NASCAR's newly promoted Chief Operating Officer George Pyne says the sanctioning body is operating just fine.

"It was a good year," he said. "We want to continue to put a good product on the tracks so that the fans can continue to enjoy NASCAR, and also to position ourselves to be attractive to people who may not be that rabid of fans and expose ourselves to people not only in the U.S., but around the world."

NASCAR is coming off its most successful season ever, with high television ratings, increased attendance, more attention from the corporate world and a focus on safety.

"We want to keep trying to keep it going," Pyne said. "One of the things NASCAR has to continue to do is keep focusing on the product. We've opened a research and development center (in suburban Charlotte), we had 18 different winners, five first-time winners and a good stable of young drivers and veteran drivers."

But perhaps more than anything, 2002 was business as usual. The previous season began with the tragic death of Dale Earnhardt at the Daytona 500, and continued with controversy.

"2001 was a year we'd like to forget, for the most part," NASCAR President Mike Helton said earlier this year. "It was just a horrible, horrible year."

Safety has been one of the biggest focuses of Pyne's job, overseeing not only new mandates, but the construction and start of NASCAR's research and development center, where thousands of hours of work have already been spent on safety improvements.

"We've been working hard for the last two years," Pyne said. "We have something like 20 or 25 R&D projects going on at any one time. I think over the next 12 to 24 months you're going to see the fruits of the labor. That's going to be real exciting. We have a team of people who are trying to come up with greater safety solutions, ways to make racing even better, ways to contain costs for the owners, and now we're going to see the results of that hard work.

"And then on the business side, we want to bring the sport to as many different people as possible, yet without diluting the product, and creating even greater value for all our business partners. But the most important person is the fan, because without the fan being satisfied, nothing else matters."

While sports such as Major League Baseball and the NBA are struggling at the box office, NASCAR is more popular than ever. It's successes are numerous, it's weaknesses are few.

However, as popular and successful as NASCAR has become, there are still several areas Pyne admits need to be improved, particularly racial diversity among owners, drivers and crew members. He also cited cost control, helping less-funded teams and attracting more sponsors.

Another area of emphasis is to further improve the sport's popularity. While other sports would love to have that kind of "problem," Pyne and the rest of NASCAR's officials take the challenge seriously. If they had their way, every person in America would be a NASCAR fan -- and Pyne and Co. aren't going to stop until they can get as close to that goal as possible.

"The biggest challenges are to make NASCAR grow even more in all the major metropolitan markets, like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, provided that we continue to deliver good racing to the fans like we have," Pyne said. "And, also, we have to satisfy the hardcore fans, as well. The trick is how do you continue to grow the sport, while at the same time remaining true blue to the people that helped bring you there.

	“	The schedule has evolved year by year and in a prudent way, taking in the interests of all the various constituents that NASCAR has to try and serve. ”
		— George Pyne

"Our challenge is managing success. Success brings on things, like making sure all your constituents are doing well, are progressing and continue to become better. Managing success brings in a whole other set of dynamics that you don't have when things aren't going as well.

"The fans are coming to see good racing and root for their heroes, and we just have to continue to do that."

That's why Pyne, Helton, Chairman Bill France and the rest of NASCAR's braintrust are working so diligently to keep the sport in the forefront of the public eye.

"We just feel a sense of responsibility to continue to build upon the success we've had in the past," said Pyne, who also earned a seat on NASCAR's board of directors with his recent promotion. "If you look at what's contributed to the success of NASCAR is it's run by people who love racing, like Bill France, Jim France, Mike Helton, Brian France. They all love racing. That's a key element. And, whenever we do make a major decision, we ask ourselves 'How does it affect the overall business?" or "How does it affect the overall core product, that being racing?" We always put that first."

However, with that comes an inherent issue of trying to pull more out of a sport that may be maxed-out when it comes to the number of events and venues, as well as the extensive travel and burnout among team members.

Pyne readily admits that, while NASCAR would love to be in more markets and offer more races, it's probably stretched as far as it can go.

"The schedule is set the way it is, and I think it's unlikely that will change anytime soon, although we review it year by year," he said. "The big thing is to continue to grow in the major markets and increase our TV exposure over the years, and we have done that and continue to do that."

NASCAR has not only grown as a sport, it has also grown as a job provider. Several estimates have put the number of individuals working in the stock-car industry at between 10,000 and 20,000. NASCAR is already providing a big chunk of those numbers, with well over 700 employees itself.

In so doing, people depend on NASCAR to not only provide jobs, but to sustain them. That's why NASCAR has been reluctant to take dates away from smaller venues such as Richmond, Va., and Martinsville, Va., and award those dates to larger tracks that can hold more people.

"When you look at how this sport has grown, and when you look at where it was 10 years ago, the schedule is quite different," Pyne said. "And, if you look at NASCAR today versus 30 years ago, in the '70s they had 60 races and ran all over the place, including dirt tracks. The schedule has evolved year by year and in a prudent way, taking in the interests of all the various constituents that NASCAR has to try and serve.

"(Other sports) have their problems, and we have ours, too. But if we threw our problems on the table with them, they'd probably grab our problems instead of theirs first."

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com.