CONCORD, N.C. -- Poor Jimmie Johnson. All he does is win races and championships.

But when track operators for Speedway Motorsports Inc. got together Monday for a round-table discussion about many topics during the Sprint Media Tour hosted by Lowe's Motor Speedway, the conversation quickly was dominated by what they intend to do to help out race fans who are hurting in this economy.

They might want to start by shortening the "official" name of the media tour. It's a mouthful to say and hardly easy on the eyes when it comes to writing or reading it, but the good folks putting on the annual media tour insist on it being called just that -- and we try to oblige at least once during the week.

But we digress. We were talking about Johnson, who became the first driver in 30 years and only the second in the history of stock-car racing to win three consecutive championships in NASCAR's top series last year.

At first the talk amongst the track operators on Monday pertained to what they're doing to help keep the fans they have and bring back those who recently have ceased coming to Sprint Cup races.

In Texas, track president Eddie Gossage downsized the massive backstretch by 21,000 seats and is offering reserved-seat tickets there for a mere $20. "In this day and age when everybody is giving bailouts to banks, we had to ask ourselves, 'Who is giving a bailout to Joe The Fan?'," Gossage insisted.

In Las Vegas, track president Chris Powell is touting the fact that his people are working with local hotels to cut deals for race fans. "The day of the $299 room rate has passed us in Las Vegas, at least for the time being, and that's good for race fans," Powell said.

The two essentials

Other SMI track operators also are working with local hotels to cut rates and reduce or eliminate minimum-stay requirements, and they're offering payment plans on tickets that can be tailored to fans' budgets -- or lack thereof, apparently.

"All our speedways offer payment plans," said Marcus Smith, president of Lowe's Motor Speedway just outside Charlotte. "So if you don't have enough room on your credit card today or that home equity loan is all taken up, we offer payment plans where you can pay us over time."

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A lot of the drivers have spoken up and said, 'hey, we'll do whatever we can to help the sport.' But taking care of the fans is the first priority, in my opinion, of the race tracks. So if I were the race tracks, I would start asking instead of starting to point fingers."

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-- KEVIN HARVICK

Forgive Marcus, folks, for he is young -- at least by track operators' standards and certainly when compared to his father, octogenarian Bruton Smith. Stretching your credit even further when it's already stretched to the limit is what got too many Americans -- and this country as a whole -- into this economic mess in the first place.

But Father Bruton understands. Even in difficult times -- perhaps especially so in difficult times -- the common man experiences a deep-seated need for an escape.

"If you go back historically and look at any downturn in the economy, you've always found that people need two things: entertainment and beer," the elder Smith said.

"Beer sales should not be down this year, either, and we'll be in there, too. We'll be doing more for the race fans than we've ever done before, to show them just how much we appreciate them. We're going to be working really hard and come up with some innovations to fill these seats."

That's where Johnson and his fellow drivers come in, according to Smith. They can help -- and, in fact, need to join the cause like never before. Smith has some ideas about how to get the drivers to connect more with the fans, and it involves connecting as well with some of his fellow drivers in a way that, well, just doesn't fit Johnson's steady, outwardly stoic style.

First, Smith thinks all the drivers -- he's not singling out Johnson -- should sign more autographs.

"I think we all have obligations. And this idea of running and hiding and not signing autographs, I don't like it at all," Smith said. "I think [NASCAR] is in position and they'll be doing something about it.

"I have a suggestion. Let's say they have two hours on a certain day before a race for signing autographs, and a driver can take either hour. But if he fails to show up, he forfeits 10 percent of whatever he wins in the race. I thought that might be something that would entice them in a different fashion to be there."

Then Smith got a little more personal about the current NASCAR champion.

"Here you have Jimmie Johnson. He's a great guy, a neighbor. I like him a lot," Smith said. "But another thing that might help is if Jimmie Johnson gets out of the race car one time and goes over and slaps somebody. He can slap me, I don't care. But we need to get something going. We need a fight or two -- something that makes for a good headline on the sports pages. You've gotta have that."

Not the first time

This isn't the first time Smith has suggested that Johnson or drivers in general need to spice things up. But before we get back to that, Kevin Harvick was asked about the general assumption that the tracks need the drivers to start doing more to satisfy disgruntled fans.

He said if they want the drivers' help, all they've got to do is ask.

"A lot of the drivers have spoken up and said, 'hey, we'll do whatever we can to help the sport.' I know Bristol Motor Speedway has been right at the forefront of talking with the drivers, and I've had long conversations with them," Harvick said. "But taking care of the fans is the first priority, in my opinion, of the race tracks. They're the biggest key to getting the biggest audiences that we have. So if I were the race tracks, I would start asking instead of starting to point fingers."

If some of the rather spoiled Cup drivers really want to figure out how to get involved, maybe they ought to take their cue from a veteran Truck Series driver such as Ron Hornaday, who happens to drive for Harvick.

"We try. We try real hard," Hornaday said of his fellow Truck Series competitors. "We get out there and do a lot with the fans. They've got to know we're real people, too. We don't charge for autographs. We just go out there knowing that they're putting food on the table for their families, and we're just trying to put a good show on so they stay entertained while they're watching us."

Harvick said it may be true that Truck Series drivers connect more readily with fans these days than Cup guys, but there are reasons for it.

"I'm on both sides of it, so I see the differences between how the two series' work. There are a lot more races on the Cup side, there is a lot more testing, there are a lot more sponsorship appearances that a Cup driver has to make," he said.

"From the truck side, they have a lot more time on their hands to go to the track and sign autographs before the race starts -- to do a lot of the things you really just don't have time to do on the Cup side. They are just two different deals in how you can approach it from a time standpoint."

Meanwhile, there is the Johnson Principle that these track owners and operators just can't seem to shake.

"The drivers get it," Gossage said. "I think what we're seeing right now is not only the perfect storm with the economy, but I think we're paying a price for the sport becoming a little too sanitized. The drivers are a lot less colorful than they used to be. The truth is that they're really a colorful bunch -- but not publicly. We're paying the price for the corporatization of our sport.

"It's nothing that can't be fixed pretty quickly if Jimmie Johnson punches somebody in the mouth. I would volunteer, but it would be a whole lot better if it was another driver."

Give Jimmie a break, guys. Why don't you goad someone else into your hi-jinks who seems a more likely candidate to physically accost a colleague?

Then again, if many of the powers-that-be really believe that's what it's going to take to sell tickets in this sport, then maybe the harsh truth is that it will take more than Johnson's fist to someone's face to start filling seats again.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.