To some traditionalists, loyalty goes only so far

Funny thing, this NASCAR. Go to Las Vegas, a desert outpost that's hosted the series for only a decade, and the place fills up quicker than a $5 blackjack table. But come back to Atlanta, the capital city of the sport's heartland, and there's hand-wringing over how many seats will still be empty come race day.

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It's a strange paradox pitting old market versus new market, played out at racetracks from coast to coast. Phoenix sells out, but Charlotte doesn't. Texas sells out, but Talladega doesn't. New Hampshire and Dover and even Kansas thrive at the turnstiles, while more traditional facilities lose spectators, lose races and die.

There are always exceptions. Short-track theatre, a rarity in an era where everyone wants a massive multi-purpose facility, keeps Bristol and Richmond viable. California, the track in NASCAR's largest television market, hasn't sold out since 2003. Venerable old North Wilkesboro, so antiquated it couldn't have lasted much longer on the Nextel Cup circuit anyway, was sold, shut down and chopped up.

But that doesn't explain why North Carolina Motor Speedway, with modern facilities and often spectacular racing, sits idle. That doesn't explain why Darlington, the NASCAR equivalent of Fenway Park, went from two races to one. That doesn't explain why promoters in Charlotte and Atlanta fight to sell tickets, why standalone Busch races in Martinsville and Myrtle Beach went belly-up, why the sport has gradually shifted its focus from south to west.

Apathy does.

NASCAR fans are among the most fervent in all of sports, willing to drive thousands of miles to see their favorite drivers compete, buying products simply because they're advertised on the hoods of certain cars. Many share a wonderful undercurrent of traditionalism, a desire for their children to see the same kind of events at the same tracks they did, and a disappointment in the direction the sport is headed today.

They rail against big money and cookie-cutter tracks and the fact that California hosts more events than Darlington. They think NASCAR has become too corporate, too vanilla, too neglectful of where it came from. But too many of them aren't doing the one thing that will ensure their voice is heard the loudest. Too many of them aren't buying tickets. (Continued)