For those of you who live in areas where open wheel oval track racing is popular, do you have a feeling for how the health of the sport is? I live in the stock car belt, and there's not much in the way of open wheel oval racing around here.

There are two things that are making me ask this: first, the 2012 Indycar schedule being somewhat oval-light, and second, the struggles that our local short tracks are having. Lanier Speedway, which is across the street from Road Atlanta, recently announced that it would not be running its regular schedule next year, and that the track property is up for sale. Lanier is one of the few paved short tracks we have in the state, and about 20 years ago the Busch series was held there for a few years, and it was one of the more successful of the short tracks. The reason given was a lack of attendance by fans and small fields, particularly Late Model. There are lots of dirt ovals, but these seem to open and close at random, with a few long running exceptions. I've read stories that short tracks have been having attendance issues since the mid 2000's.

So, how's the health of short tracks in your area?