Keeping NASCAR’s Pedal to the Metal
Following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father at the head of NASCAR, Mr. France maintains a business that for years has been described as a benevolent dictatorship. Closely held and union-free, NASCAR has become the largest, richest sanctioning body in U.S. motor sports under the France family's watch.
The 45-year-old Mr. France has authored fundamental changes in stock-car racing since taking over as chairman and chief executive in 2003. A transition to a new, more regulated racecar for teams in the Nextel Cup series, NASCAR’s highest level, is meant to keep costs down while improving competition and safety, though racing teams have complained it strips the sport of engineering creativity. A 10-race playoff known as the Chase for the Cup, which begins Sunday in Loudon, N.H., has also received mixed reviews.
NASCAR can hardly be said to be hurting: It is in the first year of an eight-year, $4.4 billion set of TV deals, and NASCAR and its independent racing teams count more than 100 of the nation's richest companies as sponsors. Still, after years of vigorous growth, it is showing signs of slowing. For the second straight year, TV ratings and attendance are down slightly. Merchandising has plateaued. The costs to start a team are soaring. And NASCAR continues to wrestle with balancing its ambitions to expand with the risk of alienating longtime fans. Speaking in NASCAR’s offices here, Mr. France discussed the challenges facing his sport. Excerpts:
WSJ: What's your response to people who say NASCAR is plateauing?
Mr. France: Well, it's more mature than it was five years ago. We're driven more than any other sport on energy prices. Our fans tend to drive a lot further to our events, tend to drive RVs, so there's some sensitivity to that. There's some price sensitivity that comes with that too, of course, with less money in their pocket. But listen, we're talking about instead of having 160,000 people [attend a race], we're talking about 153,000, or something like that. It's a very small drop-off. More at Wall Street Journal