Speculations abound when it comes to what it will take for NASCAR to survive the current economic crisis facing the nation. Race venues across the nation have suffered a noticeable decline in attendance, some drastically. The same holds true for television viewership.

  While many businesses sit back to ride out the recession, NASCAR rarely stands still. History has shown that the sport is one which undergoes constant tinkering for improvement.

  But does that lead to the question of whether NASCAR is in danger of one day becoming extinct.

  Many drivers feel that the current decline is only a common trend of the sport amplified by the economy.

  So what actually is the current state of NASCAR?

  “You know it’s really hard to say,” said Hall of Fame driver Richard Petty. “Are we going to compare it with 10 years ago, five years ago or last year? It could be better. We could have better racing. We could have more fans. We could have more enthusiasm. But we’ve been through this before, as far as NASCAR, if you’ll look back at history. They’ll grow real good and then they kind of flatten out and then they’ll grow some more. So right now we’re in a flat state.”

  David Ragan, driver of the No. 6 UPS Ford agrees with some of Petty’s sentiments. “I think the sport is relatively strong compared to the world we live in today,” he said “You look at five years ago and you could arguably say that NASCAR was on the rise and it can only rise for so long. I don’t think it’s declined much but it’s certainly evened out.

  “You look at some of the attendance and some of the revenues and it’s down, but the world we live in is down,” Ragan said. “I think it’s on line with what we see in everyday life.” 

  Over the course of this year, NASCAR has made varying subtle changes to the sport in order to boost viewership and race attendance. The year started off with a decision to let the drivers settle issues on the track. Later, NASCAR made the decision to fine drivers for making negative comments about the sport. Most recently, NASCAR revamped their schedule for next year, removing races from a few long-standing venues such as Atlanta Motor Speedway while adding events new locations such as Kentucky.

  Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, semi-jokingly suggested they could have gone further. “There’s some tracks that I’d wished we would have gotten rid of that we didn’t and hopefully that will happen in the future but they’re doing what they think is best for the racing and for the people.”

  While subtle changes are okay, Petty feels the sport should be wary of carrying it too far too fast without further evaluation. “I don’t know that they need to make wholesale changes because I don’t know what’s lacking right now,” he said. “Is it the enthusiasm of the fans? Is it the money for the fans? Why aren’t people coming out like we’d like to see?

  “I would think that they need to be chipping away,” Petty added. “I would think that if you turned it all over and changed it completely you’d lose fans that you’ve already got and is the new thing going to draw new fans? We’ve got to walk a real tight area. We’ve got to keep the old fans happy and entice new fans to come along.”

  One track that has been doing well despite the downward trend is Richmond International Raceway. Because the NASCAR schedule is decided from year to year, RIR considers itself a three-fold winner with the 2011 slate. Not only was the track able to maintain their hold on two races next season, but they also kept the same dates, including the ‘Last Race to Make the Chase’ for the seventh consecutive year, something that is never guaranteed.

  “You never know for sure,” said RIR President Doug Fritz said. “You do a year by year sanction with NASCAR. We’re confident that we’ve got two races next year. We’re hoping that it’s going to be two races a year for a long, long time. (But) Atlanta probably said that 10 years ago.”

  As such, Fritz said it is important for local race fans not to take for granted that Richmond will always have two races. “No question about it,” he said. “You never take anything for granted.”

  But the plateau and downward trend could be slowly reversing itself. Television commentator Rusty Wallace feels that the NASCAR product has improved over the course of the year. “You look at the numbers and there’s more passing this year,” he said. “There’s more frammin’ and bammin’.

  “It’s real aggressive and it’s real exciting and that’s great,” Wallace added. “But we’ve got to fill more seats up. We’ve still got to get the TV ratings up and this economy has really taken a zap out of a lot of people. We’ve got to do what we can to make it exciting for people again.”

  McMurray concurred. “Last year was certainly a struggle for us with TV ratings and fans and economy,” he said. “But it does seem like the economy is slowly getting better, maybe not for everyone but for some it is. And when I talk to the racetracks and it does look like there’s more people in the seats than there were last year. I’m sure it’s tough but in my opinion just looking at the stands and listening to the track promoters it does seem like it’s getting better and better and hopefully that trend will continue to grow.”