DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- If you hate the Chase, it's not going away. If you love the Chase, expect some "dramatic" changes, according to NASCAR chairman Brian France.

In a question and answer session with the media Friday at Daytona International Speedway, France said there are "high-impact changes to the Chase" that could be made in time for the 2011 season, but he declined to discuss specifics.

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What we're talking about is enhancing [the Chase] in a way that will bring out more of the winning moments, the big moments that happen in sports. And if there's a way we can do that, and there are a couple of ways, we're going to give that a lot of weight.

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-- BRIAN FRANCE

"We like the Chase format," France said. "We've always liked it. But I can't tell you exactly what because there's a number of things that we are looking. So we haven't made a decision.

"... What we're talking about is enhancing it in a way that will bring out more of the winning moments, the big moments that happen in sports. And if there's a way we can do that, and there are a couple of ways, we're going to give that a lot of weight."

France reiterated that the idea behind the Chase -- which was put into effect beginning with the 2004 season -- remains sound, because it gives NASCAR's premier series a unique way of crowning its champion.

"We like a playoff-style format, for sure," France said. "It distinguishes us in motorsports, No. 1. It distinguishes our national divisions, No. 2. And No. 3, the big design is to have playoff-type moments that only can be, in any sport, created when there's a lot on the line at any one moment."

France compared NASCAR's Chase with the wildly-successful NCAA Division I basketball tournament. Rumors of major changes to the 65-team format turned out to be unfounded.

"A lot of things were discussed on their end," France said. "They ended up doing something that they thought worked for them, which was a lot less than they had originally considered.

"We're no different than that. We're looking at that. It's their tournament, it's our Chase. So we'll look at what we think can make the biggest impact, managing the unintended consequences and the integrity of the format itself."

The biggest issue with tweaking the Chase, France said, is that unlike most major sports, NASCAR doesn't lend itself well to a knockout playoff format.

"There's a continuity issue because there's 43 teams," France said. "Nobody can win a winner-take-all scenario. And we have to balance the body of what you've done as a driver across the board. So continuity will always be a factor in our playoff-style format."

France also touched on several other issues, including the idea of modifying the Nationwide Series rules and regulations to limit the amount of influence that Cup drivers and teams have in what he still believes should be NASCAR's developmental series.

"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."

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