Chat transcript: Mike Helton

February 15, 2001
11:06 AM EST (1606 GMT)

Mike Helton, senior vice president and chief operating officer for NASCAR, chatted with race fans from New York, site of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series banquet.

Mike Helton at 5:17pm ET I'm Mike Helton, I'm the chief operating officer for NASCAR. We're in New York for the banquet. I'm glad to have this chance to talk to the fans.

Eric Jones_FL at 5:17pm ET Mr. Helton, what exactly is your main role as the COO of NASCAR, and where does Mr. France now stand?

Mike Helton at 5:19pm ET My main role is the day to day operations of NASCAR, taking that responsibility from Bill France this year. That means the 250 employees of NASCAR in Florida, Charlotte, New York and every where else. Where that leaves Mr. France is the same place he's been, which is in charge of everything like marketing, competition, and the direction we're going to go in the future. He's still very much the man in charge.

Matt from cliu.org at 5:19pm ET Now that you have about one year under your belt, do you think next year will be easier?

Mike Helton at 5:20pm ET Well, I'd like to think so, except for the fact that in 20 years of experience, you find the growth of the sport, even if you don't change positions, the workload becomes more significant. That goes for everybody in our business, the crews, teams, media. Time is certainly a great asset in getting used to this new responsibility. And part of me thinks, in 2000, the things I learned will makes things simpler. But another part likes to think the new challenges on the part of NASCAR will always keep it on a hectic pace.

Evan Tribley at 5:21pm ET As the head of the competiton division in NASCAR, how hard is it to keep everyone on a level playing field?

Mike Helton at 5:23pm ET The importance of it is the utmost single number one issue to NASCAR. Everything NASCAR does comes from the garage areas, it comes from the core business, which is the competition. As for how difficult it is, I don't like the term difficult. But I would say it's a challenge. That's because the talent we have in the garage is so good, they can take the rules and live by them. But they also live around them. So it's always trying to stay on top of a work in progress. We've got to anticpate new avenues and police them. The crew members, the crew chiefs, the engine builders, all the elements of a team a driver has supporting him is an incredible group of talent. And NASCAR's challenge is to keep up with them and keep the competition as side-by-side, door-to-door racing.

Shawn from proxy.aol.com at 5:23pm ET Mike, how much growth is too much for NASCAR?

Mike Helton at 5:25pm ET I don't know there's such a thing as too much growth. I know my doctor has told me I've grown too much though.

The key element is to grow it correctly and smartly. And maybe even managing growth so it's not too fast. In many cases that means changing the style of business you do. In growing NASCAR, there's two things. One is growing the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The other is growing all of NASCAR. We have 13 Touring Divisions and thousands of races each year. We've got to grow both of these. And that's what makes NASCAR so fun and challenging.

Jason in Texas from tegron.com at 5:26pm ET With the new TV deal, will NASCAR consider moving it's races to Saturdays (in order to not be opposite football, I believe)?

Mike Helton at 5:28pm ET The short answer is no, the schedule shouldn't be affected by the new TV deal. The changes to the schedule would have come either way.

The issue of going against football ... we feel like, and we're supported by FOX, NBC and even ABC and CBS, that we can go against them. We don't know if we'll win, but we can go against them and have a very good representation of the American public participating with our sport. There are opportunties where Saturday night races make sense, not just because of broadcasting. Changes will be beneficial for all the drivers, teams and broadcasters. The broadcasters who have joined us are buying in because of what they see today, not what they want to change us to in the future.

Fred Zabel at 5:29pm ET When, if ever, will NASCAR allow new technology (ie fuel injection) to be implemented regarding engine performance?

Mike Helton at 5:30pm ET First of all, we're not sure we need to improve engine performance. What the engine builders have done has made a very experienced group of parts very reliable and efficient. They've got a very high level of performance out of what's been approved.

We do have to keep an eye on technology, however. I'm not going to say there will never be fuel injection in NASCAR racing. But there's no plan set, there's nothing on the horizon.

Darryl in Ok from texhoma.net at 5:30pm ET What is your opinion of Dodge coming back to NASCAR?

Mike Helton at 5:32pm ET It's flattering for Dodge and Daimler-Chrysler to look at NASCAR and say they want to go play with 'em. It adds value to have all of America's big three in manufacturers. It's what got us here today, our fascination with the automobile.

Certainly there's challenges. But they've got Ray Evernham, and he's a very capable leader. That's a big plus for Dodge. It's very exciting, and we've heard from a lot of fans who are excited about Dodge and Mopar returning, too.

