Dover track prez: NASCAR needs to find another Dale Earnhardt

NASCAR has been battling sagging attendance and TV ratings for a while. Sunday's race at Dover International Speedway, the third Sprint Cup event in the 10-race title run, was no exception when it came to filling the seats.

A tweet from the track's account -- @MonsterMile -- around 12:45 p.m. read: "Great seats still available at the gate!" The green flag was scheduled about 90 minutes later.

TV cameras spanning some sections during the race showed plenty of empty areas.

Dover Motorsports President Denis McGlynn told the Associated Press that a variety of factors come into play for ticket sales, most notably the economy. The track reduced its seating capacity by 13,000 for the race, to 122,000 by offering fans wider seats. McGlynn said next year's spring race will slice availability to 112,000.

NASCAR estimated the attendance Sunday at 85,000.

"I'm not sure we'll ever get back to where we were at the end of the '90s and 2000," McGlynn said. "But we can get way further ahead than where we are today. I think the answer to whether we can get back to that real peak lies in whether we can get another (Dale) Earnhardt-like superstar to emerge. We lost our Tiger Woods when we lost Earnhardt. We have a lot of talented drivers, but nobody has risen up to stand out like he did."

Since Earnhardt's death, his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., has been voted the series' most popular driver nine consecutive times. Jimmie Johnson has won five titles, the most since Earnhardt and Richard Petty won seven apiece. Tony Stewart has won three titles. And now Brad Keselowski, who won Sunday's AAA 400, has the points lead and appears poised to win his first Cup title and become a household name.

All were in Sunday's lineup. But it still doesn't seem to be enough, at least at Dover, to get fans out.

Hat tip: The Associated Press