Smith: I'm angry, but not irrational

I'm furious, mainly because I'm not furious.

I want to be consumed by anger. I want to cuss and spit and cry and moan and raise more Cain than Kasey's parents, just like the rest of you that contend NASCAR has sold out and forgotten its roots and forsaken competition in the devilish name of financial gain.

	Marty Smith

But let's be honest. That would be naive. That would be narrow-minded and irrational.

Currently, I am walking a razor-thin line between rational, non-biased columnist and irrational Southern-bred worshiper of stock car racing.

Sure, I'm sick that North Carolina Speedway will henceforth lie dormant, a victim of poor attendance and the SMI/ISC lawsuit settlement. Sure, I think it's a sacrilege that the Southern 500 is extinct, its grandeur in the history books now history.

Sure, I want to think Darlington is getting stepchild treatment of the first degree, and that NASCAR has reduced the little man to an old, broken down stepping stool used to reach the Texas 10-gallon hat.

I want those truths to overrun me with frustration, and they undoubtedly would if I'd let them. But I won't let them. The only justifiable means for hating NASCAR for these decisions would be if "The Lady" and "The Rock" were filled to capacity.

But they're not, and haven't been for quite some time. That being the case, NASCAR has a legitimate foundation on which to base such decisions.

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"There's no secret we've struggled to sell tickets," Darlington Raceway president Andrew Gurtis said Friday. "Rockingham has (struggled), Charlotte has. I don't know that anybody would argue that the Southeast is saturated with races, and that's evidenced by the empty seats.

"We beat ourselves up all the time. I believe in my heart we've done all we could do as far as bringing folks out. We did what we had to do. I wish we were hosting two Cup dates, but the reality is we have to sell it out, and we haven't. That's frustrating for all of us."

Despite their admitted struggles, if I were Gurtis I'd be infuriated by the rationale that lack of ticket sales sealed Darlington's fate. For me, it'd be difficult, if not impossible, to accept the loss of a race date after boasting a sold out 2003 Southern 500, then garnering the largest spring crowd in recent memory earlier this year.

"Unfortunately, it wasn't quite good enough," NASCAR chairman Brian France said.

Let's see, here. Sell out one, set a record with the other. Pretty dadgum solid if you ask me. (Note to self: Whoa 'er down a bit, Marty. You're leaning toward irrationality).

What scares me most is that Darlington's new date -- the Saturday night before Mother's Day -- falls on what is traditionally an off-weekend, and thus may not be well-supported.

If that happens, Darlington may join Rockingham in the great speedway in the sky.

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"For Darlington's long-term viability, we've got to fill this place up this November and next May," Gurtis said. "That's our task. We've got to host capacity crowds."

True. But other vital variables exist in this equation. As important as it is to have butts in seats, NASCAR can't lose sight of the influence of its television audience. FOX and NBC have been tremendous assets in developing the sport's current popularity. Rest assured, NASCAR caters to them accordingly.

But by trading two of its most thrilling tracks for two of its more mundane, television interest could wane on those particular dates. That may seem miniscule in the grand scheme, but if this monster is to continue to evolve, television viewers must find value in watching.

France said NASCAR's television partners are behind the decision.

"We consulted with our TV partners ... to make sure they're comfortable with the direction we're going -- and they are," France said.

One thing is for sure. Westward expansion continues to be a major focus for NASCAR and International Speedway Corp. South Carolina has one Nextel Cup date in 2005. North Carolina has three, all at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Meanwhile, California has three Cup dates and Arizona and Texas both have two. With that comes added expense to teams. Eventually, NASCAR must reward its teams with larger race purses, or the return won't be worth the investment of competing.

Without teams, NASCAR has no game.

"There's a lot of expense involved in going to California, for everybody," Sterling Marlin said. "You've got to fly the crews out and it drives up the cost, but if that's where they want to be, I'm glad to be there. We don't need many more tracks out West."

France considers the Southwest a "racing hotbed." And the Southeast isn't?

It's about saturation. If you offer fans two opportunities to see an event, they have options. But only give them one shot, it's now or next year. The same can be said for the race schedule. Too many races dilute the competition.

"We need to keep our count down, we don't need to keep adding races because I think that devalues the sport," Jeff Burton said. "I hate to say leaving North Carolina is good for the sport, but certainly being in other places is good for the sport. I'm in total favor of keeping the race numbers down by going to as many different regions as possible."

The reasoning is simple. Fans come out in droves and the media markets are massive. That means NASCAR gets its cake, the icing, sprinkles, fancy writing, you name it, and devours it, too.

California Speedway, nestled in the nation's second largest media market, sells out 100,000 strong. (France seemed gleeful about going to Fontana the week after next year's Daytona 500). Then there's Phoenix, the 15th largest market. Phoenix sells out more than 75,000 seats.

From a business standpoint, this decision couldn't be easier.

And NASCAR is a business. Don't be swayed by delusions of grandeur about tradition or competition. This is about maximizing opportunities for profit. End of story.

"We can sit here and talk tradition all day long. Bits and pieces of it fall by the wayside," Kyle Petty said. "We are in a sports entertainment business, and part of our deal is entertainment. People want as much entertainment out of it as they want to see racing.

"The racing at Darlington is great. The greatest race ever was Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch down there. When you look at Rockingham, every time you get a caution late in the race, it's a great race. I think when you look at three-wide and stuff like that it's great, but when you only put 60,000 people in the stands for a Cup event, that's not good. When the TV ratings are down, that's not good.

"I think we need to do something that excites the community we go to. Maybe we're cutting down on the racing side, but from the entertainment side and the people in the stands, they're going to love those new races."

That brings us to Martinsville, a miniscule media market even by state standards. ISC took the $100.4 million profit made from selling Rockingham, threw in another $92 million and bought Martinsville from Clay Campbell.

Martinsville sells out both dates annually and produces traditional, door-bangin' short track competition. But by selling 100 percent interest to ISC, some feel the paperclip-shaped bullring will inevitably be contracted.

Regardless, Campbell had to do this. NASCAR bestows race sanctions annually, so there is no long-term promise that a respective track will get one date, much less two. So in April, Campbell opted to take their money, retain his status as track president and use their resources to continue his life's work.

"If anything, I think you'll see more events at Martinsville, not less," Campbell said. "They've never assured me forever and ever. But they have given me assurances that they want to see Martinsville progress and go forward."

When asked if that was the case, Brian France was vague.

Martinsville "has a unique place on the schedule, given that it's a short track," France said. "I don't need to tell you how important short tracks are in giving us a diverse set of racetracks to compete on. Our drivers like that. My hope is that the Martinsville and Richmond facilities continue to grow and just get better."

Agreed. I love individuality, and there's only one Martinsville.

This time last year, the same could be said for Rockingham. Not anymore. Even their website is defunct.

Adorning the top of northcarolinaspeedway.com is the lasting image of Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne sprinting hell-bent to the checkers this past February.

Good thing that was a lasting image. It's the last one in the speedway's history.

Marty Smith is a senior writer for NASCAR.COM. His column appears each Thursday. The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.