Going international

It was announced earlier this year that the Busch Series will run a road race in Mexico City during the 2005 season. And those plans are moving forward, as alterations are being made to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit to make it more welcoming to a stock car setup.

NASCAR has aligned itself with CASCAR, Canada's stock car racing sanctioning body, and NASCAR drivers have competed in CASCAR events on occasion (Matt Kenseth has found victory lane north of the border). NASCAR also has extended its own marketing efforts to both sides of the border with NASCAR Canada and NASCAR Mexico.

NASCAR even has a broadcasting partnership with Nippon Television Network to air races in Japan. The series actually has a history of racing in Japan, as Mike Skinner can attest. He won two exhibition races in Japan – exactly two more than his career Cup victory total – though he did win a Twin 125 qualifier at Daytona.

(On the other hand, Japanese driver Hideo Fukuyama didn't fare quite as well during his brief foray into Cup racing. But we digress ...).

All the Darlington and Rockingham fans upset about losing races, all those traditionalists who don't think stock cars should be running circles in Vegas or greater Los Angeles or eventually New York (Staten Island? Really?) and possibly Seattle, well, all that's nothing.

NASCAR's going international.

Now, before people start worrying about how Robby Gordon will pull off the Indy 500-Düsseldorf 600 double, let's be clear on one thing: NASCAR's actions are tantamount to "What About Bob"-ish baby steps.

NASCAR is testing the waters, but don't expect to see a Cup race outside the contiguous 48, at least not anytime soon (though surely nobody would mind a trip to Hawaii in November).

"We currently have a great deal of interest in our Canadian friends. Also, we have for the first time in 2004 two tracks that are involved with our Dodge Weekly Series," NASCAR president Mike Helton told the folks over in Bristol (Connecticut, not Tennessee) in a recent online chat with ESPN. "While the Nextel Cup has no plans to move into Canada anytime in the near future, we will continue to build presence in Canada through weekly and tour racing."

Growing the sport's popularity outside of the United States can only help NASCAR. Once NASCAR's known names make the visionaries who hatched NAFTA proud by competing in Canada or Mexico – the Mexico City Busch race will be run on an off-weekend for the Cup series, so it's possible that some Cup regulars might make the trip – local fans interested in any level of stock car racing will begin paying attention to the series that has the best stock car racers in the world ... and that's NASCAR.

In some respects, soccer provides the model. Most of the best soccer players are in Europe, and one could argue that the Premier League, Serie A or Primera Liga are more popular in the U.S. than Major League Soccer.

While NASCAR has soccer beat on this side of the pond, there's no conceivable way it will ever rival soccer's popularity overseas – especially considering Formula 1 rules the roost (with a nod to motorcycles and rally cars) in Europe, South America, etc., as far as racing is concerned.

But any increase at all in stock car racing's popularity internationally can only help NASCAR. More fans means more television deals and revenue and more merchandising.

In other words, more money.

Just imagine a London watering hole filled with people wearing No. 3, No. 24 and No. 8 hats. A little far-fetched, but not impossible.

Hey, if a London pub can actually celebrate the Fourth of July – probably not the most popular holiday in the U.K. – by hanging banners and serving Budweiser (It happened; I was there), anything can happen.

I can't quite imagine the tabloids shifting focus from Victoria Beckham to Katie Kenseth, though.