NASCAR NOTEBOOK

   Among the sport's new underdogs, the men under the most pressure, maybe, in Thursday's twin 150s are the eight or so who need to finish well enough to make the 500: Kirk Shelmerdine, Mike Skinner, Mike Wallace, Jeremy Mayfield, Brad Keselowski, AJ Allmendinger, Tony Raines and Geoff Bodine among them.
   They will be essentially racing each other, in a race-inside-the-race, with the top two finishers among them making the big show. Best bets – Brad Keselowski (in Rick Hendrick equipment, run by Marc Reno and James Finch), Mike Wallace, Jeremy Mayfield and AJ Allmendinger.
   NASCAR's top-35 rule, which guarantees the top 35 owners, in the point standings, a spot in each field, has become quite controversial in the past few weeks, with rival car owners wheeling and dealing for the 'owner points,' like some eBay stock market. And Allmendinger and Keselowski are two who got caught in the crossfire and lost in the manipulations.
   NASCAR's Brian France says he has been watching all that closely, "to make sure the intentions of the policy we started out with is where we have ended up.
   "My sense of it is it would be nicer if it were a simpler policy to understand. And we will work on it as we go along."

   All is relatively quiet on NASCAR's new drug testing front. The program is checking widely throughout the sport, and NASCAR CEO Brian France says if anyone fails, that will be made known.