When the green flag signals the start of the Daytona 500 this weekend, there’s a good chance there will be plenty of empty seats in the stands and in front of the TV. Attendance has been falling for so long at NASCAR events that the organization stopped reporting attendance figures in 2012. TV viewership is off nearly 50 percent since 2005. But NASCAR has a plan to put stock-car racing back on track: The race will be divided into three parts.

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