NASCAR Talk

(Photo Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Brian France, NASCAR Chairman and CEO gave his annual “State of the Sport Address” Live today from the NASCAR Research and Development Center. It has become a tradition for the France family to give a look back at the past year and to look ahead at what’s to come for the following racing season. According to Brian France, 2008 looks to be a strong year for the sport.

He highlighted major construction and events that will happen throughout the year, as well as mentioned some interesting news stories from 2007 to see how they will shake out (most notably, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s move to Hendrick Motorsports from Dale Earnhardt, Inc.). France made it seem like it will be an exciting year for everyone involved.

To read a transcript of Brian France’s “State of the Sport Address”, keep reading after the jump.

NASCAR, State of NASCAR Address, Brian France, Brian France Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: It’s my pleasure now to introduce NASCAR’s chairman and CEO, Brian France.

BRIAN FRANCE: Good afternoon, everyone. On behalf of everyone at NASCAR, thank you for being here.

This has become a pre-season tradition of sorts and of course a very important one. We’re starting off this year, as that video illustrated, in strong fashion. NASCAR is celebrating 60 proud years in 2008. Think about that, 60 years. We’ve covered a lot of ground in six decades. The first NASCAR-sanctioned race was run on the beach road course in Daytona in 1948. That was just a few weeks following the famed Streamline Hotel meeting in which NASCAR was formed. Red Byron won in a Ford modified. In a 1949, the first strictly stock race, what is now known as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, was held at the Charlotte fairgrounds. Jim Roper won that race and Red Byron was the season champion.

In 1949, there were a total of only eight races. Three were held in North Carolina, two in Pennsylvania, one in New York, one in Virginia, one in Florida. The sport then grew quickly after that. The number of NASCAR-sanctioned races more than doubled to 19 in 1950 and leaped to 41 events by 1951.

So right from the start, my grandfather, Big Bill, and my father Bill Jr. had a vision for this sport. It was an ambitious and forward-thinking vision. Both of them had fundamental principles they relied on to run NASCAR. One of those principles was improve the sport and build the fan base all across America. And we’re proud of that and we’re proud of our growth.

We certainly are proud we’ve been able to attract new fans virtually every year NASCAR has been in existence. But we’re also proud of those fans who have been with us for many decades.

You know, I want to make a point about change because it’s kind of nice to celebrate the future and all the things. ‘Change’ has been a hot button with the media and ourselves. Just so you know how we feel about it, while there’s been a lot of change, most of it for the good, the Chase, all the things, there were a lot of changes that were made, had to be made, that were scheduled many, many years ago, like the Car of Tomorrow, which had an eight- or nine-year development cycle, or some changes that were frankly out of our control, the series entitlement sponsors coming or going or whatever. I think what I hope you’ll take out of today is we’re getting back to the basics, we’re going to try to minimize the change going forward as best we can and focus on what we’ve always focussed on, which is the best product in the world.

But we’ll also continue to embrace the past and the rich heritage beginning with the biggest event, the Daytona 500. Next month, the 500 will run for the 50th time. It has an unbelievable history. The 500 holds a special place in the hearts of millions of fans, and mine too, and in particular Petty-Pearson, I remember as a young boy watching that. That memory always sticks with me.

Our fans will get to see 24 past winners of the Daytona 500 next month at the track. This takes me back to my earliest memories of NASCAR and the great drivers like Richard Petty, David Pearson, Bobby Allison and Cale Yarborough and many others.

The 500, of course, isn’t our only tradition. Martinsville Speedway was part of our very first schedule back in 1948. Our Richmond races were run since 1953. We’ve always raced here in Charlotte. Starting in 1960, the event moved to what is now the Lowe’s Motor Speedway, where another great tradition began, the Coca-Cola 600. And no single venue is more unique in all of sports than the Bristol Motor Speedway, a true modern day Coliseum.

We’re also proud the very first NASCAR superspeedway, Darlington Raceway, is still on the schedule. Several years ago we took what was perceived as a gamble. We moved the Darlington spring race to Mother’s Day weekend. As it turned out, it wasn’t a gamble at all. It was a sure thing, thanks to the power of the Darlington tradition and the loyalty of our race fans.

That event has quickly turned into one of the season’s highlighted events. In recent years, those long time venues have been joined by newer ones, Las Vegas, Chicago, Texas, California. All great facilities in areas of the country where there are many NASCAR fans.

