Forget the NFL, L.A. Is Now NASCAR Country

We know bumper-to-bumper traffic. We know how it feels to sit behind the steering wheel staring at a billboard that seems to be moving faster than our car. We know how to make a pit stop, although, out here, we call it the drive-through window at In-N-Out.

Welcome to NASCAR country.

That’s right, here, us, Los Angeles.

According to statistics compiled by Nielsen Media Research, Los Angeles is the No. 2

NASCAR television market in the country, behind only Atlanta. And we’re climbing. Through the first seven races of the 2004 Nextel Cup Series, television viewership across the country was up 2%. But in Los Angeles, the average network rating was up 17%.

This shouldn’t come as a total surprise. After years of going around in circles with the NFL -- here they come, down the track, and, oh, there they go, turning left and out of view again -- it figures we might develop a taste for this sort of thing.

Two more statistics that pretty much assess the state of the Los Angeles sports scene:

* In 1994, Los Angeles had two NFL teams.

* In 2004, Los Angeles has two Nextel Cup races.

The first race, the Auto Club 500, is scheduled for Sunday at Fontana’s California Speedway.

The second, the Labor Day weekend Pop Secret 500, was spirited away from Darlington, S.C., despite years of tradition and howls of protests from local fans. We know the feeling. After the 1994 football season, we watched St. Louis and Oakland do to our Rams and Raiders what NASCAR did to Darlington’s race.

One difference: Darlington still has two Nextel Cup races, the Southern 500’s having been moved to November. When the Rams and Raiders bolted L.A., amid squealing tires and exhaust fumes of a different kind, all we were left with were empty promises and the ever-present threat of the Chargers pulling a Clipper act, and no one here has the stomach for that.

One other difference: When NASCAR says it is going to put another franchise in the L.A. area, it puts another franchise in the L.A. area.

Dick Glover, NASCAR vice president for broadcasting and new media, said Los Angeles had been “a real focus for us over the last couple years.... Unlike most other sports, [we see it as] a great opportunity to grow in the big markets, because we started in the smaller markets. Whereas most sports started in the big Northeast markets and sort of grew out and expanded to smaller markets.

“So, given that our expansion is in the opposite direction, from smaller to larger, and it’s fairly recent, we said, ‘Hey, we really need to focus on this and try and market our product better in the big markets, including L.A.’ ”

For the last three years, NASCAR’s commitment to Los Angeles has included a full-time office in Century City, now headed by Glover, for easier access to Hollywood and NASCAR’s biggest media partner, Fox.

“Obviously, it’s a huge market to start out with,” said Brian France, NASCAR chairman and chief executive. “It’s a big car market, period. Most people drive a car, cars are popular and all those things. And with a track in Southern California and adding another event and our office there that’s designed to work diligently with the entertainment market, we’ve highlighted L.A. as an important place for us down the road.

“And it’s paying some dividends.”

France admits that NASCAR risked alienating its traditional fan base by moving the Labor Day race from Darlington to Fontana.

“You’re dealing with historical perspective from fans, and sentimentally, it feels wrong,” he said. “Frankly, we’d rather not do that. But you have to exchange some of those hardships for progress. It’s always difficult. Sure, there was quite a bit of displeasure over that. But we have to weigh the benefits, and that’s what we did.”

So while 92,000-plus spectators will cheer end-arounds and winning drives at California Speedway this Sunday, the Coliseum still sits idly by, praying for a Hail Mary. Jeff Gordon-Matt Kenseth will never replace Rams-49ers in the hearts and minds of those who remember the NFL’s L.A. heyday, but NASCAR does provide some familiar creature comforts:

* Big competition once a week.

* Big media buildup the six other days of the week.

* Families huddled around the television on Sundays.

The lack of an NFL presence in Los Angeles has helped NASCAR gain a foothold. As France put it, “It makes it less crowded. That’s pretty clear. Like the draft would have been a bigger thing in Los Angeles, had they had their own team.... Any time it’s less crowded, it’s probably easier.”

L.A. also gets up for the big event -- a Laker playoff game, the once-a-decade loss by the local hockey team in the Stanley Cup finals.

NASCAR, according to France, is “in the mega-event business. Last weekend [Aaron’s 499 at the superspeedway in Talladega, Ala.], we were the largest sporting event in the country on television -- beating all the NBA playoffs, including the Lakers. And nationally, we had by far and away the largest attendance. That’s typical.

“This weekend will be no different. It happens to be done in Los Angeles, but we’ll have the largest in attendance and the largest television audience. That’s exactly tailor-made for Los Angeles, because it’s a mega-event.”

Or at least the marketing is mega. This week, NASCAR has swamped the area with visual reminders of Sunday’s race. Today, driver Jimmie Johnson appears on “Good Day LA.” Thursday, he throws out the first pitch at Dodger Stadium. Gordon, Dale Jarrett and Terry Labonte have appearances scheduled everywhere from Hollywood to Upland to Arcadia. NASCAR has dispatched a fleet of promotional show cars, putting them on display at Tower Records on Sunset, the Grove and the Home Depot Center.

We’re familiar with the strategy. Once upon a time, it was very popular here. Back when L.A. was still NFL territory, we called it a blitz.