NASCAR Isabel could disrupt races

Officials are watching the weather situation closely.
THE ORLANDO SENTINEL
In his first day on the job, new NASCAR chairman Brian France was confronted Monday with a tempest -- literally.
Hurricane Isabel threatens this weekend's racing activities at Dover, Del., which lies between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Nearly 200,000 fans and competitors await word on whether Sunday's scheduled Dover 400 will be held or canceled.
"My first duty," said France, 41, "is to defer that to [NASCAR President] Mike Helton."
That deadpan, half-humorous yet all-serious, augured France's management style. He'll allow NASCAR's day-to-day managers to do their jobs the same way they did under his father, Bill France Jr., 70, who stepped down Saturday after 31 years as czar of big-time stock-car racing.
So it was Helton who addressed the storm threat.
"It certainly looks like the area we go into this week around Dover is going to be impacted in some fashion," Helton said of Isabel. "Last night, we started organizing game plans to react according to how Isabel reacts. We've got three different task forces working on it."
Expected to hit coast Thursday
Forecasters expected Isabel to make landfall along the North Carolina coast Thursday, then strike up through the Chesapeake into the Virginia-Maryland-Delaware area, then on into Pennsylvania by Friday. Thus the storm threatens not only Dover itself, but the areas where most of the track's ticket-holders live.
For "the next 36 to 48 hours," Helton said, NASCAR will be maintaining close contact with competitors preparing to travel to Dover and with track officials at Dover International Speedway.
Helton indicated qualifying sessions scheduled for Thursday and Friday wouldn't be much of an issue.
"The goal obviously is to get the Busch race in on Saturday and the Cup race done on Sunday," Helton said. "We have different methods to create the starting fields if necessary."
Whenever weather precludes qualifying, NASCAR customarily determines starting orders by car-owner points.
As for getting in the races themselves, "we'll just have to watch the path and try to predict where it's going to go, and what kind of [situation] it leaves us to work with," Helton said.
"But certainly our intention is to try to get the events done this weekend."
Won't move race
Helton ruled out moving the races to another NASCAR track, saying, "If we can't be there [Dover], then we won't be anywhere this weekend."
The younger France did cite his long-term goals as the head of NASCAR, including "a more diverse audience," he said. NASCAR audiences remain predominantly white.
"We have to embrace everyone in this country," France said. "I serve on our diversity council. We have a variety of initiatives in place. Our goal is to keep broadening our audience."
In addition, France said he'll focus heavily on "the car of the future," including enhanced safety technology at NASCAR's new research and development center in Concord, N.C.