Greensboro NC — Progress is measured by history. What takes hold as a progressive move in anything — be it business, sports, politics — will not be seen as progress until many tests of time and timing are presented to the move and clear results are measured in its evolution. Judgement calls will hamper or confirm the success or failure. But history will be the ultimate decision maker. Then you can say — "it is progress" or "that was a mistake" — and it's all perception, when you get right down to it. History is the version of what really happened that everybody agrees upon.
We've seen it all in many areas, particularly in sports.
The designated hitter rule in baseball, the implementation of the 3-point line or the dunk in college basketball, etc., etc. … progress.
All designed to improve the game. And only the perception of those that get involved provide the measure.
NASCAR's years of progress can be measured in the sport's growth — driven by fan demands or maket forces, there has been such a whirlwind of change over the years — they have been hard to phathom… and sometimes hard to swallow.
NASCAR has always catered to the fans and marketing forces. Be it in the days of payplans that included "guaranteed appearance money" to the open-armed welcoming of "non-traditional" sponsors, NASCAR has always had a sense of the sport's progressive potential. and they've made the best of it, as evidenced by the sanction's pushes into as many diverse regions, both geographic and cultural as it can reach.
Has NASCAR seen failures? Look at Washington state and Long Island/ NYC track debacles and I think a resounding "yes" would apply. But to NASCAR's credit in those cases, it was largely a particulary nasty type of politics that was the ultimate undoing.
In the modern age of politcal correctness, not everything is as clear as it would seem and some groups just never get it.
Its well known and understood that putting the words "progessive" and "politics" together in the same sentence is akin to putting "pizza sundae" together — it ain't good.
But let's get back to NASCAR and progress.
Under the watch of Brian France, NASCAR's incredible changes have been seen by many as more than whirlwind. Many see them as firestorm.
From the Top 35 "franchise" to the COT — fans have been subjected to alterations to the sport that coudn't have been imagined just a few years ago.
And they are still soaking in to the fan collective mindset.
So earlier this week, at a NASCAR "State of the Sport" style press conference, France announced there wouldn't be any changes to the sport this year.
"We're fans, too. It's hard to keep up with all the moving parts and different things that are going on," France said Monday, the first day of the Sprint Cup preseason media tour hosted by Lowe's Motor Speedway. "… We're going to minimize change, and we're going to zero in on the best racing in the world. That's what we're going to do."
Many of the hard-core long term fans have felt alienated by progress. The have felt left out and unheard.
That fact isn't lost on Brian France. To his credit, he does understand those emotions.
"This change issue, with all the different things, from the name of series to the format to all the different rules to the Car of Tomorrow … all those things to our core fans, that's a lot to digest in a short period of time," he said. "We know that. A lot of those things were on a track from many years ago. Some of those things were beyond our control. It's doesn't matter. They all happened. That's not helpful. Change is good to a certain point. We've had all the change that we think the sport can stand and needs, and now we want to build on that."
Is the season going to be totally without change?… never happen, changes come without warning.
It depends on how they are made.
And who makes them.
For instance, there was the alteration to the Top 35 rule and how those outside would be qualifying — putting them into their own category after the others have made their qualifying runs..
Who will this help? …. everybody that's not locked in.
Gillett Evernham driver Patrick Carpentier being one of those sees it in this way, “I think letting all of us outside the top 35 go out at the end of the session helps even out the playing field. The guys in the top 35 are qualifying to determine where they start. Guys like me are qualifying to determine if they start. Trust me, our Valvoline team is really focusing on making these races. Before we can race we have to qualify. Now we know we aren’t going to miss or make the show because of track temperatures or where we draw in the qualifying order. We are all going out when the track is about the same. NASCAR is trying to make things as fair as it can, and that’s something I am always going to support.”
With some getting guarantees that are, as yet, unproven competitors — like Sam Hornish Jr. getting a transfer of Kurt Busch's owner points — others in the "outside looking in" department have to be pleased to be able to prove the worth with as much speed as they can find.
But still, the chances of racing on Sunday will be dependent on how much progress has been made in off-season moves and research and development that both team and manufacturer have made. In every case scenario, there are representations of "outside looking in" that must be overcome.
If testing is an indicator, Toyota comes to 2008 loaded for bear. Achieving top speeds and finding chassis/ draft handling seems to be a non-issue. They look to be ready with the year in grade paying off.
They also make up the bulk of non-Top 35 entries.
It seems to be shaping up to be a year in NASCAR that progressive moves are still a factor — only not from the sanction — but from the racers themselves.
As it should be.
Stay Tuned
© 2008 backstretchmotorsports.com (The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.)
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Kasey Kahne — 79 votes 
