by Lee Spencer

Comment

On Tuesday, the meeting focused primarily on competition with drivers Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle joining crew chiefs, engineers and technical directors. A second meeting was held on Wednesday with team owners and principals as a follow-up to the discussions held in May.

Drivers, crew chiefs, engineers and owners were all part of invitation-only meetings with NASCAR this week. (Rusty Jarrett / Getty Images)

The primary focus of the meetings: How can NASCAR help the competitors to make the sport stronger?

"I think the first meeting went pretty well," said NASCAR Series director John Darby. "They'll get better as we go along. There was a little apprehension in the room. Maybe they were wondering whether they were talking out of school. But by the second or third meeting I expect they will lighten up and become more active."

Participation was encouraged according to three principals that spoke on the grounds of anonymity.

Some of the high points included:

How can we make the overall product better?

While there won't be any sizeable changes in the rules package for 2010, NASCAR wanted to make sure that competitors understood that an open door policy exists. Despite reports to the contrary, the sanctioning body is open to suggestions. Everyone that went made it sound more like they'll get the opportunity to discuss issues without repercussion. Whether that indeed happens remains to be seen but competitors seemed encouraged.

What can the sport do to make participation more cost effective for the competitors? Should NASCAR limit the number of team members that come to the racetrack? Should NASCAR limit the number of engineers that come to the racetrack? Should the Cup Series move to two-day shows?

Also, There seemed to be trepidation from the teams about the new tire, a larger version which is currently being tested by Goodyear, and the overall expense it will add to teams' budgets.

How do the cars maintain product identification for the manufacturers and remain racy. And once the new Nationwide Series cars come to fruition, how does the sport keep the sportier model from overshadowing the less sexy Cup car.

Those who attended both meetings added that NASCAR wants to keep a positive spin on the sport, but that's in the best interest of everyone involved.

On a related note, Darby added that the 2010 NASCAR Cup rules will be distributed to the teams at Phoenix in two weeks.