CONCORD, N.C. — The big news at the 2008 Lowe’s Motor Speedway NASCAR Media Tour was, well, that there was no big news.

Unlike previous years, last week’s trips to various race shops and interviews with NASCAR’s hierarchy didn’t reveal any major changes. The points system will remain unchanged, the schedule will stay intact and, finally, each team will run one type of car in every race.

Still, several storylines did emerge during the week. Here are the top five:

1. Junior’s fitting right in.

If there was one thing the reporters were dying to find out during the four-day whirlwind, it was whether three superstars could co-exist under one roof. Sure, it’s early, but the early returns on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s switch to Hendrick Motorsports are all positive.

Everyone with a pen, a voice recorder or a camera tried to get someone, anyone, to say something negative about the mega-team’s newest member. Instead, all involved were singing his praises.

“I haven’t been a teammate of Junior’s before, but I’ve learned a lot about him since he came to Hendrick,” Jeff Gordon said. “And what I’ve learned is that he cares a lot about his on-track performance and he cares a lot about what people think about him, and he wants to make a good impression. Those are great things, and they are assets for us. I think he fits in very well here.”

2. Wanted: core fans.

Say this for Brian France: He listens to NASCAR fans, and when the sport’s old-school fans began to kick and scream that they were being forgotten, the ruling body’s CEO took notice. Though he didn’t unveil any power-point plan to get those fans back, his words at least offered promise that they haven’t been forgotten.

“Our fans have had enough change, and we think it’s time we slowed down and concentrated more on the competition on track and our history,” France said. “That history is very important to our core fans. We haven’t forgotten that. As far as fans are concerned, it’s always the more the better, but we have to take a look at our older fans and let them know we don’t want to lose them.”

3. Just be yourselves.

Be honest. How many times during the past few years did you go to the office or coffee shop on the day after a Cup race and actually talk about it? In those rare times, how many discussions involved some show of emotion from one or more drivers?

NASCAR’s guess is that more times than not, when a driver or drivers actually showed some passion, it made news. However, with the politically correct police patrolling the track and airwaves, drivers have become afraid to be themselves. President Mike Helton and others last week insisted NASCAR will loosen the rope some and allow the sport’s personalities to shine.

“We want our drivers to be themselves,” Helton said. “Our sport has done really well by showcasing the characters of the sport in the past.”

4. The cold truth.

Wednesday’s visit to Dale Earnhardt, Inc., was much anticipated as media members were eager to see if Teresa Earnhardt would be as open and comfortable in public as she was in the impromptu cocktail party she hosted during awards weekend in December.

First, however, the tour was greeted with the news that one-on-one interviews would not be allowed. Then it was noticed that any reference to Dale Earnhardt Jr. had been removed from the museum area, including photos and trophies. The ensuing news conference, which did not include Teresa, was criticized as being scripted, and when some media members asked tough questions, they were given generic answers.

“It’s important for this organization to be successful every year,” Max Seigel, DEI’s director of operations, said when asked if 2008 would be especially important to the organization to prove it could succeed without Junior. “We aren’t worried about the past.”

5. The invasion is under way.

Was Juan Pablo Montoya’s Rookie of the Year campaign in 2007 a sign that open-wheel drivers can quickly make the switch to stock cars, or was he just a natural who can take to any form of racing? The answer will come this year as open-wheel stars Dario Franchitti, Patrick Carpentier and Sam Hornish Jr. follow him into NASCAR.

“They have talent and they have ability,” Jeff Burton said. “They just have to learn how to race in this type of environment. Not that it’s harder; it’s just different. Montoya showed, at times, he could be successful, and to me that’s the sign of a good rookie season. But there is a tremendous learning curve for these guys. These cars are so different.”