Every year, it seems, rumor and debate about Martinsville Speedway wafts through the NASCAR industry: Does a bare-bones bullring really deserve two Cup dates? Does rustic properly maximize NASCAR's premier product, both for the industry and its fans? Are the hot dogs that good?

This year is no different, though the speculation came a bit earlier than normal.

Speedweeks is still two weeks away, but Martinsville is already Martyrsville.

That annoys me. And judging by feedback I hear from you guys -- who complain often of being "tired of cookie-cutter tracks" -- it should annoy you, too.

Martinsville is as cookie-cutter as a cake mold.

Per the agreement between International Speedway Corp. and the Kansas Lottery folks, in return for a sparkling new casino on the Kansas Speedway property, ISC will petition NASCAR this year to add a second Sprint Cup date at Kansas in 2011, according to ISC chief operating officer Roger VanDerSnick.

"That's part of our proposal to the lottery commission, which we have a tremendous partnership with," VanDerSnick said. "We agreed to petition NASCAR to realign a date for 2011. NASCAR controls the schedule, and our commitment is that we'd petition NASCAR to realign a date [to Kansas]."

To get that second Kansas date, ISC must convince NASCAR to allow it to move an existing date from one of its 11 tracks outside Kansas -- Daytona, Darlington, Michigan, Richmond, Homestead-Miami, Talladega, Watkins Glen, Chicagoland, Phoenix, Auto Club and Martinsville.

VanDerSnick said the 2011 scheduling process hasn't even begun, but that ISC is already heavy into a broad analytical look at which ISC-owned tracks are candidates to fork over a date. Some are expected, he said, like sheer dollars and cents.

But the other half of the equation is far less finite, less tangible: the importance of history, and what fans want.

"The others are really understanding the roots of the sport, and Martinsville is the oldest track on the circuit," VanDerSnick said. "It was there the first year we went racing. That's very important to us. We're taking this process very seriously."

I received several calls from connected industry types about Martinsville last week, so I asked VanDerSnick specifically about it. He said it's a bit premature to note what tracks are being considered.

"I won't go into details on that," he said. "We're looking at all options at this point. It's such a sensitive process. Wherever the date comes from will present challenges, and we certainly don't treat it lightly.

"The right move isn't necessarily how much money we make it one year. It's broad. We have to keep in mind where the sport came from, and keep an eye on the core fan."

I can only speak for myself. I like aggressive, physical competition when emotions run high and the driver's ability matters significantly.

I just described Martinsvlle.