HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Television ratings are down. At many venues, there seem to be far more empty seats than in recent years.

But on Sunday, prior to the running of the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the season finale in the long 36-race Nextel Cup season, Brian France insisted repeatedly that all is well with the sport that he presides over. Furthermore, France squelched rumors that his family might be willing to sell NASCAR anytime in the foreseeable future and denied that he has any plans to step aside.

Speculative reports suggesting both possibilities have circulated on the Internet and even in at least one magazine report in recent weeks.

"I'll be real clear about this: the beauty of the Internet is that you can get a lot of information from it. The other disappointing thing is that a lot of people have time on their hands to speculate, [write] blogs and all the rest. That came from, I guess, a blog report. I'm committed to my job for the foreseeable future -- and that's years, not months," said France, who is chairman and CEO of NASCAR.

"The family has absolutely no interest in selling NASCAR or International Speedway [Corp.]. That's exactly where it is. Our management team, not just from me, is the deepest, best team we could have from [president] Mike Helton right on down to the people that help him run this sport. We're committed and I'm committed to this sport for the long run."

When it was mentioned to France that one respected auto magazine had reported that European banking interests had inquired about the availability of purchasing NASCAR, France added: "All the time there are inquiries, and we do not take these from private equity firms or anyone else. We're just not for sale. We can't be any clearer than that. The family is committed -- my uncle [vice chairman James France], my sister [vice president and assistant treasurer Lesa Kennedy] and myself. ... You're just going to hear it from me as directly as I can: NASCAR is not for sale."

France also touched on other hot-button subjects concerning his sport, including a decline for the second year in a row in television ratings and an undercurrent of gripes from many longtime fans, some who appear to be turning their backs on the sport -- an assumption France vehemently denies.

"Well, they're not leaving the sport," France said. "But they are getting their NASCAR fix differently than they did before. There are lots of different ways to watch or read or pick up video clips than there ever has been before. That obviously has some impact on your [television] ratings. (Continued)