Las Vegas among several new Winston Cup stops

Friday, Feb. 27, 1998 | 1:16 a.m.

The expansion of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series into Las Vegas this weekend isn't the final stage in the evolution of the country's fastest growing sport. It is only the latest.

Since 1993, the $200 million Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the fourth new mega-track to be added to the circuit, and more venues already completed or on the drawing board in Homestead, Fla., Kansas City, Kan., and Sacramento, Calif., are clamoring for a coveted Winston Cup date.

NASCAR, a $2 billion a year industry run by a single family since its inception in 1948, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Bill France Jr., son of the NASCAR founder, now presides over the sport that has seen a 65 percent increase in attendance since 1990.

France's goal for NASCAR's immediate future is the same as it has been since the sport expanded from its Southeastern roots in the 1970s.

"What we want to do is to continue to grow the facilities, get our TV ratings higher, get more interest in it and get more fan participation," France said. "What has happened in the last three or four years, which is a whole new way of looking at motor sports, and particularly NASCAR, is that nine of the top 10 sporting facilities in the United States now are motor sports facilities.

"The largest crowds for any sporting events, and I'm talking about the live gate, you've got Indianapolis with over 200,000 seats, you've got the Texas Speedway at 150,000, you've got Daytona up there right close to 150,000, and you've got Charlotte, Bristol, Atlanta, Michigan, Dover ... I would say within a couple of years, maybe 14 of the top 15 will be motor sports facilities that have NASCAR events."

Indivisible ... for now

France insists NASCAR is not looking at splitting its Winston Cup Series into two divisions -- the popular theory these days -- although there is evidence to the contrary, such as the sudden emphasis NASCAR and series sponsor R.J. Reynolds Tobacco is placing on its Winston West Racing Series.

"We're not looking at that now," France said of splitting up the series. "I think the big question is would the two parts be worth as much as the whole is now? I don't think we're ready for that, not today. We're just going to have to take it kind of year by year as we go down the road."

France does acknowledge, however, that his sport quickly is coming to a crossroad. Among the issues France will have to deal with in the very near future are how to allocate Winston Cup dates to new and existing tracks without expanding an already hectic 33-race schedule.

From the season-opening Daytona 500 two weekends ago until the season finale at Atlanta on Nov. 8, there are only six open weekends in the the Winston Cup schedule. That, say many drivers, is already too much.

"Do I get enough rest? I'd have to say no, I don't get enough rest," Mark Martin, driver of the No. 6 Valvoline Ford, said. "Does my race team get enough time to do everything that they need to do and have a little bit of time with their family, too? No, that really doesn't happen, either.

"But if they keep adding races, we're going to keep showing up."

Hot date

France said his decision on how to allocate Cup dates in the future may be made easier by the tracks that already have dates.

"The big issue is, as the cost of racing is going up and the teams are spending more money, the question is can the tracks keep up with their portion of the revenue for the teams," France said. "We'll just have to let everything unfold on a year-by-year basis but the way we've been doing it, I think has been working.

"Another way of doing it would be to sit back and say, 'OK, we're going to bid everything. We'll have 30 races and we're going to bid them all and whoever comes in with the best bid (gets a race).' But I think that would pretty much create chaos within the series."

A nice problem to have, to be sure, but one France never thought he would have to deal with. At the time his father was founding NASCAR in Daytona Beach, Fla., after the end of World War II, the last thing on the then 13-year-old France's mind was running an auto racing series.

A new love interest

"I didn't really have a great big role in it," France said about the formation of NASCAR. "About that same time, motor sports, Bill Sr. and NASCAR and everybody else were competing with the girls."

Eventually, France's fancies turned toward the track and, after a hitch in the Navy, he figured driving a race car would be a more glamorous way of making a living than putting on races.

"In those early years, my first preference was hopefully to be a driver," he said. "The little bit of driving I did was after I came out of the Navy and I was about 22 or 23 years old and I thought I ought to be a good driver. I raced a few times -- not enough to count -- and I realized I kind of needed to do one or the other instead of trying to get people in and park their cars and then drive a race car in a heat race.

"I also realized that one of the toughest things about motor sports is that you can have a lot of potential but if you don't really have a good car, it's not going to show. The way you get a good car is you've got to establish yourself as a driver. As it turned out, I went a different route but I don't regret it one bit."

He also never envisioned the sport growing at the rate it has in the past decade, considering its humble beginnings on the beach at Daytona. Neither could Richard Petty, winner of 200 Cup races during his 35-year career and arguably the one driver who can be credited with helping bring stock-car racing to the masses.

Petty's shop

"I never imagined this sport would evolve into what it has in recent years," said Petty, now a race-team owner.

"NASCAR's progress has been under control and the changes are pretty much positive, with better facilities to take care of the new fans and keeping the loyalty of the old ones."

As he surveyed the new 111,000-seat Las Vegas Motor Speedway during a recent visit here, Petty shook his head in awe.

"This is the most glamorous place on earth," he said. "This is the new NASCAR."

Actually, in many ways, it still is the old NASCAR -- run by the same family for five decades. But as NASCAR begins its second 50 years, France hinted that it might be time to step aside and turn over the reins of the sport to someone else.

"I'm certainly not going to have a role in the next 50 as much as I had in the first 50," France said. "I have probably a few years to go and what I need to do, if there is any way possible, is to help whoever is going to be sitting in my chair to have the train on the track running down there with the whistles blowing and a clear track ahead."