The old adage that luxury items are the first to go in a down economy couldn’t be further from the truth. Guys buying yachts will buy them whether the Dow is at 12,000 or 8,500.  And you don’t park the G-V when jet fuel goes up a buck a gallon. The first things to go in a recession are middle-income extras like trips to Disney World, bass boats, new shotguns, golf junkets with the boys, and three-day trips to NASCAR races.

That undeniable truth was on full display at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend. An alarming number of seats remained empty for the Pep Boys 500, the fourth-to-the-last race of the year positioned right in the heart of the Chase to the Championship. Carl Edwards won in typically dramatic fashion, gaining the lead after the final caution with a handful of laps to go. Points’ leader Jimmie Johnson fell a lap down early when he was penalized for speeding on pit road, but he scraped and clawed his way up through the pack, and with two laps to go he fought his way into second place, all but securing his third consecutive Sprint Cup title.

Compelling stuff. Historial. And, unfortunately, enjoyed in person by far too few.

The culprit wasn’t gas prices; those have been tumbling for a month. It was fear: fear of another layoff, a rising mortgage, a note being called, another business going under. NASCAR is still one of the most affordable family-friendly sporting events in the world, but a hundred dollars here, a hundred dollars there and pretty soon you’re talking about real money, especially when you’re a carpenter, mechanic, electrician or truck driver.

“I don’t know if we’re talking about it because it’s bad or if it’s bad because we keep talking about it, or some combination of the two,” Jeff Burton said. “All I know is a lot of people are hurting and a lot more people are worried that they might be hurting before long.”

Fans are not the only people worried. As Burton said, “When things are good and you’ve got sponsorships locked up, you can have 50 teams out here competing for 43 spots. Everybody’s hiring and everybody’s happy. But that never lasts, and you get in a situation like we’re in now where people are losing their jobs and teams and looking for mergers, consolidations, whatever they can get. NASCAR needs to recognize the environment we’re in and understand that the current model is unsustainable.”

The smartest and most open driver in the sport, Burton has long advocated a franchise system for NASCAR, much like the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball. “As dollars dry up, I think they need to look at it again and realize that the system we’re operating under today just won’t work in the future.

Evidence of that came across the wire on Tuesday when Eastman Kodak, a 22-year NASCAR sponsor, announced they were ending their relationship with Penske Racing and leaving racing to focus their sports marketing dollars on golf.

“Just as we have transformed our company, we are transforming our marketing,” said Kodak VP of marketing Betty Noonan. “We want to express our deepest thanks to our friends at NASCAR. We remain big fans.”

Hopefully Betty will buy tickets to races from now on. The tracks need her in a seat.