In a departure from Myers Brothers Luncheon speeches of recent years, NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France talked more about NASCAR’s future than about its immediate past.
“I want to take a moment… a little pivot from my normal welcome remarks because, of course, this week is all about celebrating this year,” France said on Thursday at the annual event, which is part of NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion’s Week, the sport’s annual postseason celebration.
“I want to tell you a little bit about the future because, in my career—and I’ve been at this a long time—I’ve never been more excited about what’s going on in our industry than right now.
“I say that because of all of the innovative things that are happening.”
Virtually all stakeholders in the motorsports industry were represented in the Encore Ballroom, where Darlington Raceway officials, represented by track president Chip Wile, were recognized with the coveted National Motorsports Press Association Myers Brothers Award for outstanding contributions to stock car racing, stemming specifically from Darlington’s immensely popular throwback theme for last year’s Bojangles’ Southern 500.
“Innovation or ideas can come from anywhere,” France continued. “But it’s the people in this room that execute those ideas—our track operators, our race officials, our teams, our team personnel—they’ve embraced what we’re doing in a way that is unprecedented in motorsports.
“I’m talking about little things like the Air Titan system which helps us get our events completed in a timely way, that little things that make a big impact.”
But it was the big ideas, such as the revamping of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, that really captured the imagination of race fans worldwide, France said.
“Many people thought it couldn’t be done,” he said. “They didn’t think you could have an elimination style format in auto racing. Didn’t make sense… They also didn’t think that the level of competition could rise, that our teams could step up to the moment and do things they never thought possible.
“But you know what? They have. And all of you in this room have embraced that, our tracks, everybody, our marketing partners, have understood the importance of raising the level of competition to our fans. They love it.
“That gives me great assurance we’re going to have a good future. I want us to have an exceptional future. I know now, with the industry working so closely on big things and small things, that we’re going to have an exceptional future.”
The largest, most immediate manifestation of that future is just around the corner.
“That future will start in February of next year,” France said, “and you’ll see the completion of Daytona Rising, the huge commitment the tracks across the industry that I believe will follow suit in various forms to reinvest, make our fan experience better than it’s ever been.”
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