Will the Season Be Business As Usual? NASCAR injects changes into Cup racing. Here's what the differences will mean.(National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)

Byline: AL PEARCE

Whether in casual conversation or addressing a group, NASCAR president Mike Helton knows how to bring things to a close. It's likely that during any gathering he will utter these famous words, "At the end of the day it is what it is.''

And so it is... and shall be for the foreseeable future.

The Nextel-for-Winston sponsorship last year, for example, is what it is. Going into this season, any doubts about that line of succession have been put aside. (Depending, of course, on what happens as Sprint gobbles up Nextel.) The '03 and '04 changes banning racing back to the caution, returning one driver to the lead lap and requiring green-flag finishes, to paraphrase, are what they are. After some reservations, the changes have enhanced safety and competition. Even last year's change in how to win the Cup is what it is. Critics of the 10-race, 10-driver Chase for the Champion-ship were legion when the change was announced. There remains some carping, but (at the end of the day) most owners, drivers, crewmen, fans and broadcast partners have accepted it.

Helton's mantra will be heard again this year. And no matter the issue, you can bet the ranch he and CEO/chairman Brian France will continue to hold sway in all matters great and small.

Teams and fans aren't happy with the loss of the Labor Day weekend Southern 500 and are doubly ticked that the "Gen X'' fans in SoCal got it. NASCAR loyalists are equally unhappy that North Carolina Speedway at Rockingham was sacrificed so multimillionaire Bruton Smith and billionaire Bill France Jr. could avoid a messy court fight over race dates. Like it or not, the new qualifying system is what it is. With the top 35 drivers in points locked into every show, only seven "outsiders'' can crash the party. The change is the closest owners will get to franchising, a concept France says is as unlikely as a pension plan. Even so, not all teams-especially ambitious ones outside the top 35-are happy with the change. Similarly, at the end of the day the new impound/weekend schedule is what it is. About two-thirds of the field will have Friday practice and Saturday qualifying, then no more Cup activities until the green flag. Teams must practice and qualify in race trim since that is what they will start with on race day.

But the most discussed and second-guessed change involves race cars. Teams must carry a shorter rear spoiler in all the races excluding two each at Daytona Beach and Talladega. Cutting them from 5.5 inches to 4.5 inches will cost teams upward of 15 percent of their accustomed downforce. Cars will be more skittish in traffic, particularly in the corners. The goal is to make drivers more important in the driver-car-crew equation, an equation that recently has leaned more toward car and its aero package. NASCAR wants its drivers to work harder to pass, thus creating more side-by-side racing. The bottom line is a better show during this, the renewal year for NASCAR's television contract.