NASCAR's flight might save lives.

• Author: Martin, Edward
• Position: TAR HEEL TATTLER - National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing

Like many NASCAR veterans, Don Miller hates to see the sport abandon older tracks in smaller Southern towns for the bright lights of big cities across the country. "When we move too far from our beginnings, you're asking for trouble," says Miller, general manager of Penske Racing South in Mooresville.

But even traditionalists might find a silver lining in leaving North Wilkesboro and Rockingham and cutting back to one trip to Darlington, S.C. The reason: Newer tracks near cities such as Chicago and Miami have modern airports. That could reduce the chance of plane crashes such as the one that killed 10, including executives of Charlotte-based Hendrick Motorsports and Ricky Hendrick, son of founder Rick Hendrick. Their plane slammed into a fog-shrouded mountain Oct. 24 near Martinsville, Va.

Flying is a big part of the new NASCAR. "You might in one weekend have a truck race in California, a Busch Series race in Kansas and a Nextel race in Alabama," says Mark Howell, a Northwestern Michigan College professor and NASCAR historian.

Penske star Rusty Wallace flies a Learjet, and the team's flagship is a 40-passenger Bombardier regional jet. Penske personnel also fly a 30-passenger Saab and a Beech 200 King Air turboprop, the same make as the Hendrick plane that crashed. Racers must fly, even when not trekking to tracks, to make scores of public appearances.

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