You know, our drivers have always been the ones that have driven the sport’s image and popularity. One aspect that I’m especially proud of is our driver’s charitable efforts including childhood health, education, community development, animal welfare and the environment and many others. That’s why the NASCAR Foundation now supports over 30 driver charities and more outside the industry.

So the one change we are going to make for 2008 is fines based on NASCAR’s penalties will go to the NASCAR Foundation for its charitable initiatives. Now that NASCAR Foundation is well-established and supporting dozens of charitable organizations, it’s the logical place for fine monies to be distributed.

We also want to welcome Garth Brooks this year with the fifth annual and very successful NASCAR Day. Garth will be seen in our promotional spots on behalf of the foundation. He’s a big fan. He loves the sport. I know he’ll do a great job.

On the topic of attendance, television ratings, you know, I think any racing series would be proud to say its average attendance is 120,000 per event. We’re certainly proud of the fact that 17 of the top 20 highest attended events in 2007 were NASCAR events.

Also in 2007, NASCAR averaged approximately seven million viewers watching the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series each week. And while ratings are always going to fluctuate, we’re proud of the upward trend over the last decade and NASCAR remains the No. 2 regular-season sport on television.

Last season NASCAR was No. 1 or No. 2 on television in 21 of 36 weekends, 21 of 36 weekends. On weekends, when all three national series race at the same track, NASCAR averages 12 million viewers. So by any measurement, these are great numbers. Our sport is strong when it comes to competition. I can tell you on the track it’s never been better, and we’re very excited about a full season of the Car of Tomorrow.

This is true for all NASCAR series, by the way, including our developmental tours. Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, two of our biggest names today, both came through the developmental series. A bit later on in the program, you’ll hear more about our developmental series which they as well are in excellent shape. You’ll also get the latest rundown on everything going on right here in the R&D Center. There’s a lot going on on a daily basis to make our sport safe for the drivers, more exciting for the fans and more affordable for the teams. Projects such as the development of the NASCAR chassis now called simply the new car, which came to life right here in the R&D Center after many, many years of development.

One project our group is examining with help from Sonoco, our official fuel supplier, is the possibility of alternative fuel for race cars in the future. That’s indicative of the kind of forward thinking we have going on right here at the center. And while any steps we take with regards to fuels would have relatively little impact on the environment, it would be an important symbolic move. It’s more important than ever to help make sure this country becomes energy independent and take the steps where we can to protect the environment. And you’ve got my commitment and everybody at NASCAR, we’re going to do our part.

Away from the track construction is underway in the NASCAR Plaza Hall of Fame in Charlotte. Our partner, the Lauth Property Group, is designing it to be a green building which will qualify for certification, including state-of-the-art energy management systems, low emitting building materials and more.

Today we also celebrate Martin Luther King Day, and our sport is working hard and making great progress in the area of diversity. Getting this done, as you’ve heard me say many times, will make every aspect of the sport better, from competition to increasing the fan base, and everywhere in between. Later on in the program, you’ll be meeting this year’s Drive for Diversity class. It’s a talented group of young drivers which everyone is excited about.

2008 promises to be a tremendous year. There’s some great developing stories. Everyone wonders how Dale Jr. will do driving for Rick Hendrick and the super team. Will Toyota have a breakthrough season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series now that they’ve gotten together with Joe Gibbs Racing. Hendrick Motorsports, well, they’re on their way of being the New England Patriots on wheels. Can they do it again? Can they keep their dominance? Will Jimmie Johnson be able to win three titles in a row? Will Jeff Gordon win a fifth championship? How about Juan Pablo Montoya, will he be able to keep his momentum up and his progress in his second season?

Plus we’ll have a new name for our top series and a new sponsor for our No. 2 series, Nationwide Insurance. Meanwhile, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series continues to produce some of the most exciting racing anywhere.

Our sport is strong. We’re determined to make it stronger and maintain the intense commitment of our generations of loyal fans. We’ll continue to grow and evolve. We’ll always be mindful of our past. And last month’s season-ending awards ceremony in New York, our guest speak are Tom Brokaw called NASCAR the greatest American sport. That was one hell of a compliment. Of course, I agree with Tom.

All of us in the industry must live up to that compliment. So thank you very much for being here today. I’ll look forward to visiting with you a little bit later on. Thank you very much.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Brian.