Brian France gave a pep talk to his troops yesterday, his semi-annual "state of NASCAR" update. And France, NASCAR's CEO assured everyone that "the sport is in great shape" and offered "a good report card on sponsorships, with more than 100 Fortune 500 companies investing in NASCAR."

NASCAR is about a $3 billion a year business, and Joyce Julius, a TV market analyst, said that NASCAR team sponsors "earned"' more than $6 billion in television exposure last season. That's the amount those companies would have had to pay for equivalent TV time in commercials.

Still the question as this season begins is this: Is NASCAR still a growth property or has it plateaued?

NBC's ratings for the 10-race Chase for the Championship, September through Thanksgiving, were down about 10 percent from 2005. And Fox and Turner Broadcasting both had significant falloffs in viewers for regular-season races.

"No, I don't think we've plateaued at all," France said. "Obviously, last year we had some TV partners with priorities other than us. So we're cycling around."

That was a reference to NBC, which dropped NASCAR to return to the National Football League. In its place comes ABC-ESPN, as part of a new eight-year $4.5 billion TV package along with Fox and Turner.

"My view on television ratings is that we look at it as a longer cycle," France said. "Ratings will go down and up, and we don't get too hung up. We look at the longer period, two to five years, and see it trending the right way. My expectation is that we will be up in TV ratings in 2007, for all the reasons we're talking about.

"We're the No. 2 sport on television - 17 of the top 20 events last year were NASCAR events.

"This is a very, very healthy sport. Don't just take my word for it, look at the billions of dollars in investments companies are making in it. This is the best value in sports, and we're going to try to keep it that way."

Part of France's plan for 2007 is to increase NASCAR's promotional efforts and presence in the largest U.S. markets - particularly Chicago and Los Angeles - to try to boost ratings. An early indicator could be the tour's second stop, in Los Angeles, where California Speedway, with 92,000 seats, is still looking for a Sunday sellout and any decent crowds at all on Fridays and Saturdays.

And France pointed to today's expected announcement that John Henry of the Boston Red Sox will be making a major investment in Jack Roush's racing operation as "an important milestone" for the sport.

"I think that's great," France said. "Joe Gibbs, Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach, we like people coming in who can bring something new to the table, new ways of looking at things."

France rattled off a long list of his various initiatives - including race dates in Montreal and Mexico City, the car of tomorrow, diversity, Toyota's entry - and said "we're getting the results.

"We think this sport is poised for some interesting things in 2007, which I believe will be a very special year for NASCAR."

France used the Disney Corp.'s "enormous investment" to illustrate NASCAR's financial allure.

"It is undeniable that corporate America believes this sport is on the move," he said. "Just look at the companies making this investment. And just look at the quality of drivers this sport has attracted the last four or five years. There are some talented drivers who won't make the Daytona 500."

France also pointed to his diversity efforts, saying, "If we don't get diversity right, this sport will not achieve what it needs to achieve. It won't get the best drivers, the best talent on the management side, won't get the fan base we deserve. So we've got to get diversity right."

Key parts of that strategy are obvious - the defection of Juan Pablo Montoya from Formula 1, and NASCAR's annual Mexico City Busch Series race. NASCAR has been heavily targeting the 42-million-strong Hispanic market in the U.S. for several years. That's the largest minority group in the population, and NASCAR has big tracks in crucial Hispanic-heavy markets, such as Los Angeles and Miami.