NASCAR to meet Tuesday with Sprint Cup teams to discuss the state of the sport...and try to find some solutions....

  
The big guy needs advice: NASCAR pres Mike Helton, here listening to Jeff Gordon (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  
  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   CONCORD, N.C.
   NASCAR executives have called a mandatory meeting Tuesday afternoon of car owners and drivers at the sport's R&D headquarters five miles from Lowe's Motor Speedway.
   The topic: the state of the sport of NASCAR racing…and the sport's key people can do to improve things.
   The background is a general slump in the sport's TV ratings, amid a sluggish U.S. economy that may be taking its toll on the pocketbooks of fans.
   Crowds and ticket sales and TV ratings are key indicators. So Sunday's crowd here for the Coke 600 will be closely watched.
   The worry is that the general malaise that has clouded the sport much of the spring may intensify over the coming weeks as the stock car tour heads out to Dover, Del., Pocono, Pa., Detroit, San Francisco and New Hampshire, before the July Fourth weekend stop at Daytona.
   The job ahead – generate enthusiasm for the sport.
   Ironically the racing on-track the past several weeks has been some of the most griping and exciting of the season.
   However NASCAR still doesn't appear to be generating much momentum in the world-at-large, and this is just as the tour readies for its annual summer criss-cross the country run.
   Another cloud over the sport is the tire issue at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where that track's very abrasive surface has Goodyear engineers tearing their hair out. Last summer Indy 400 was a disaster, with tires lasting only 10 laps. And despite numerous tires tests already, Goodyear's best effort appears to be only an 18-lap tire. The grooves need to fill in with rubber, in order for things to work right at the Brickyard, and without a Nationwide or Truck race to put rubber down, the Cup teams are sweating things out. And if rain strikes that Saturday night before the 400, Indy could again be a disaster.
   One possible solution NASCAR is considering is to cut 25 pounds from these cars.
  
  

  
Or will this be another 'Shut up and drive' meeting between NASCAR and its teams? (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)