FOXSPORTS.COM’s Lee Spencer spent time with NASCAR President Mike Helton during his first trip to Eldora Speedway on Wednesday. Helton discussed a variety of topics and offered his own update on the sport.
FOXSPORTS: So what’s your first impression of the Big E?
HELTON: Wow. It’s pretty cool all the way around. It’s amazing on a Wednesday night in early June that you can get so many people out to do things inside the track and spectators to come watch it. My hat’s off to Tony (Stewart) and his whole operation for putting something like this together. I know these guys are having a lot of fun because they’re talking about it a lot and that’s why everybody gets so excited. It’s for such a good cause and it tells you how big-hearted our guys are. This may be a little more about the fun than anything else. You can see the big grins on everyone’s faces and it reminds us of why we all got into this business in the first place. It’s a good example of what our roots are like.
FOXSPORTS: What do you think Randy Bernard can do for IndyCars?
HELTON: I’ve know him since he did the PBR stuff. Randy’s a promoter. He knows the business. Like he said early on, he might not know the race cars, but he’s got a lot of help to do that. And he knows the promoting business. Time will tell, but I hope everyone gives him a shot and lets him see what he can do.
FOXSPORTS: How did the meetings with the drivers and owners go this week?
HELTON: Good. It’s just another part of the process now as it turns out a year later but it’s good. It’s healthy. We’re not through, we’re just in the middle of it now. The purpose behind the meetings is we learned that we needed to focus more on communication — particularly with the stakeholders — and the drivers and the car owners are very critical stakeholders and it works. In days gone by, we were able to do a lot of it at the racetrack conversations’ but now everyone at the racetrack has so much going on, so many distractions, this is a more modern way of handling the discussions. And it’s worked so far.
FOXSPORTS: What are some of the big-picture things facing NASCAR in the future?
HELTON: It’s a function of maybe not big-picture things, but getting all the components right and then using all the technology that we have at our disposal at the R&D Center to make good decisions for the architecture of the cars and the motors. We need to be more relevant with bio-fuels and be responsive to the garage area as to whether testing is necessary or needed or is it still a function of economics that we save? So, that’s the heart and soul of the conversation — is to deal with maybe not any one major topic on the horizon, but all the topics that exist today and is there a better way of doing those. From a global perspective, what you want to do is as the economy sorts itself out and things are beginning to turn back around in the right direction, we need to be poised for that so we can go through another growth curve.
FOXSPORTS: It’s been a year now since double-file restarts. We had the green-white-checker finishes introduced at Daytona along with the encouragement of ‘boys have at it’, then what could have been a snoozer on Sunday turns into one of the most talked about races of the year. How would you assess the on-track product right now?
HELTON: Every week there’s an argument that can be made that the racing today is as good as it has ever been. It’s fun to watch and that’s what it’s supposed to be. The drivers are taking this responsibility very seriously. There are a lot of quality teams out there that can win races and we are seeing that unfold on the racetrack more often than not. Certainly, the finishes of the races have been good — incredible quite frankly—- but the traditional unfolding of the race as we watch it and see all the different things that are happening out there, this year has been very interesting.
A talk with new Indy Racing League President Randy Bernard
Mike Helton wasn’t the only motorsports topper taking his first trip around Eldora Speedway. Randy Bernard was enjoying the sights, sounds and people as well.
“I love it,” said the IRL chief. “This has been a great experience. Johnny Rutherford signed a picture I have at home of him flipping over that wall (points to Turn 2).”
Bernard is eager to make his mark in the IndyCar Series similar to the meteoric success he enjoyed during his 15 years with the Professional Bull Riders, Inc. He understands that America’s top open-wheel tour can benefit from a strong association with NASCAR.
“Anything we can do together will help us both,” Bernard said. “Although our demographics are different, all boats rise during a high tide. I look forward to working with Mike (Helton). He’s a great guy.”
Bernard was also enjoying time at Eldora with his friend Johnny Morris, owner of Bass Pro Shops.
Bernard also says he “hit it off really well” with Speedway Motorsports Chairman O. Bruton Smith, who he calls “an outstanding promoter“. The pair spent an hour-and-a-half last weekend discussing a variety of topics including starting times for 2011 Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600.
“We’re going to start at 11 o’clock for sure,” Bernard said — than quickly backtracked with an infectious smile. “How about saying that we’re hoping to start the Indy 500 at 11 o’clock next year.”
Sounds like this could be the start of a beautiful relationship.
