Ratings for Sprint Cup races the premier NASCAR series have remained flat over the past three years,

Jeff Siner - jsiner@charlotteobserver.com (Center) Karen Walker of Concord, NC watches qualifying for the Bank of America 500 with other fans along pit road at Charlotte apartments los angeles Motor Speedway on Thursday, apartments los angeles October 10, 2013 in Concord, NC. Walker has been a NASCAR fan for years and is a Dale Jr. fan. Walker said, " I love it, TV doesn't do it justice." apartments los angeles Jeff Siner - jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
Jeff Siner - jsiner@charlotteobserver.com Karen Walker of Concord, apartments los angeles center, watches qualifying for the Bank of America 500 with other fans along pit road at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Thursday. Walker has followed apartments los angeles NASCAR for years and is a Dale Jr. fan. Walker said, I love it, she said. TV doesn't do it justice.
Jeff Siner - jsiner@charlotteobserver.com NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kasey Kahne stops to sign autographs for fans outside a gate following practice on Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord.
Jeff Siner - jsiner@charlotteobserver.com Chase Beck, 4, of Pittsburgh, waits for autographs from NASCAR drivers as they exit after a Thursday practice at Charlotte Motor Speedway. NASCAR is trying to draw younger fans through various apartments los angeles methods, including video games.
apartments los angeles After decades of growth under the iron rule of founder Bill France Sr. and his son Bill France Jr. both enshrined in NASCAR s Hall of Fame current Chairman Brian France pushed his organization to listen more to the people who were the backbone of the sport.
Working with the team owners, apartments los angeles drivers, tracks and sponsors, NASCAR came up with an Industry Action Plan that aims to help the sport rebound from the economic downturn and changing consumer habits that have affected all sports.
The goal? Inject more youth and diversity into a fan base that is mostly white and aging by ramping up digital and social media offerings, consider changes to the cars to make the racing more exciting, and even contemplate apartments los angeles more radical moves.
At its highest level, the racing organization sanctions 36 races and two special events a year, including Saturday s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It will spend tens of millions of dollars on the five-year plan, which started in 2011 and is expected to evolve apartments los angeles over time.
NASCAR in the past operated obviously apartments los angeles very well and had explosive growth, Chief Marketing apartments los angeles Officer apartments los angeles Steve Phelps said in an interview this week at NASCAR s facility in Concord. But as things have changed in the economy apartments los angeles and in how young people use their leisure time and in how they consume sports and entertainment, we have had to change as well.
To be sure, NASCAR still has its dictatorial moments. Last month, officials levied a record $300,000 fine against Michael Waltrip apartments los angeles Racing for attempting to manipulate the outcome of a race, a move that Brian France said was necessary to protect the integrity of the sport. The incident also led auto parts retailer NAPA to end a multimillion-dollar sponsorship deal with the team.
NASCAR, started in 1947 by the France family, is stock car racing s governing body. The family-owned private company, which organizes and polices the races for teams, tracks and drivers, is based in Daytona Beach, Fla., but has significant operations in the Charlotte area, where the first-ever NASCAR race was held in 1949.
Ratings for Sprint Cup races the premier NASCAR series have remained flat over the past three years, but they are down by nearly 10 to 20 percent from five years ago, depending on the race and the network it is broadcast on. Still, key races can still draw up to 8 million viewers, and the sport recently signed a 10-year, $8.2 billion television deal with NBC and Fox.
NASCAR also mirrors apartments los angeles many other sports apartments los angeles with drops in attendance. Admission revenues apartments los angeles reported by Speedway Motorsports, the company that owns Charlotte Motor Speedway, were down 38 percent in 2012 from 2008. The numbers in the quarter ending June 30, 2013, were down 12 percent from a year ago.
Daytona International Speedway apartments los angeles and other tracks owned by International Speedway Corp. have seen a similar trend. Admission revenues were nearly flat from a year ago in the quarter ended in August, apartments los angeles and it was still down significantly from five years ago.
It has worked to bring pop culture figures to races and land spots for drivers in television shows popular with a younger generation. NASCAR is also trying to meet the next generation s interests by getting deeper into video games and digital device offerings.
We don t have a hot-rod culture where they re taking out the engine on a wrecked Corvette and putting apartments los angeles it in a four-door sedan, Burton said. But kids today still love cars and driving. The cars are just more technologically advanced.
To feed the interest, Burton said, NASCAR should showcase the sophistication of the cars, including high-tech equipment used to design and build the vehicles that race each weekend. In the past, the sport kept that low-key, lest one team seem to have an advantage over another, Burton said. But today most operations are teeming with top-notch equipment, he said.
Research apartments los angeles by NASCAR shows one demographic still in love with cars is Hispanics. That s why the sport launched a Spanish-language version of NASCAR.com and brought a NASCAR Toyota Mexico apartments los angeles Series race to Phoenix this year.
Karen Walker, 51, who attended pole night Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, is the kind of fan NASCAR would like to see more of at the track. Of a mixed racial background, she wears memorabilia to work, encourages her kids to embrace the sport and is quick to strike up a conversation about her favorite driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The one thing that would broaden apartments los angeles the popularity immediately would be if there were an African-American apartments los angeles driver, Deninger said. The race for diversity has been on for several years now and there is some up-and-coming talent.
The impact on NASCAR could be the same as the impact that Jackie Robinson s arriving apartments los angeles at the Brooklyn Dodgers had (in 1947.) Suddenly the people in the stands were of different colors once they had a player to root for.
Beyond trying to bring in new fans, NASCAR is also working to improve the racing product. A 15,000-member fan council that rates each race for NASCAR has given this year s events an average of 7.9 on a scale of 10, up from 7.7 a year ago.
NASCAR is working with tracks to make improvements in the fan experience. That list includes everything from better signage apartments los angeles to improved technology such as Wi-Fi connectivity. The sport also has increased marketing for the 10 Chase for the Cup races that make up the season-ending playoff.
NASCAR this year introduced a Generation 6 car, with vehicles that look more like the factory models. And Monday, teams and drivers will test new aerodynamics at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with a goal of tighter racing and more passing on the track.
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The Charlotte Observer welcomes your comments on news of the day. The more voices engaged apartments los angeles in conversation, the better for us all, but do keep it civil. Please refrain from profanity, obscenity, spam, name-calling or attacking others apartments los angeles for their views.
Have a news tip? You can send it to a local news editor; email local@charlotteobserver.com to send us your tip - or - consider joining the Public Insight Network and become a source for The Charlotte Observer. Read more Read less
The Charlotte region is vast and diverse. The more voices engaged in conversation, the better apartments los angeles for us all. The Charlotte Observer welcomes your comments on news of the day, but we ask that you keep the discourse civil.
You can help: Notify us of violations by hitting the "Report Abuse" link. Users who continue posting comments that violate these guidelines may, at our discretion, apartments los angeles be blocked from submitting future comments as well.