• Wall Street Journal, Monday, May 11, 2009 10:45 AM

For more than a decade, NASCAR expanded voraciously but Chrysler's bankruptcy -- and the overall condition of the U.S. auto industry -- is just the latest setback for the once red-hot phenomenon, Valerie Bauerlein reports.

NASCAR television viewership fell to an average of 6.83 million viewers last year, off 18% from its peak in 2005 of 8.35 million, according to the Nielsen Co. Ticket sales are down by as much as 20% at some races, and there are gaping blocks of empty seats at some venues, including the hard-core racing town of Talladega, Ala. NASCAR teams and tracks have laid off more than 800 employees in the past year.

"You hate to see something that's such a part of American life go away," says Richard Petty, 71, the all-time winningest driver in the sport's history. He mostly drove Dodges and Plymouths.

Many longtime fans say NASCAR has wandered too far from its roots, when fans could imagine the stock cars were their own souped-up jalopies out on the track and automakers would run ads touting their victories. Car dealers called the arrangement "win on Sunday, sell on Monday."

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