NASCAR guarding its brand
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Concerns about a half-empty racetrack dogged NASCAR long before Sunday's race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the sanctioning body's top officials didn't want to discuss attendance or any other ailments plaguing the nation's No. 1 racing series.
The conversation was instead steered to all the things NASCAR is doing right, a theme that became evident before the season started, when competitors spread a message of hope and unity.
Turns out that the racing series was serious about keeping everybody on point.
The Associated Press has learned that NASCAR warned teams during the offseason that public criticism of the sport would no longer be tolerated, and at least two star drivers have been fined — one as much as $50,000 — for comments that were deemed destructive to the industry.
NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston on Monday night confirmed some action had been taken, but would not discuss details.
"It is the sanctioning body's obligation on behalf of the industry and our fans to protect the sport's brand," Poston said. "Any action taken by NASCAR has nothing to do with the drivers expressing an opinion — it's focused on actions or comments that materially damage the sport.
"We have specifically discussed this in meetings with teams, drivers and stakeholders."
Drivers all declined to publicly discuss the policy, but it shouldn't come as any surprise — considering NASCAR's heightened effort this year to re-ignite interest in a sport that's been fighting sagging attendance, declining television ratings and overall fan apathy for several seasons.
NASCAR has taken several aggressive steps toward improving the on-track product, but its top brass decided that outstanding events aren't enough to overcome the negative perception created every time a driver publicly blasts the series.
"It doesn't make sense to criticize the food in a restaurant if you expect people to come back," has been chairman Brian France's season-long mantra, and it became clear very quickly that he'd personally delivered that message in a series of offseason meetings with every Sprint Cup Series team.
