NASCAR is ripe for a split, but no one wants to fumble

Sporting News, The, April 16, 2001 by Lee Spencer

I'm thinking about starting my own stock car series. Something that will make NASCAR weak in the knees. Why? Because the timing is right, the pieces are in place, and I can make everybody happy.

First, I'll need a big TV package. No problem. I'll put together a deal with CBS and ABC/ESPN, all jilted parties after NASCAR signed its new TV deal. They'll work with me. They won't say it, but they're pretty ticked off--especially the folks at ESPN--about how they've been treated by NASCAR.

And in my series, teams and drivers will get a bigger share of the TV money.

Next; HI need race tracks. I'll go to Bruton Smith, chairman of Speedway Motorsports. Bruton, we can nm four races every year at Texas and Charlotte if you want, I think I can get the Dover Downs Entertainment tracks--a couple of them have been spurned by NASCAR--to come on board, and, presto, I have 10 tracks, certainly enough to get this thing off the ground.

Now I need team owners and drivers ...

Hang on a minute. Damn remote. I've clicked on every channel tonight, and I can't find the XFL game.

Where was I? Team owners. I know how to make them happy. I'll allocate franchises to them so they can protect their investments and also give them voices in the decision-making process in my series. They don't have either in NASCAR.

Getting drivers will be easy. There are hundreds of talented candidates. But I want the best--the Winston Cup guys. So I'll make my pitch to them and their wives. You don't want to drive with those absurd roles at Daytona and Talladega? You won't have to in my series. You want a safety committee chaired by drivers? You've got it

Wouldn't a schedule of 25 marquee races, offering the same money as the 36-race grind, be nice? Think about the extra family lime that would mean for you and your crew members. It's almost Easter, and some folks haven't been off since Christmas Day. And no way will I close my season with races on 20 consecutive weekends.

I've got more things up my sleeve. I'll cut costs way back, making the owners and sponsors happy. The engines the Cup cars use are too expensive, especially the restrictor-plate engines. I have an easy fix. I'll do away with the plates and cut the engines to 500 horsepower. I'll limit engine use to two per driver each weekend.

The Winston Cup has a nice ring to it, but I'm sure everyone could get used to the Coca-Cola Cup or the Miller Lite Cup ...

Could somebody please tell me where to find the Demons and the Xtreme? My cable company can't.

OK, so who's going to take the first step with me? The TV people, I bet.

From her broadcast bunker at the Masters, CBS director of communications Robin Brendle finds the possibility of her company getting behind another stock car series amusing. "No comment for or against," she says. Why should she care? Tiger Woods is winning again.

So I talk to ESPN publicist Mike Humes, who says: "We're not part of any negotiations."

I'm bummed but not broken. Surely, Bruton won't let me down. He'll provide the tracks.

"It's something I'm not going to be involved with," he says. "But I can see how someone else might want to. If someone has the know-how, then they can probably make it work. If (television networks) came with enough money, they could be a strong contender."

I'm not feeling so good about this. Bruton won't say anything. Neither will the TV people. Maybe if I get the owners and drivers, everyone will come on board.

I figure the best place to start is the wallet. Team owners still are uncertain about what percentage teams will receive from the $2.8 billion TV deal. The formula NASCAR used the past 20 years: 65 percent to the tracks, 25 percent to the teams and 10 percent to the sanctioning body. Owners and drivers expected the purses to double over last year's winnings to nearly $65 million, but that hasn't been the case.

"I guess I thought with the huge share that the tracks are getting, that the TV side of the purse would be larger, that there would be a greater increase for the teams," says team owner Bill Davis. "So I am surprised that it hasn't been."

Maybe that's why there are renewed discussions about franchising. Owners Rick Hendrick and Joe Gibbs support franchising, and so does Davis.

"No one has explained to me why that is not a good deal," Davis says. "Why that doesn't make sense for everybody involved, NASCAR included. To me, it's the next logical step in our growth. Every other major league sport has it. I can't understand why we can't have it."

Now I've got Davis where I want him, ready to jump to a new series where he could have all these nifty things. Or so I think.

"I don't think we're in a position to take a second series seriously," he says. "Obviously, it hasn't worked out for the Indy cars. Neither league has had the success they are looking for, and I don't think it would work here."

I should know better than to talk to Dale Jarrett He's leading the Winston Cup points and all fat and happy. Life is good. At least he doesn't shut me out completely.

"It may happen, but it won't be a success," he says. "You won't see any of the main players going anywhere because this is still the best show going."