One of the chief concerns of the NASCAR fan base in recent years has been a stagnation of the schedule and a desire to return to the roots of the sport, chiefly at the short-track level.

Phelps offered an assurance that potential schedule changes are being looked at and that nothing is off the table.

“I think everything is in play,” Phelps said. “We’ve heard from our fan base that they would like to see more short-track racing. They want to see more road courses. They want to see less cookie-cutter tracks, whatever that means.

“We are looking with our broadcast partners and with our tracks and with our teams and drivers to get input on what each of them believes would be an ideal schedule and then we’re obviously doing fan research as part of it. So, do I believe that everything is on the table? I do,” Phelps continued. “Will we see a lot of the things that have been talked about — more short tracks, more road courses, doubleheaders, mid‑week racing, pulling the season forward? All those things would be in play.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but we are working diligently on what a 2020 schedule would be. As soon as we have something to talk about, we will get that out to everyone.”

Phelps also underscored a desire to expand NASCAR’s connection to the grassroots levels of racing and re-strengthen the fan pipeline between short tracks and the national levels of the sport.

“I have stated publicly that we are going to work with our short tracks to try to make sure that from a cross‑promotional standpoint — us promoting the short tracks and the short tracks promoting the big tracks — that they know it is something that we are interested in doing,” explained Phelps. “As part of our 2019 plans, we will see work with our race tracks to make sure that we are working with them in order to find ways to drive attendance both ways.

“I’m excited about what that looks like. Is that a panacea for any attendance headwinds that we’ve had? It’s not, but I think there’s a strengthening that will happen for both that will be good for both entities,” Phelps noted. “That’s something that will be good for motorsports in general.”

As he looks over the sport as a whole, Phelps’ message was clear: he’s enjoying the moment and hopeful that both fans and all others involved in the industry find their own enjoyment as well.

“I know I’m only in day 48 (of being NASCAR President), but it seems longer than that. I’m not sure why. I’m having a lot of fun though, in all seriousness,” Phelps said with a smile. “Jim France has a vision for this sport and we’re going to execute against that vision. The role that I can play in doing that, I hope it’s meaningful.

“Behind the scenes, if you look at the collaboration that this industry has had … I think it’s at an all‑time high and I think that’s really, really important for our sport,” Phelps continued. “We’re facing some headwinds and we have faced some headwinds. We’re hitting those head on. We’re working with our teams and we’re working with our tracks, our drivers, our media partners and our sponsors, all to make sure that we put on the best racing product we can and to make sure this sport stays healthy for many, many years to come.

“As I’ve said, I’m truly excited and I do believe as we head into 2019 that our best days are ahead.”