Will NASCAR Be Boring in 2011? Or Will Relaxing the Rules Revitalize Motorsports? In the past few years the sport of NASCAR has suffered, maybe because of the economy or perhaps losing fans because of all the rules that were put in place. NASCAR officials announced they are lifting the restrictor-plate rules, starting the races earlier on Sunday, implementing double-file restarts, giving the drivers more freedom on the race track and letting drivers’ show a bit of emotion when they get riled up and things don’t go their way. "We are putting things back in the drivers' hands," said NASCAR chairman Brian France. "We're going to open it up. We want to see what you want to see. We want to see drivers mixing it up. This is a contact sport and you're going to see more contact. It's going to make very good racing even better." "Obviously, the racing is going to get more exciting," said John Darby, the outgoing Cup series director. "Drivers will now be in a situation where they'll be their own governing body and police each other." "It doesn't mean these guys have a get-out-of-jail-free card," said NASCAR president Mike Helton. "But there's an old saying in NASCAR: 'If you ain't rubbin', you ain't racin'.' I think that's what the NASCAR fans bought into and what they expect. Our role is to deliver that correctly while maintaining law and order. But we are the last people that want to over-regulate the sport." Bump-drafting rules are gone, totally eliminated. Also in March the ugly rear wing will be gone for good and the spoiler returns to improve down force, the look of the car and improve the racing overall. "Our regulations on [bump drafting] will be totally eliminated," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition. "Boys, have at it and have a good time. That's all I can say." Relaxing the rules may make it more dangerous but NASCAR officials feel that the increase in the safety for the drivers over the years will make it worth the risk. The cars are much safer than five or six years ago and the racetracks also are much safer. Speedway Motorsports Inc. chairman Bruton Smith stated "We need to put winning back where it ought to be. Get all this points-racing out of the way. Stop talking about it and stop writing about it. We didn't start the sport based on points. Let's take half the points fund and put it on the purse." Felix Sabates, a co-owner at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing said "Dale Junior's lack of winning the last two years has really hurt the sport overall. I hope he wins a bunch of races this year because it will bring out fans and be good for everybody." Dale Earnhardt Jr. has the largest fan base and with a win or two, Dale Junior’s fans will be excited about watching NASCAR again. The real goal of this plan is to revitalize NASCAR and bring back those fans that stayed away from the races last year for various reasons. NASCAR is finally listening to what fans want!!! Source ESPN