Scheduling conflict

Winston Cup could satisfy everyone's need for speed

Never one to follow conventional wisdom, NASCAR is the antithesis to the adage that too many cooks spoil the broth. For in Winston Cup racing, too few track owners are spoiling the sport.

Currently there are 36 races spread across 23 tracks, and the big dog of trackdom, International Speedway Corp. -- owned by the first family of NASCAR -- is looking to tweak the schedule in the name of corporate greed. ISC operates 11 facilities, including Daytona International Speedway.

However, Bruton Smith's Speedway Motorsports Inc. wants a larger share -- but at no expense to his burgeoning business. Smith/SMI owns six tracks.

Meanwhile, Jerry Carroll's Sparta, Ky., track is waiting for a sniff of big-time stock car racing. Carroll is on the proverbial outside looking in, having built a state-of-the-art facility -- for NASCAR's lower-tier series and open-wheel events.

And now, the France family says change is imminent. In short, if tracks cannot generate the green, the flag won't drop. Tracks in jeopardy of losing at least one of their two races include Darlington, Atlanta and Charlotte. Darlington is an ISC track, while SMI owns Atlanta and Charlotte.

"If moving one of our dates to another market could sell tickets and give fans a chance to see racing in other parts of the country, it's hard for me to say that's not good for the sport. That's just the way we have to look at it," says Rockingham general manager Chris Browning, whose track is also owned by ISC.

Complicating matters is pending litigation between a Texas Motor Speedway shareholder and NASCAR. In typical he said, she said fashion, Texas claims NASCAR promised a second date for the track; NASCAR denies it ever made such a commitment.

Announcing plans to scrutinize the schedule is an exercise in savvy one-upsmanship on the France family's part, basically putting forth to the masses that ISC is taking from its share to help the sport grow. Hence, the burden is on SMI to follow suit for the good of NASCAR.

Says Darlington president Andrew Gurtis, who also oversees an ISC-owned track: "I wish things wouldn't change, but the fact of the matter is they're probably going to. What they have laid out here is a prudent way to grow the sport."

In a sport that just 10 years ago ran 30 races, growth is the bottom line. More races mean more money spent on souvenirs and concessions. More races equal a larger TV deal, witness the multibillion-dollar deal between NASCAR and FOX, NBC and TNT.

Here is what I propose: