Last year marked the first year of NASCAR's celebrated $2.4 billion television package, which put Winston Cup races on major networks. It was also the year the sport lost a legend, Dale Earnhardt, which drew much national attention. Those factors combined with several exciting races to produce enormous growth in the popularity of NASCAR.

As a result, television ratings increased more than 20 percent, stocks soared for International Speedway Corporation, which owns most of the tracks on which the Winston Cup cars compete, and revenues increased for Action Performance Co., the leading seller of racing merchandise.

But that was last year. This year, the NASCAR Nation has moved passed Earnhardt's death -- or as much as it ever will. And the races? Woefully, they have not been as emotionally charged or exciting.

So, one has to wonder, did the growth last? Did the growing audience stick?

With sold-out races, maintained ratings and stocks that continue to soar, the answer is yes.

"Not only have the fans stayed around, I believe the audience continues to grow," said Dave Martin, chief financial officer for Action Performance. "When I talk to people who go to their first race, and so many people went to their first races last year, they're stunned by what they see: the noise, the speed, the highly charged atmosphere. It's very appealing."

Martin said Action Performance recorded $320 million in revenue last year. This year, the company is anticipating an increase to $400 million.

"In this economy, that's a big deal," he said.

And his is not the only company seeing increases. ISC reported second-quarter revenues in 2001 -- the quarter just after Earnhardt's death -- of $112 million. This year, the company's total second-quarter revenues were $116.7 million.

"The fundamentals of our business remain strong and we are encouraged by the continued success of domestic motorsports," said Jim France, president of ISC and brother of NASCAR chairman Bill France Jr. "And, driven by our national presence in key markets, we believe the company is in an excellent position to capitalize on the industry's future growth opportunities."

Despite sponsorship concerns fueled by some high-profile companies, such as Kmart, leaving the sport, businesses are still lining up to get their names on hoods. Discover Card, for example, jumped in when Kmart left Haas-Carter Motorsport's No. 26 Ford.

"NASCAR's national growth and popularity remains undeniable," said Richard Lalley, vice president of Advertising at Discover Financial Services Inc., who believes a NASCAR sponsorship is one of the best ways of "building strong relationships with our merchant partners as well as passing along the benefits of this sponsorship to our cardmembers."

The sustained growth is more evident in the television ratings for NASCAR. For the 15 races Fox broadcasted both last year and this year, the network has maintained a 5.8 share. Last year, that translated to approximately 5 million viewers, which was a 40 percent increase in viewership from 2000, when races were carried by CBS, ESPN and TNN.

This year, Nielsen Media Research has increased the number of viewers who make up one share, so although the share Fox pulled down remained the same, the actual audience increased by about 70,000 people per race.

"We have known all along that this is a product that can sell," said NASCAR President Mike Helton. "... There are certainly a lot of things that could have contributed to the growth, but the bottom line is that it is still growing. We are attracting new audiences every week."

Downtown Chicago is one of them. Last year, despite the tremendous growth NASCAR already had undergone, the city seemed less aware of the sport's arrival than did its suburbs near Joliet, Ill., where this weekend's Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway is actually held an hour away from the city.

This year, drivers are doing special downtown appearances. Signs outside several restaurants welcome race fans and, in perhaps the truest sign of acceptance, the city's hotels have followed the practice of longtime NASCAR venues and raised hotel prices considerably for a "special event."

"I guess you take the good with the bad," driver Johnny Benson said. "It's more good, though. It's really exciting how much the sport has grown and really amazing how broad the audience has become. The stereotypes just don't exist anymore."

Rupen Fofaria is a beat writer for the Raleigh News & Observer.