File photos by the Associated Press

NASCAR president Mike Helton says he is pleased with the progress made with the Car of Tomorrow, as well as changes made in the Chase for the Cup.

NASCAR president Mike Helton has led sweeping changes in stock-car racing, most notably the switch to the Car of Tomorrow, a project began shortly after the 2001 death of Dale Earnhardt.

MARTINSVILLE -- Mike Helton stands alone.

In 1999, he became the first person outside the France family to handle day-to-day operations of NASCAR and has been its president since 2000. It was Helton who told NASCAR Nation in February 2001 that "we've lost Dale Earnhardt" and oversaw dramatic safety changes since that day at Daytona.

Helton, a Bristol, Va., native, also has presided over a series of changes that revolutionized the sport from the advent of the title Chase and the Car of Tomorrow to NASCAR races moving to network TV and some races relocating to different tracks.

Helton this weekend at Martinsville Speedway to discuss some of the sport's major topics. Here is what Helton said (responses have been edited for space):

Q: There was a report last week about NASCAR looking at trimming the fields of truck races to 28 and Cup fields to 36. Is this accurate?

A: "First of all it wasn't a report, it was somebody's opinion from the garage area and it was not a NASCAR opinion. We're not looking at reducing the fields.

"If circumstances warranted it, then a field less than 43 cars ... a reasonable size field under 43 cars does not, I think, impair the quality of a NASCAR race. But there is no thought process today to shorten the field of a Cup or Nationwide series or Truck series."

Q: Car counts seem to be cyclical with the issue of short fields coming up a few years ago. That led to questions about if NASCAR's TV contract with the networks stipulated there had to be a 43-car field. Is that the case?

A: "That's not accurate. We're supposed to have a reasonable field of cars. That's NASCAR's determination as to what a reasonable field is."

Q: While NASCAR does not set tickets prices, is there something NASCAR can do for the fans to help ease their pain?

A: "NASCAR's role is to deliver our product correctly to race tracks with race teams. I think that the race track operators that NASCAR sanctions the events with are very responsible and will be responsive to the race fan as it comes to the fan that buys a ticket and comes to the race."

Q: While NASCAR has had a four-car limit per organization, there are many, including some in the garage, who view some teams as really six- or seven-car organizations with their satellite affiliations. Why is this good for the sport to have such close ties between teams, and when does NASCAR need to step in because a relationship is too cozy?

A: "When we announced the cap of four, I think we were, and if not, we should have been very clear that this was going to be a bit of a work in progress because we had never been in this area before.

"Part of your question was, "Is that good for the sport?' Quite frankly, I'm not sure. What is good today is providing quality teams on the race track to put our product on. If those relationships, within reason can exist, and as much as they provide opportunities for Doug Yates to put cars on the race track or Hall of Fame Racing, Jeff Moorad and his group to have a race car on the race track at a level, then I think that is good for the sport."

Q: The NFL, NHL, NBA, even the Big Ten Conference, all have their own TV networks. Will there ever be a network devoted to NASCAR and when?

A: "I think that NASCAR has a history of being fairly methodical about big steps. In the meantime, we've got a good relationship with Speed Channel. ESPN has had content shows and we've been able, we think, grow the exposure of the sport through the current relationships that we've got, but there could be a NASCAR Channel one day."

Q: Certainly there has been a clamping down from tolerances with the new car to your recent reaffirmation of the yellow-line rule. Can this sport afford to have rules with wiggle room anymore?

A: "Well, I think in the 60-year history of NASCAR, what we have done is far as the officiating arm of the sport is we've continued to professionalize that, take away ... as many of the gray areas as we can.

"While maybe creating closer tolerances or being very specific is new to some of us, we have to take into consideration that that's the correct way for us to police the sport today. It's not like it was 20 years ago, so we can't completely act like it was 20 years ago. And so, even I look at it and say, 'Gosh, it would be nice if we didn't have to do that,' but we do have to do that for the integrity and creditability and for the good of the sport."

Q: It's still halfway to go in the Chase so anything can still happen, but this will be the fifth year of it and there's the possibility of a driver winning it three years in a row. Also, Darrell Waltrip said this week that the Chase should be shortened to possibly five races. Is it time to consider making changes to the Chase again?

A: "We ran the Chase three years saying we needed time to see what it would be like and then we tweaked it. We're in the second year of the first set of tweaks, so I think we would say let us see how this goes before we talk about making any more changes to the Chase.

"In regards to Jimmie Johnson, I think the focus there should not be on the Chase as much as it is on Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus and that organization being the caliber of organization that it is right now. They're winning championships because of their strength, because of their ability and, along the way, they're setting the bar for everybody else to follow."

Q: In terms of competition, how do you judge the current car? Where does it excel? Where does it need work?

A: "I would say that there's no question in anybody's mind that this car is safer, which was the No. 1 project for this car when it started nine years ago. You'll get debate publicly, but privately we're convinced that the chassis helps teams be competitive in the garage area more so than it did two years ago.

"We have to remind ourselves that this is the first full year of this car, and I think what we've seen in its first full year is we've seen the drivers, in particular, along with crew chiefs learning the nuances of this car to make it feel right for their driver. I think we've made headway. I like the results of the races recently, the last 10 or 12 races, what you see on the race track. I think it's what NASCAR fans expect of NASCAR."