ONWARD AND UPWARD; NASCAR likes what it sees in its top series this year, and in to the future.(News)

Byline: AL PEARCE

How good is NASCAR RIGHT now? According to CEO Brian Z. France, things are going so well that he and his people are looking ahead, working on problems they might face eight to 10 years out. In the meantime Nextel Cup continues to rule American motorsports as a marketing campaign built around stock car racing.

But France is spot-on about this: Issues once considered problematic are working out nicely. The single-engine rule, for one. The limit on testing, for another. Rules that at least offer the possibility of parity. The Car of Tomorrow is almost ready. Diversity slogs along, but at least it's slogging forward. And nobody in Daytona Beach has publicly given up on proposed speedways in the Northwest and New York City.

"So I'm liking what I'm seeing,'' France said during his recent "state of the sport'' message in Daytona Beach. And why not? He has had 11 pole winners in 16 races (Bristol trials were snowed out) and 10 winners in 17 races. The top 21 drivers and 23 all told have at least one top-five finish, and 32 have at least one top-10. Led by Pocono winner Denny Hamlin, the six-man rookie class (Brent Sherman dropped out in May) is as solid as advertised. Chevrolet has nine victories, Dodge five and Ford three.

Jimmie Johnson (our preseason pick) leads Matt Kenseth by eight points nearing the midpoint of the 36-race season. Marketing icons Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart complete the top-five, but would be almost hopelessly behind under the old points system. Positions six through 10 are held by old-timers Mark Martin and Jeff Burton, youngster Kyle Busch, veteran Kevin Harvick and the rookie Hamlin. Former champions Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Kurt Busch and Bobby Labonte languish outside the top-10.

While France addressed many issues, it was his comments about the three-year-old Chase for the Championship format that got the most attention. This year for the third time, only the top-10 in points following the September race at Richmond are eligible for the Nextel Cup. They will decide it in the final 10 races.

"I've always said we needed to give the Chase a few years to see how it evolved, to change the strategy, to see if our formula works,'' France said. "Now that we're in our third year we'll make some adjustments going into 2007. It's a natural time for that because we'll have three years to judge it and have new television partners in ABC and ESPN who will televise the final 10 on network TV. So the ideal time to make adjustments, but not major changes, is this coming off-season.''