CHARLOTTE, NC – NASCAR’s reigning Cup series team is closing its doors at the end of the 2018 season. Let that marinate for a second.

Furniture Row Racing, the team that won 16 races since 2016, will shut down operations once they wrap things up at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Driver Martin Truex Jr., currently third in points, will be a free agent.

The announcement coming from Furniture Row Racing owner Barney Visser is a 180 degree turn from July, when he said not fielding a team next season was not an option.

"This is not good for anybody," said team owner Barney Visser. "The numbers just don't add up. I would have to borrow money to continue as a competitive team and I'm not going to do that. This was obviously a painful decision to arrive at knowing how it will affect a number of quality and talented people.”

NASCAR has had a hard time recovering from a downturn in attendance and TV ratings. It is true that they host more fans in a half-empty facility than many MLB teams, and more than NBA and NHL teams. It’s a close call on NFL clubs, at times, but the fact is NASCAR has struggled to maintain the growth they experienced in the late 1990’s and now the numbers are falling off in many areas.

Where is the fix?  How can NASCAR find what it is apparently missing?

Rather than point out a problem and not offering a solution, here’s a couple thoughts.

1. Put the STOCK Back into Stock Cars

Former driver/owner and now TV analyst Michael Waltrip tweeted his thoughts after the FRR announcement, essentially saying that the “stock” portion of the cars has been missing.  The phrase, “what wins on Sunday, sells on Monday,” is nearly impossible to see anymore, because the cars running on Sunday are really nothing like what runs on the street.  Take away some of the engineering, simplify the cars, and let the drivers display their talents.

2. Shorten the Season

Why two trips to Fontana? Why two races in Pocono in a six-week span?

NASCAR has moved away from its roots to build places like Auto Club Speedway, a behemoth race track with loads of seating in a large TV market.  Problem is selling the tickets and getting the TV viewers. Los Angeles isn’t unique, as it is happening all across NASCAR.

Shorten the season. Keep the traditional stops with their current dates, but make one trip to Fontana and couple it with the road course race at Sonoma. Save the teams some money that way. Heck, hit Las Vegas on the way back. Make a whole “Western Swing” out of it. Fontana, Sonoma, Vegas, Phoenix and Texas. Why not?  Sure there is hotel and travel to be factored in, but do it ONCE.

3. Try, by any and all means, to get back to the removed tracks

Going to the current non-traditional venues once, might open the door for a one-off race at Rockingham, or North Wilkesboro.  Yes, I know the tracks need a whole lot of TLC to get up to snuff, but isn’t it worth the effort to take a look at something like that? Why is the Darlington race weekend SO successful? The Lady in Black has gone through some upgrades, but the abrasive surface, the old school feel and the retro theme for the weekend has brought new life to the place. Could it hurt to try that elsewhere?

Look, things change, and the days of yesteryear are gone.  They aren’t coming back. It’s time for NASCAR to think outside the box on a major scale if wants to rescue itself.

NASCAR may not want to believe it, but NASCAR is in big trouble.