High-Tailin' It 

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Now the biggest spectator sport in the country and still growing, NASCAR's intense efforts to serve and profit from that three-quarters has certainly paid off, but at what price?

"There's no doubt that many hardcore Southern fans are pissed," says Marty Smith, a commentator with nascar.com. "They feel that NASCAR's "not dancing with the one that brought "em.'"

One major event in the de-Southernization of NASCAR was the exit of Old South corporate empire RJR Tobacco as title sponsor. RJR funded the Winston Cup from its inception 54 years ago up to the 2003 season and everybody -- drivers, fans, crews, owners and their first cousins -- all waxed nostalgic about the loss of a big part of the sport's history. Still, it's hard to be too choked up about the decline of a company that made billions from a product that killed millions of people. Nextel is based in Virginia, but there's nothing Southern about the company -- a fact that will surely help NASCAR outdistance its heritage.

Only two Southern drivers, Dale Earnhart and Dale Jarrett, have won the championship title since 1992, the year the first bona fide by-anyone's-definition Yankee (Alan Kulwicki of Wisconsin) took home the Winston Cup. Only one Southerner, Jeff Burton, has won Rookie of the Year in the decade since Jeff Gordon won the title. Not that NASCAR is driving out Southern drivers.

But NASCAR is driving races west of the Mississippi. All tracks added to the schedule since 1973 have been outside the Southeast with the bulk of the expansion taking place from the late 90s to 2001 to include new tracks built in Las Vegas, Kansas City, Chicago, Fort Worth, California, and Miami (definitely not Southern).

At the time of the addition of two races in 2001, Mike Helton, now NASCAR's president, said "We're fortunate to be able to attract investors that will create facilities in markets like that. That gives NASCAR the ability to grow from its rural roots to urban markets. That helps fuel growth. That's exposure. That's more of everything for everybody."

Except the Southern "market," apparently.

With the loss of North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, of the 22 tracks the Nextel Cup series visits each year, only nine are in the Southeast.

"As a fan, I hate it that we're leaving these great old tracks. But realistically, in order for NASCAR to grow -- and all businesses want to grow -- they have to focus on these bigger venues in other parts of the country," says Marty Smith.

It's not as though NASCAR can just add a couple of races to the schedule. Teams already face the longest and most grueling season of any professional sport in the country -- 36 races in 10 months. Most teams agree there's no room for expansion. This means that in order for the NASCAR lords to giveth, they must taketh away.

While NASCAR says it wants to bring the joys of Nextel Cup racing to underserved fans, that rings hollow when the expansion isn't including new tracks in other cities, just giving another race to those already on the schedule -- two of which, Phoenix and California, are actually owned by the France family. If all this isn't complicated enough, the France family also owns Rockingham and Darlington. Confused? Not surprising. The two benefiting tracks on the West Coast are larger (more ticket revenue) and in populous, urban areas (more potential TV ad revenue).

It's not underhanded. It's just business -- a family-owned business shifting resources from declining investments to growing ones. Unlike the other major professional sports in this country that are run by commissioners appointed by team owners, NASCAR is and has always been a monarchy and what's good for the France family is apparently what's good for NASCAR.

Where Have All the Good Ole Boys Gone?
Despain contends that despite NASCAR's controversial schedule changes and exorbitant ticket costs (see sidebar), fan loyalty will ultimately be decided on more personal terms. "What do the fans like about the sport? The drivers. If they like the drivers, they'll come back."

Unfortunately for the Southern fan who prefers to pull for a Southern driver, options are dwindling there, too.

This season there are 39 active Nextel Cup drivers according to nascar.com. Of those, only 15 are Southern. Just two of the six Rookies are Southern. Over the past decade the number of Southerners in the top ranks has dropped dramatically.

Last year, the final Top 10 in the Winston Cup standings included only two drivers from the Southeast -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Bill Elliott. And at the end of the season, Elliott announced his retirement from full-time cup racing and handed his keys over to Kasey Kahne, an almost unknown kid from Washington state. This leaves Junior as the sole Southerner who is currently a serious contender -- a fact that no doubt contributes to his huge popularity.