Race shifts could move center.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Byline: David Poole

FONTANA, Calif. _ The geographical center of the continental United States is near the town of Lebanon, Kan. But where, these days, is the center of NASCAR?

The obvious answer is the smaller towns of Mooresville, Harrisburg and Concord in the greater Charlotte area, where a decided majority of Nextel Cup teams have their headquarters.

Does that necessarily mean that will always be the case?

As stock-car racing's top circuit lights at California Speedway for the first of two times this year for Sunday's Auto Club 500, has the time come for teams to at least consider moving their bases of operations as the sport's events schedules continue to spread out across the country?

This is not something that's going to happen in the next six weeks, but it's something that might be worth watching over the next five years as NASCAR's evolution from a Southeastern-concentrated sport continues.

While that process goes on, its pace is still far slower than some traditional fans might consider it to be. This year only 11 Nextel Cup points races will be run outside of the Eastern time zone. Next year, if as expected Texas and Phoenix get dates that belong to Rockingham and Darlington, S.C., this year, that number will grow to 13.