Over the years, watching NASCAR on Sunday afternoons or on Saturday nights has become just as important, or even more, than going to church.

Racing is like a religion to hardcore fans and we just hate it, I mean we get mad, when we have to miss a race.

The sport has grown incredibly and is now second in TV ratings in America, behind the NFL. Millions of people across America, Canada and even across the oceans watch NASCAR every week and thousands attend these races.

Even with all that success, NASCAR is in a struggle right now. Sponsors are leaving the sport faster than the cars themselves, and even manufacturers are in deep trouble.

Ford has reported losses of $2.9 billion for the third quarter of 2008 and has already pulled its backing of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Chevrolet has reported losses of $4.2 billion, and is running low on operating cash.

Unfortunately, NASCAR doesn't have a lot of control over these problems. Those problems are all based on the economy, and NASCAR officials can do nothing but cross their fingers.

But a few changes could be made to increase fan excitement and make this more interesting than it already is.

This could result in better TV ratings, and attendance at races could finally go back to being sold out every time; with the gas prices declining lately, this is not only a dream.

I think we should start off by tweaking the schedule. Pocono should lose one of its dates and replace it with Kentucky. The remaining Pocono race needs to be a 400-miler.

The circuit Gilles Villeneuve should be added on the last weekend of August. The Nationwide Series is already there, along with the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and Rolex Grand-Am Series. The Sprint Cup Series has an off weekend, so put 'em on Sunday.

The Auto Club Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway have switched dates for 2009, putting Atlanta on Labor Day and Fontana in the Chase. I think they should switch back, then remove the Labor Day Fontana race, and bring back Darlington!

The spring Darlington date should remain an off-weekend to replace the one we took for Montreal.

Now I've heard rumours that there's a 1-mile track being built in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada. This track should be ready for 2010, apparently. If it gets on the Sprint Cup schedule, it would replace the spring Phoenix date. I like that!

I think the Bristol August race and Richmond August race should switch so that Bristol could be the last race before the Chase.

Now for me, that's the schedule I would want to see. But there's more. I think restarts need a much better system.

My solution: double-wide restarts with lead lap cars in front and lapped cars in back.

This creates more excitement out front with more cars having a chance at the lead with no lapped traffic in the way. The cars in the back will fight for the free pass and it also creates less confusion for the fans.

There's also nothing I hate more than putting tail-end of the lead lap cars in front of the leaders. They should do like Indycars and wave the cars by.

I believe the Chase needs a small adjustment. The point system should go back to the original one, and there should only be 10 cars participating.

Or, just to have fun, the winner gets 43 points and the the 43rd spot gets one point. This would create close points races, I'm sure.

I'm not a big fan of the top 35 rule, but I think it should stay that way. It would be great to just say, everyone has to qualify their way in the field, even Chase contenders.

But imagine the sponsors anger if the driver they've paid millions on doesn't make the race, and imagine the fan's frustration if Dale Jr. happens to miss a race; it wouldn't surprise me that TV ratings would go down.

So these are my solutions to make this sport a little better. I don't know if everyone who reads this will agree with me, but we all have different opinions!

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