J.T. at 5:32pm ET Is restrictor plate racing here to stay? Are there any changes for Daytona and Talledega because of the high speeds this October at Talledega?

Mike Helton at 5:34pm ET First, we'll need to take a look at the high speeds, because the restrictor plates are an element of how we police those speeds. The issue of restrictor plate topic has pluses and minuses. But at the end, it's the only compontent we've found that can keep the speeds in check. Many teams and crew members have worked with us, but we haven't found anything else. We'll continue to look, but it's all we've got.

In relation to the speeds that crept up at Talladega, we are looking at ways to capture those speeds and keep them from growing any more.

Darryl in Ok from texhoma.net at 5:34pm ET Do you forsee any rule changes to "equalize" the competition between the Fords, Chevys and Pontiacs?

Mike Helton at 5:36pm ET We feel like the new Monte Carlo and the new Taurus, we've agreed on the templates that are pretty equal, including with the Grand Prix. It's been about as equal as you can get. I think Ford won 13, Chevrolet won 12 and Pontiac won 9. Those are pretty good. We're keeping an eye on it, but there doesn't look to be any aero changes for 2000.

Dave at 5:36pm ET Is there going to be any changes in pit crews or not being able to be a pit crew member on race day?

Mike Helton at 5:37pm ET We keep looking at that topic, we were real hot on it in the summer of '98. But every structure we came up with had a flaw in it. So we couldn't come up with something that didn't work against us. We'll keep working on it, but we don't have anything set for 2000.

john at 5:37pm ET Do you ever think NASCAR will split into two series?

Mike Helton at 5:40pm ET Every time we've looked at an American- and National-League scenario has come back with the final result being what we have now works well. All the heroes race against each other every weekend, and that's a very successful equation. And changing that has the possibility of hurting what we've got and harming our growth and the participation in the sport. So every time we look at it, we just stick in a file drawer somewhere. I know Bill France looks at it, and we've talked about it every year since I've been here.

Also, since there's only 52 weeks in a year, you could only race 52 times. And really there's only a few more weekends we could add to the Winston Cup schedule and keep it efficient. That's why its important that we're careful in growing the schedule.

bryan at 5:41pm ET Is the rough racing going to continue? I understand rubbing is racing but some get real rough.

Mike Helton at 5:42pm ET Certainly, we're not going to let it get out of hand. But, also in talking to drivers and owners, they don't want us to police things so tightly that an accidental touch will get them penalized. NASCAR is based on close racing. And the drivers need to be comfortable racing side-by-side, and bumper-to-bumper. The issue NASCAR has is to decide when it's intention and when it's just an accidental. We'll stop it from getting out of hand, but we'll let the drivers race each other. That's what NASCAR is all about, and that's what we'll continue to do.

steve from N.Y. from tnt10.nyc1.da.uu.net at 5:43pm ET Why do we still need provisional starting spots?

Mike Helton at 5:45pm ET The provisional spots are intended for successful competitors who just have a bad day. It could be a blown engine, or a strange situation that hurts a competitor who is successful on the track. The evolution of the provisional, which can look like a Band-Aid or safety net, but it's there to reward some one who is successful but has a bad day. We'll need to keep provisionals in the near future because of the amount of cars who show up. Bobby Labonte used a provisional in Atlanta two weeks ago, but won the race. He just had a bad day in qualifying. Keeping them clean and for that use, and not a controversial issue, is tough. We'll make sure that the people who bought tickets or tuned in to TV or NASCAR.com get to see those they want racing.

Derek at 5:45pm ET What do you think about Tony Stewart?

Mike Helton at 5:47pm ET I guess even those of us who really believed he'd be a player were surprised. There's two parts to it ... One, Tony Stewart is a real racer. He races a lot and he's a God-given talented racer. And also, it had to do with him hooking up with an organization like Joe Gibbs Racing. One of Joe's best assets is putting the right people in the right roles.

I think Tony is for real, and he's going to be a factor from here on out. And we're glad he chose NASCAR to participate in his motorsports career.

Mike Helton at 5:50pm ET First, I'd like to apologize for running late. The biggest thing I'd like to convey is a big thanks to the fans who choose NASCAR. We all know there are a lot of opportunities today to be entertained, and we're very grateful for all the fans who choose NASCAR. We're proud of our product, but we're most proud of our fans. And we're very proud of our success on NASCAR.com, and we're thankful for everybody who follows NASCAR on NASCAR Online.

I'd also like to wish all you fans online a very happy Holiday Season. And we'll see you next season.