NASCAR chairman Brian France wouldn’t call the creation of a council of Sprint Cup drivers a part of a “new NASCAR,” saying it just further formalized the lines of communication between the sanctioning body and its participants. The council “ the top-finishing 2014 driver from each manufacturer plus at-large members “ met with several NASCAR executives for the first time on May 30 at Dover International Speedway. They talked primarily about safety issues at tracks and the competition rules package. France, who was not at the meeting, made his first public comments about the formation of the drivers council following the pre-race drivers meeting Sunday at Pocono Raceway. “I’ve said from the beginning that we’re going to improve our communications across the board with all the stakeholders, and they’re certainly as important as anybody,” said France, who took over from his father as NASCAR’s top executive in 2003. “So that’s consistent. What you’re seeing is just more formalized conversations. “We talk all the time about things that are important to them.” NASCAR has started to meet with all the track operators in a similar group fashion in February, and France also spends time meeting with each Cup organization in January. The majority of the Cup owners belong to the Race Team Alliance, formed last year to work as a unit to find ways to help teams remain fiscally sound. When the RTA was formed, France said having “one voice” of the owners was a bad idea and he instead wanted to remain talking to owners on an individual basis. France didn’t say if he has started talking more formally with the owners as a group as NASCAR has begun doing with the drivers and tracks. “When anybody has things that can improve the sport, we’re going to be open to that,” France said Sunday when asked about formal talks with the RTA. “It doesn’t really matter how the exact form of communications happens. What matters is it does happen. We’re getting the stakeholders as close to us as we can because there are a lot of good ideas that come out of these discussions “ the drivers with safety and there is a business side to this they have an interest in.”(ESPN.com)(6-8-2015)
