NASCAR Pure Michigan 400

NASCAR fans watch the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway in August of 2015. (MLive File Photo)

(MLive Media Group)

BATTLE CREEK - NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Greg Biffle has a theory on why NASCAR attendance has plummeted in recent years.

The series is returning to Michigan International Speedway for Sunday's Firekeepers Casino 400, and MIS is no different than most of the tracks on the schedule.

Tickets were hard to come by during the 1990s, and the sport continued to thrive during the early years of the new century.

But then came the Great Recession and NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow, which meant fans struggling to pay the bills weren't going to spend money on boring races. Attendance plummeted, and crowds are nowhere near what they were 20 years ago.

While those factors are huge, Biffle said you can't put all the blame there.

"I think it's a combination of things," said Biffle, who has won four Sprint Cup races at MIS. "One is technology. To be able to stay tuned to a race, watch the race, listen to the race, get an idea of what's happening without being there is tremendous now. You can follow on Twitter and watch on your phone, with different in-car shots of any car on the race track. You can watch from anywhere. You don't have to be at the race track.

"I think fans are still passionate about it. But the guy that was there that isn't there now is still watching. It's that coupled with the racing got a little boring and the teams got closer together and we couldn't pass and there wasn't as much action. Some fans said it's not exciting as it was, therefore, I'm just going to watch on my mobile device."

Biffle participated in a recent media day at the Firekeepers Casino in Battle Creek, and he was joined by MIS president Roger Curtis. Curtis said the sport, including promoters, failed to address the problems when attendance first nosedived, giving the fallout from the recession too much credit for the decline. Those fundamental problems were numerous.

"There are a lot of stake holders in our sport," Curtis said. "I think it took a while to get them all rowing in the same direction. We are now. That includes everything from the on-track product to star power, access to the drivers, the drivers recognizing that I need to stop and sign a few autographs to us spending money to upgrade the facility, ticket pricing, adding family-oriented stuff and adding non-family oriented stuff because we have a lot of people who want to come for the party.

"It is a lot to juggle. We have a lot of different age groups, from really young kids to millennials to our avid fans."

Curtis said one key to growth is attracting millennials, which describes the generation born right around the turn of the century. It's not an easy task because this generation doesn't have the passion for cars as their fathers and grandfathers had, Curtis said.

That's why tracks like MIS are now pulling out all stops, including concerts in conjunction with race weekends. MIS is bringing back Keloorah for the second year, which is a postrace concert festival from 5-11 p.m. Friday and 4-11 p.m. Saturday and features a number of entertainment acts. In addition, MIS will return with Faster Horses July 15-17, which offers a number of musical acts.

The theory is that they will want to come back after they get there.

"Kids are not going to go out in the garage and tinker like their dad and grandfathers did," Curtis said. "The car culture that we relied on so heavily for decades with NASCAR is not there. We had to change the entertainment equation versus the car culture equation.

"We want to get the millennials out to the track, get them experienced and maybe overcome some of their preconceived notions and maybe have them meet and see some of the younger drivers and understand the sport a little bit."

Biffle said fans will love the racing this season if they do make it to the track. The key is getting them through the gate.

"This looks more like 2006 data as far as the race goes," Curtis said. "I think it is becoming more exciting, and as drivers, we are enjoying it more. I think it will take a little bit more time to get people to come back and watch the action, feel it and smell it. It's different when you can come watch it, feel and smell it compared to watching it on your mobile device or whatever else.

"I think it comes in cycles. There will be people back at the track. Once you get a fan to the track, they are blown away."