In today's NASCAR, best change may be none at all

CONCORD, N.C. -- The big white building off Westwinds Boulevard has been the home to announcements that have altered the fabric of NASCAR. It was here, at the sport's cavernous Research and Development Center, that the Chase was unveiled. It was here that the Chase was expanded, here under-performing racetracks were put on notice, here the Car of Tomorrow was revealed. A facility built early this decade to improve safety and competition has become a capital of sweeping change.

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But not Monday. That was when NASCAR chairman Brian France announced that it was time for the changes to end.

"We're fans, too. It's hard to keep up with all the moving parts and different things that are going on," France said Monday, the first day of the Sprint Cup preseason media tour hosted by Lowe's Motor Speedway. "... We're going to minimize change, and we're going to zero in on the best racing in the world. That's what we're going to do."

What a departure that is from past years, when NASCAR announced one change after another in an attempt to expand its fan base, or in response to market forces involving its title sponsors. Just since 2004, the name of the sport's Cup series has changed twice. The schedule has been juggled, with races moved from some traditional Southern tracks to newer facilities in larger markets. Starting times have been moved back to accommodate television viewers on the West Coast. A new car, featuring some stark visual differences from its predecessor, has been phased in. A playoff format was introduced, then altered, as NASCAR tried to shore up television ratings later in the season.

The results of those moves have been decidedly mixed. Traditional fans felt a sense of alienation as NASCAR went after the potential big numbers that new markets could produce. Now, with television ratings and at-track attendance figures both in a modest decline, the sanctioning body is making an attempt to win back those old-school supporters who grew so jaded by NASCAR's explosive growth. Are they willing to listen?

France hopes so. The chairman has become a popular target of critics who see the moves undertaken on his watch as too much, too soon for a sport whose most ardent fans love watching older drivers on older tracks. But people who know Brian France have long said that he's not afraid of altering course if something isn't working. While that's not necessarily what's happening here -- nobody is scrapping the COT or the Chase -- NASCAR's chief executive sounded Monday as if he were speaking directly to the disillusioned faction within his sport's fan base.

"This change issue, with all the different things, from the name of series to the format to all the different rules to the Car of Tomorrow ... all those things to our core fans, that's a lot to digest in a short period of time," he said. "We know that. A lot of those things were on a track from many years ago. Some of those things were beyond our control. It's doesn't matter. They all happened. That's not helpful. Change is good to a certain point. We've had all the change that we think the sport can stand and needs, and now we want to build on that."

The annual "state of the sport" presentation France delivered Monday was heavy on nostalgia. France touted the upcoming 50th Daytona 500, the endurance of Darlington and Martinsville on NASCAR's premier schedule almost from the beginning, the stalwart presence of Richmond and Charlotte and Bristol through the years. Much of the presentation was, as series president Mike Helton later put it, an attempt to "explain to [traditional fans] that this is still the NASCAR you fell in love with."

But even NASCAR's sphere of influence is limited. As France pointed out, some of the changes that have taken place in recent years have been beyond the sanctioning body's control. Former series sponsors R.J. Reynolds and Busch opted out for their own commercial reasons. Sprint bought Nextel. Favorite drivers like Rusty Wallace and Dale Jarrett edged into retirement, and unfamiliar ones were hired. New television partners struggled for footing. Even the COT was in some ways forced upon NASCAR, by a safety crisis in 2000-01 that showed how limited the old car could be in keeping drivers safe.

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But the advent of the Chase and the realignment of the schedule -- two things that rankle old-timers in the grandstand -- cannot be passed off to another party. And even in the midst of Monday's announcement, there was still more change. NASCAR will let teams use a limited number of official tires for unsanctioned tests. Money from fines, which used to go to the year-end points fund, will now go to charity. The drivers outside the top 35 in owner points will now attempt to qualify for races as a group, at the end of the session. And series executives are slated to meet later this week to discuss whether to implement an age limit of 21 for drivers trying to break into Cup. (read more)

Change, the old saying goes, is really the only constant in NASCAR. But so much change, in such a short period of time, can have a numbing effect. So much of this sport is bound by tradition, in sons following fathers as drivers or spectators. In many minds, the constant change in the past few years has pulled those bonds to a breaking point.

"We need to get back to banjos and get away from the violins," said H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, president of Lowe's Motor Speedway. "We got a little too fancy there for a while. There were all kinds of forces moving in different directions to make it fancy. It's not a fancy sport. It's guys with big hands getting sweaty and getting out there knocking each other around, and all-American fans having a good time. A lot of things we tried to introduce into this just flat didn't work, and aren't going to work. I think that's something [France] certainly realizes now. This is meat and potatoes. This is not caviar and smoked salmon."

Toward that end, Wheeler said the start times for many Sprint Cup races this coming season will be earlier, a departure from the mid-afternoon green flags used to try and entice West Coast viewers. "I think we all yielded to pressure from the networks a little more than we should have," Wheeler said. "We paid the price for it, and we're getting back to sanity again."

One news conference won't win back all those cynics who believe NASCAR has lost its way. It won't lead to full grandstands or record television ratings. Officials can claim that this is still the same series that awarded championships to Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, that found its way on dirt tracks and short tracks, that won hearts because its heroes were colorful and bold and daring. Are they right? Now, it's up to ticket holders and TV viewers to decide.

"If you change all kinds of things in any particular sport, there comes a point where you need to slow that down. It needs to be very compelling if you have to make additional changes. That's where we are," France said.

"We want the discussions that happen on talk radio, in publications, in any form of media, to be on not trying to keep up with this change or that one, but on the drivers. On what's going on, who's winning what, who's doing what, who's performing well. That's what my hope is for 2008. When I say get back to the basics that's what I mean -- that the storylines on Monday aren't television ratings, this sponsor, that sponsor. It's what happened on the track. That's the most important thing, and we're going to get back to that."

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.