<p>Today's American Speed Association is hardly the same series that propelled the careers of Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace.</p><p>The 16-race schedule in 2004 includes inaugural stops at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Lowe's Motor Speedway and Kentucky Speedway, a bit of a departure from the series' short-track roots.</p><p>The change is part of the plan by ASA owner Steve Dale to live up to the slogan, "We Build Champions," a nod to former series stars like 2003 Nextel Cup champ Kenseth.</p><p>And embracing its role as a developmental series for NASCAR is a major step for the ASA.</p><p>"Ten or 15 years ago, NASCAR was a dirty word around this garage," longtime ASA driver Butch Miller said. "Now, that's what we do, get guys ready for NASCAR."</p><p>Since it started in 1968, the ASA has primarily held its events in the midwest, on tracks less than 1 mile long. Martin was the first champion from the series to make it to NASCAR, taking his three straight titles down south for the first time in 1981. Others soon followed, including Wallace, Kenseth and the late Alan Kulwicki.</p><p>Over the years, the series branched out to a few superspeedways but mostly stuck with the shorter ones, until Dale decided to change that.</p><p>The ASA won't travel to longtime venues Winchester or Anderson this season, bypassing those tight, high-banked tracks near its corporate offices in Pendleton, Ind., a suburb of Indianapolis. Instead, the series will go to Pikes Peak International Raceway in Colorado and Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine for the first time.</p><p>"For a series that's been around for such a long time, not a lot of people outside the racing world know about ASA," said Dale, who bought the series late in 2002 from founders Rex and Rebecca Robbins. "This is one way to try to get our name out there and get some more exposure."</p><p>Everyone is not sold on the new path, including Chip Ganassi. He owns three NASCAR teams and is using the ASA to develop 18-year-old driver Reed Sorenson, who was rookie of the year last season.</p><p>"I think in my eyes, the jury's still out on whether they should be going to some of those big tracks," Ganassi said. "What I like about a series like ASA, where they run short tracks, it develops drivers that have to have an understanding of the mechanical grip that a car has.</p><p>"I thought the series was good the way it was."</p><p>So did 1999 ASA champ Tim Sauter. He competed on the NASCAR Busch Series for three seasons after his title, so he's one of the few drivers in the ASA with experience on the larger tracks. His family has been involved with the series for many years, through his father, Jim, and brothers Jay and Johnny.</p><p>All eventually ended up in NASCAR.</p><p>"I'd like to see us stay on the short tracks more," 1999 ASA champ Tim Sauter said. "I really hope we don't get away from what makes this series so great, the competition on those smaller tracks.</p><p>"The short tracks are where we put on the best show."</p><p>That was apparent Saturday night at Lanier National Speedway about 45 miles northeast of Atlanta. The entry list for the 34-car field swelled to 51 drivers _ a far cry from the bare minimum NASCAR draws these days for its Cup and Busch events _ and the top 32 were separated by only 0.271 seconds.</p><p>The race featured 15 cautions for 137 laps, many of them caused by another of Dale's innovations: the choose rule. On every restart, each driver has the choice to take the green flag from the inside or outside lanes, regardless of position.</p><p>For example, if the leader decided to use the bottom, and he was followed by the next four drivers, the sixth-place driver could move up to the outside and restart next to the leader. It creates lots of fender-banging racing for fans, and nearly as many headaches for the competitors.</p><p>"It's definitely hurting us on the short tracks," two-time ASA champ Kevin Cywinski said. "We're running way too many laps under caution to get everybody sorted out, and you don't get the good quality cars up at the front like they were aiming to do."</p><p>Dale also decided to completely alter the design of the paint schemes. Historically, all stock cars have carried their number on the doors, with sponsors filling the space on the rear fender.</p><p>To help fans differentiate the ASA cars from other series', Dale switched it. Now, the numbers are behind the rear tires, with the doors filled up with sponsors. It gives the cars a sleek look, but makes it harder to follow them on TV, which is the one complaint Dale has heard.</p><p>"The reaction has been pretty unfavorable to the numbers, and we're trying to tweak it to make it easier to see," Dale said. "It's like I tell everybody. If this doesn't work _ if any of our changes don't work, for that matter _ we'll change it."</p>
