Classy American and foreign drivers, plus a the splash of Hollywood celebrities, could be just what the doctor ordered for NASCAR. They want to diversify their fan base, which has long been strongest in the South.

Dario Franchitti's appearance on the Sprint Cup circuit follows last year's debut by Colombia's Juan Pablo Montoya.

Franchitti, the Indy 500 winner in 2007, has traded sleek open-wheel cars for boxy stock cars. Franchitti and former Formula One and Indianapolis 500 champion Jacques Villeneuve, ex-Champ Car winner Patrick Carpentier, and three-time Indy Racing League and 2006 Indy 500 winner Sam Hornish Jr., were all new to the stock car circuit. Carpentier and Villeneuve are Canadians. Hornish is from Defiance, Ohio.

If that isn't chic enough. How about adding Franchitti's first lady, Hollywood star Ashley Judd. Her run to the Indy 500 winner's circle, in rain-soaked hair and dress, and her gleeful embrace of Franchitti were televised scenes that will be remembered.

Judd's presence at a race draws fans and publicity. Some two-dozen photographers went recently to take pictures of her as she stood beside Franchitti's No. 40 car at the Daytona International Speedway.

In an email quoted by USA Today, she wrote, "It is difficult to overstate how proud I am of my husband. His willingness to chuck everything he knew and at which he excelled at the highest level, for something totally new and unknown, I think he is utterly courageous."