Why not just call it cagefighting?

That seems to be the tone from NASCAR after meeting with the press Thursday.

While MMA and UFC have their fans who like that contract and such, NASCAR wants a piece of the action.

NASCAR Chairman Brian France reminded folks that NASCAR is a "contact sport'' and he wants drivers "mixing it up'' more this season and pledged to give drivers the freedom to do so.

"We want to see the emotion of the world's best drivers just as much as everybody else does, and that is the goal for 2010 and beyond,'' he said.

Added Robin Pemberton, VP of competition: "We will put it back in the hands of the drivers and we will say, "Boys, have at it and have a good time.''

OK, so what does this really mean?

NASCAR has already been on a kick to loosen the reins on the drivers so they could express themselves. Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards were not penalized by NASCAR for their tussle in the Nationwide garage at Charlotte in Oct. 2008. Denny Hamlin was penalized only a lap after he publicly vowed to wreck Brad Keselowski _ A WEEK AHEAD OF TIME _ and then did so at Homestead last year. In the Cup race at Homestead last year, Juan Pablo Montoya wrecked Tony Stewart after they had had contact earlier in the race. Montoya was penalized two laps for aggressive driving.

This is just part of NASCAR trying to create some drama, stir things up and get some controversy. Nothing gains attention like controversy. With complaints about the racing from fans, TV ratings declining and an economy making fans think twice on if they want to buy tickets to a race, the sport needs something to give it some pizzazz. Is this a gimmick? Sure it is. Is it wrong? Not necessarily (from NASCAR's point of view). Especially if he creates excitement that the fans want and lure more back.

With the rule changes NASCAR is implementing to improve the racing -- spoiler replacing the rear wing, eliminating the bump-drafting restrictions at Daytona and enlarging the restrictor plate to its largest size (63/64 of an inch) since 1989 _ NASCAR is hoping to create the side-by-side racing fans crave and with that allow drivers to muscle, shove and gouge each other out of the way.

On paper it sounds like the way to do things. How much NASCAR allows and what it penalizes will determine what fans see. Let's be honest, you may see a bit more bumping and beating, but don't expect it to be like "Days of Thunder'' out there. That's not realistic. Drivers are going to show a bit more respect than to do that all day long.

In the end, fans want to see good racing. While what makes that up differs from each fans, many will say close side-by-side action with drama a part of the finish.

Bottom line, if these rule changes don't make the racing any closer, it won't matter how much France and others want drivers to mix it up, they won't be able to do so. These rule changes need to work for drivers to do much more beating and banging.

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NO CHANGES TO THE CHASE

After tinkering with the Chase the first few years of its existence, NASCAR went a third consecutive year without changing it.

"We had other things to look at,'' France said, alluding to a push to make the racing on the track closer. "We still like to look at the Chase over the longest period that we can. We will make changes to the Chase. We already have. We went from 10 to 12 (teams in 2007). It's all inter-connected how the rules packages affect the racing, affects how close things can by. My sense is that we'll look over the offseason for 2011 and see how it plays out and look at the totality of all the other things that we have to consider before we change or adjust the Chase. We like, obviously, the format style. The question is can we make  it a little bit better.''

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OTHER NOTES

# NASCAR has added the list of banned substances in its Substance Abuse Policy and put it in the NASCAR rule book. NASCAR has also put its Substance Abuse Policy in the rule book also for the first time.

# Robin Pemberton, NASCAR VP of comepetion, says work on fuel injection has been going on for about 6 or so months and he's hopeful that it will be introduced in Cup next season. He notes that some teams have already been on the track with prototype fuel injection system.

# Brian France said he'd hope to have the spoiler on the cars by Texas on April 18 but said it could be done sooner, possibly debuting at a shorter track -- think Martinsville on March 28.

# NASCAR is working on alternative fuels, that's something they've said before but no new updates other than that on the subject.

# No timetable is set on when to replace John Darby as Cup series director. He's moving to a managerial role overseeing the R&D Center. He'll make the move once a person is hired. NASCAR is more concenred about getting the right person rather than doing it by a certain time.

# NASCAR is looking into changing tire testing guidelines. Now, a representative from each make is at the tire test, giving Goodyear four cars (one Ford, Toyota, Dodge and Chevy). Well, with Penske Racing the only Dodge team it means that Penske will have a car at every tire test. With a testing ban still out there, that's quite an advantage the Penske team could get. Look to see Goodyear only have to take maybe 3 teams, thus not one from each make for every tire test.

# NASCAR will keep the yellow line out of bounds marker on the inside of the track at Daytona and Talladega. Rule remains if you go down there below the yellow line and pass a car, you can be penalized. Also, if you force a competitor below the yellow line, you can be penalized.

# NASCAR President Mike Helton "we're open to conversations'' with other car manufacturers. "We have dialogues from time to time. Nothing solid right now to speak of, but certainly we're open to anyone that might be interested in taking a look. That is even more significant today because of our Grand Am product (the road racing series NASCAR owns).''

# Brian France also said that NASCAR would quit commenting on lawsuits against it unless a verdict is reached. Just recently an aspiring diversity driver has filed suit against NASCAR, claiming he was viewed as too white to be included in the program even though he claims he had the credentials to be there. This happened a few years ago, the lawsuit was just filed in U.S. District court. Also, NASCAR is facing the Mayfield case and so on. Here's what Brian said on lawsuits:

"I want to make one quick point about litigation and things that are going on,'' he said. "I want to pre-empt anybody on this because we are going to defend the industry against anything in terms of the policies that we have to institute. And we are going to litigate them all the way to the end, all the time, and that's our policy. And what we want to do in the future is answer questions about these cases or issues which most fans do not care about, they are not interested in that. And we want to answer questions regarding that when there are verdicts or  conclusions that have been made by a judge or a jury.

"We want to get out of the idea that we are going to be commenting about every little filing and this thing happened, this today, and this ruling and motion. There is going to be a lot of litigation, it's a litigious society. We don't file lawsuits. We have to defend them for our drivers, our teams and our tracks and we will defend them. But we are not going to be commenting as a matter of policy in the future, unless there is some news or some verdict that has been rendered by a judge or a jury, and I want to be clear about that as we go into 2010 and get our media focused on what I know you really want to be focused on and that's what happens on the track.''

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