Full Throttle

Brian France, (a/k/a HE, who shall be obeyed) has a plan. Speaking at the Reuters Media and Advertising Summit in New York France said he has a plan to “rule the World.”, claiming “Everybody understands auto racing,”

“We’re in the early stages of outlining a long-range international strategy that could capitalize on an already existing appetite for auto racing all over the world,” France said, citing NASCAR’s Busch race in Mexico earlier this year.

He said NASCAR would likely hold a Busch or Craftsman Truck race in Canada, given racing’s popularity there. [ see NASCAR to purchase CASCAR - ed] And he said NASCAR officials have met with people in Europe.

“Europe has the greatest density of tracks and fan interest,” [not to mention EuroSpeedway’s 2 mile tri-oval with 6 degree banking in Germany - ed] he said. “South America has good auto racing interest, too.” [see my post of a few hours ago - ed] And he noted China’s love of Formula 1 racing.

But NASCAR will not rush to establish a presence anywhere until it has the proper business model, including local financial support, France said.

“Do I think we can take that model, whether it’s in China or Europe or somewhere else? I do,” he said. “It will take a long time to do that. We’ve got to be careful. It can’t be us just coming over there with our business plan and spending a lot of money.”

Don’t get your panties in a bunch! All you America-centric NASCAR fans can rest easy, France has no plans to “export such popular U.S. drivers as Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt Jr.” His idea is to “build stars who are from Europe, teams that are from Europe and get manufacturers who have an interest in Europe.” So rest easy you won’t need to apply for a passport, as yet.

But it’s not a bad idea. After all NASCAR isn’t “your sport” anymore, not that it ever was. There is a reason why EuroSpeedway has a two mile oval. It’s the same reason there are two “Rocks.” All of us are familiar with The Rock located in Rockingham N.C., in fact it’s a favorite of many NASCAR fans and some say a break from the “cookie cutter” venues.

But there is another “The Rock” located in in Northamptonshire, Rockingham England. The facility is built around a 2,416m (1.479 Miles) oval and much of the exhaust note heard around the track is produced by [avatar:http://cranialcavity.net/files/stock-rock.gif]cars identical[/avatar] to what is heard at North Carolina’s “Rock.” Run under the sanctioning banner of Stock Car Speed Association (SCSA) with ten events scheduled for 2006.

As alluded to earlier, there is a reason for these type of tracks springing up far outside of the U.S. NASCAR produces the most competitive form of racing on the planet, with the exception of Le Mans and the Daytona 24 Hours, has the largest field of participants, and is the most cost effective venue to potential sponsors. Did I mention it’s also a cash cow? Well, there you have it, the largest incentive of all!

It’s not your GrandFather’s NASCAR any longer. Get used to it, I have - casting aside 40 plus years of stubborness - and Brian France obviously sees a future that none of us “old timers” foresaw even 5 years ago.

Why am I reminded of that guy on that boat in that movie screaming, “I’m King of the World!”

NASCAR, Auto Racing, Sports