Like the savvy executive he is, Brian France declined to grade himself on the first 10 months of his tenure as NASCAR chairman and CEO.

“Nice of you to ask, but it’s really not about me,” France said recently during a national teleconference that served as his midseason State of NASCAR address. “I’ve enjoyed the responsibilities and it’s obviously action-packed. We have three of the four top national series in the country. We’ve got our hands full.”

Maybe France is waiting for an official report card from his father, NASCAR Vice Chairman Bill France Jr. If that’s the case, we’d like to help Mr. France grade Brian on his handling of the burning issues affecting NASCAR Nation.

Quality of Nextel Cup Series racing

B+ Rules that shortened the rear spoiler, in conjunction with a softer compound Goodyear Eagle racing radial tire, have produced 10 different winners and nine pole sitters in 19 starts.

“We think the racing, in terms of the manufacturers and the competition, is right where we would like it to be,” France said.

The new Chase for the Championship format

C France acquiesced to his network TV partners on this one in pursuit of increased fall ratings versus the almighty NFL. But, if the Cup season were to end right now … only the current top 10 would be eligible for the championship under the revised format. Recall that only the top 10 drivers after 26 races, and any driver as close as 400 points from the leader, are eligible for The Chase. The current top 10, in order, are Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Bobby Labonte, Elliott Sadler, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman.

At 502 points behind the leader, Newman would not be eligible if he were 11th.

“If we do the first job right — getting the drivers the opportunity to showcase their skills, and the more the better — they are going to make it exciting and that’s entertaining,” France said when asked if the new format was too entertainment-oriented. “It’s not either/or.”

Settlement of the Francis Ferko lawsuit

A After two years of legal maneuvering, the case of Francis Ferko vs. NASCAR, International Speedway Corp. and SMI was settled out of court and announced in mid-May, bringing with it a second Nextel Cup Series race date to industry rival Bruton Smith’s palace of speed in Fort Worth, Texas Motor Speedway. Not only that, but the Nov. 6, 2005, Cup race at TMS will be the eighth of 10 events in the Chase for the Championship.

“The industry’s better off by putting that lawsuit behind us and focusing in on realignment and other important places for our top series to go in 2005 and beyond,” France said.

Rules changes designed to freeze the field

D The Nextel Cup Series has been plagued by debate on how to best freeze driver positions when a caution flag flies, and how soon to open pit road under yellow. After an official’s gaffe at Pocono International Raceway on June 13 nearly cost Jimmie Johnson a victory, pit road now is under control of officials in the tower and scoring of the field under caution is done electronically.

“The expectations from the drivers, the owners, fans and everybody in the industry is that NASCAR is going to conduct the events in a mistake-free environment,” France said. “Now, we all know that’s not humanly possible although that’s our own expectation.”

Ending Cup races under a green flag

C NASCAR’s image took a beating at Talladega Superspeedway on April 25, when fans showered the track with beer cans and assorted junk to protest Jeff Gordon’s victory under yellow over favorite son Dale Earnhardt Jr. To address this issue, NASCAR recently instituted the green-white-checkered flag finish used in the NASCAR Truck Series, assuring two laps of racing.