NASCAR has an image problem, so Dover turns to Eagles for support
Martin Frank
DOVER – Eagles middle linebacker Jordan Hicks walked into the drivers' meeting Sunday morning, and an "E-A-G-L-E-S!" chant broke out among the fans gathered in the tent.
Later, Eagles radio announcer Merrill Reese yelled out "Gentlemen, start your engines!" That was followed a few minutes later by Hicks waving the green flag to start the AAA 400 Drive for Autism on Sunday afternoon.
As thrilling as that was to Eagles fans at Dover International Speedway on Sunday, it was the same old Monster Energy NASCAR Series race. And that, in a way, has become NASCAR's problem, even after a dominating performance by Kevin Harvick, who won after leading all three stages.
Harvick beat runner-up Clint Bowyer by more than seven seconds. There were only 13 cars on the lead lap. It was Harvick's fourth win of the season.
"You gotta enjoy a track like this," Bowyer said. "If not, it's going to be a long day."
And it was a long day for so many. The so-called next wave of "young guns" struggled to keep up. Harvick is 42 years old. Six of the 14 races have been won by drivers 40 years old or over.
Daniel Suarez, one of those young drivers, finished a distant third. Veterans Martin Truex Jr., and Kurt Busch rounded out the top five.
"The last five weeks or so, we've been moving in the right direction," Suarez said. "We just have to somehow beat [Harvick], and [Harvick] was in a different league."
Those drivers are supposed to fill the void left by recently retired legends like Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Mark Martin and so on. But they have yet to grab the fans' attention.
So it's easy to notice the rapidly decreasing crowds at Dover and the other racetracks. While attendance figures are not released, it doesn't take a mathematician to see that there were gaps of empty seats along the main straightaway, something that was unheard of in the past.
And that was before the rain came, delaying the race on Lap 320.
Of course, NASCAR didn't do Dover any favors by moving up the start of the spring race to the first weekend of May as opposed to the first weekend of June, as in past years.
Dover International Speedway President and CEO Mike Tatoian tried to be diplomatic when asked his thoughts about the earlier date.
"From our perspective, if we could have gotten a later date, we would have preferred a later date," Tatoian said. "However, knowing that NASCAR and the networks have a pretty tough job of balancing everything out, if you look at the overall NASCAR schedule, it may be an improvement [overall].
"But that means some tracks get the short end of the stick, and some tracks get to benefit from it."
Guess which category Dover falls into.
"We’re dealing with what we’ve been dealt," Tatoian added.
He was then asked if he expected a lower attendance than the spring race last year, when the stands appeared to be about half full.
"We’re pleased as to where we are at this particular date," Tatoian said.
Tatoian listed several events that the race competed with this weekend for the fans' entertainment dollar: Dover Days held on Saturday, Point-to-Point at Winterthur on Sunday, iffy weather on an overcast day, college graduations, proms (the track held Polytech's on Saturday night), the NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs, baseball, golf, and well, gardening.
In fact, the cover of the Dover racing program had seven young drivers pictured on the cover. They included Suarez, Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney.
Combined, the seven have one career win.
A recent article in Forbes magazine noted that Richmond had an estimated attendance of 42,500 at its race two weeks ago at a track that seats about 50,000.
Richmond used to seat 112,000, and the stands were filled for 33 straight Cup races up until 2008. It used to be like that at Dover, too. But the track has removed thousands of seats in the past two years, and still can't fill half of them.
That can explain why Dover reached out to the Super Bowl champion Eagles to drum up some support.
"Obviously, we’re in Eagles country, so anything that we can do to continue that excitement that they still are generating," Tatoian said. "It’s a great crossover for us and we’re taking advantage of that."
Hicks was happy to oblige.
"This is my first NASCAR experience," he said. "It’s awesome, and to be able to wave the green flag – and I didn’t even know what that meant until I got here and realized that this is a big deal. It’s awesome. This thing is completely blowing me away. It’s a completely different world out here."
But there are some similarities between the two sports, beginning with the fact that both have their events once a week, typically on Sundays.
It's something Hicks was curious to find out about.
"It’s wild. Their weeks are very similar," Hicks said. "They watch film. They’re working out during the week. They’re making sure they’re in shape and to a ‘T’ prepared for the race, and for the track, and that their car is ready. There’s a ton that goes into it. For me, I never expected to hear everything that happens behind the scenes. It’s awesome to see."
Is anybody else watching?
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
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