France sees changes to Chase, schedule in future (cont'd)

"We like Cup drivers racing in the Nationwide Series," France said. "We need to make sure the stage is not crowded out so much so that we can't give opportunities to Nationwide young regulars who need that experience.

"And you know what? In my discussions with the Sprint Cup drivers, they agree with us. They think just that way, too. The owners certainly agree with us. So there are going to be some things that we can do.

On the 2011 schedule, specifically requests to add Cup dates at Kentucky and Kansas: "The deadline has come and gone, and we have heard from the public companies and the track operators as to some of their wishes. We are digesting that now and working with them. You know, we typically put our schedule out usually around Labor Day, give or take a couple of weeks. It's my hope we'll meet that goal.

"There are obviously now new requests from SMI and ISC. They've followed the policy that we have laid out on realignment. We'll have to see how it all fits into the greater schedule as we go in the next couple weeks."

On the sport's continuing economic issues: "It's still difficult. It was difficult six months. It doesn't appear to have improved much for our fan base, a lot of our corporate customers. That's the bad news. The good news is we've got 400 different sponsors within the sport. Most of them are renewing their sponsorships."

On why the fan base hasn't connected with improved racing: "You do things that are working, but you don't see [immediate results]. The answer is because there's always a number of things that are working against you or for you at any one time. ... We moved to ... earlier start time. We knew that would have a short-term impact until our fan base could get a benefit. ... In the short run, there's less people watching at 1 than there is at 3. You have the World Cup, a very popular Winter Olympics. Our first three events went directly head-to-head.

"... Then the economy certainly plays a role, more so to us than anybody else because we ask our fans to ... stay longer, drive further, buy hotel rooms and alike as part of what it takes to come to our events."

On attempts to grow the 18-to-35 male demographic: "Any demographic that we lose ground on is something we worry about and get concerned about. ... And it is a balance ... to satisfy your core fan but you have to do the things that are going to make you as attractive as possible. That's social media to us, which is going to be the great opportunity to reach that young demographic. We've got some work to do to improve our effort."

On alternative fuels: "Ethanol, I don't know that we'll see it in 2011 as a bio-fuel. It's certainly an option that is interesting. ... There's a lot of thought that goes into it. It will be important for us to evolve the fuel source in the national divisions over time."

On dealing with inclement weather: "People are coming to us with certain ways to dry asphalt faster and better. That would be a welcome technological advancement. So we'll always try to do that. ... If inclement weather happens, it's out of our control. But to get the track as dry as fast as we can, ... if we can speed that up down the road with technology or anything else, gosh, we'll be the first ones to do it."

• Sound Off: Brian France