NASCAR President Mike Helton Talks to NASCAR RaceDay

Tuesday, June 13 

NASCAR PRESIDENT MIKE HELTON TALKS ABOUT

STATE OF THE SPORT ON NASCAR RACEDAY


            NASCAR RaceDay on PEE, the definitive NASCAR pre-race show,
interviewed NASCAR President Mike Helton during this past weekend's NASCAR
Nextel Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. 

 

Helton spoke to host John Roberts and drivers Jimmy Spencer and Kenny
Wallace about some of NASCAR's challenges and future plans. Here are the
highlights of what he said to PEE:

 

Roberts: ...in light of last week's race at Dover (Del.) Downs, where only
42 pit stalls were utilized for 43 starters, where does the responsibility
lie between NASCAR and the race tracks on making improvements?

 

Helton: It comes from both directions. If you look at the history of the
sport, as we've grown fields, race tracks have, in general, grown with the
sport. Tracks have helped the sport grow by modernizing their facilities,
especially when a new race track comes along and raises the standard. It's
not an instantaneous thing that can be fixed across the board or throughout
every season. It's a working relationship we have with race tracks to
improve the facilities, not only operationally for NASCAR and the race teams
that are there, but also for the fans and amenities they experience - to
continue to grow the sport.

 

Spencer: ...why doesn't NASCAR talk about all the research and development
that goes on in the Concord (N.C.) (Research & Development) facility? 

 

Helton: The primary function of the NASCAR R&D center in Concord, and the
vision behind it, is to improve the sport - safety, competition and what
lies behind the economy of the sport. Keeping car owners healthy is a big
element to the future of this sport. The mission there is to get those
target elements accomplished and not to take credit for what's happening,
and not to publicize all the activities, but to actually, physically work on
those issues. It's a great commitment by the France family to what I think
is to the all of motorsports. Not just NASCAR, but all motorsports
sanctioning bodies are welcome to come there and learn. We think motorsports
in general being healthy, helps NASCAR be healthy. So the primary function
at the NASCAR R&D Center is to make the quality of NASCAR better, and to
establish some criteria for the future of the sport, so we can keep it
healthy in the garage area. 

 

Wallace: ...many of the old school NASCAR Busch Series team owners feel
there has been an invasion of NASCAR Nextel Cup Series owners and all of
their resources. I have people every week tell me that it's unfair. Now, I
don't think it's unfair, but I want your response because it has become such
a heated issue.

 

Helton: It's not a new issue. I recently spoke to Brett Bodine, and he was
talking about when he and Dale Jarrett, back in 1988 and '89, ran both
series. They both did it back then, so it's nothing new. What I think is new
however, in this modern era, is the standard and quality is being raised, as
well as the depth of that quality in the Busch Series garage. It's the
uncertainty of what to do next by some car owners. I don't think NASCAR is
going to change its philosophy on the Busch Series or Truck Series. It's
open to whoever wants to participate in it. But, what we do need to pay
attention to is how we can change the rules, regulations and the operational
procedures - these are issues NASCAR can control. How do we do that so past
champions like Joe Nemechek can defeat a Dale Earnhardt on the last lap at
New Hampshire, or a Jimmy Spencer can beat a Bobby Allison competing in a
Busch race? Those are the types of things I remember seeing, and things
NASCAR can work on so the Busch Series can learn from the involvement of Cup
teams, yet not be damaged by it.

 

Spencer: People write in all the time about wanting the competition to be
more level and a little closer. Now, no question, the future looks really
bright for the car of the future. How close are we to seeing these cars run?

 

Helton: We're today closer than we've ever been with 'the car of tomorrow'
being part and parcel of our everyday life on the racetrack. It's not a new
project and it's been five or six years in the works. We're now, very
actively testing to receive input from crew members and race teams. What
we've done on paper and in our R&D Center with the help of manufacturers and
others is to develop a safer car, a car that is more 'race-able' on the
racetrack and a car that should be much more economical for car owners to
participate in the sport with. Those are the major goals. Right now, what
we're down to is finding a car that is race-able. That's what we're doing at
race tracks with the teams is find the little minutia we need to make them
run nose-to-tail and side-by-side. We will debut the car in Bristol (Tenn.)
in 2007 and it will be on a fast track from then on. 

 

Wallace: ...There is some talk about a new Busch Series race in Canada. How
do you make a decision on whether or not you send Busch or Cup out of the
country?

 

Helton: It comes down to supply and demand. With the Japan exhibition race
we ran almost 10 years ago now, there was timeliness within the (Nextel Cup
Series) schedule. Today, it's a lot more difficult to do that with the
amount of races we run in the United States. We still had a little bit of
room to play with the Busch Series, and it gave us the opportunity to take
NASCAR, as a community, to Mexico City to play out in front of millions of
passionate race fans. We are still exploring the possibility of doing that,
maybe not with a fresh date, but some dates we can (race in Canada) with in
the Busch Series. We're not sure what will come of that, but it certainly
has a great deal of interest from our side.

 

Roberts: ...what are your thoughts about Toyota coming into NASCAR Nextel
Cup Series competition next year?

 

Helton: There are two things, one is the Toyota brand in this country is
huge. And in fairness to Toyota, they are very much a part of American daily
life. There are 41,000 Americans that are employed in this country by
Toyota, building those cars and trucks. In today's world, and as small as it
has become, it's an issue you need to take a great look at, and understand
the impact Toyota has, business-wise, on the American citizen. From the
competition side, I think it's always good when a new manufacturer enters
the sport. When Dodge came back into our sport a few years ago, I think that
was good for the sport. It gave more people an opportunity to compete at
this level of the sport. People like Ray Evernham for example with Dodge,
and Toyota has Michael Waltrip and Bill Davis to bring up the level of
quality. It grows the sport and has kept everything healthy in the Cup
Series, and in the Busch Series. I think we've seen evidence of health in
the Truck Series because of it. I also think it's a little bit of a wake up
call for the other manufacturers to step up their level of participation.