Optimism at Dover, despite waning attendance

DOVER, Del. - Denis McGlynn is a glass half-full guy. Confronted with declining attendance and revenues from NASCAR races at Dover International Speedway, the president and CEO of Dover Motorsports Inc. has continued beating the drum of optimism.

Referring to attendance at Dover races, McGlynn said, "We get a bad rap because of the visual aspect of having such a large facility, so 80,000 people here [for Sprint Cup races] means we have 50,000 empty seats. If you have 50,000 empty seats at a ballpark nobody's there."

Many race tracks hosting NASCAR events have had smaller crowds for several years.

"Sunday after Sunday you see this on TV and everybody thinks things are bad," McGlynn said. "We're still drawing good crowds [but] not the great crowds we used to draw.

"What needs to occur for us to get back to where we all want to be is, we need to get the economy going again," McGlynn said. "We need to get our customers, who are basically working people, working again. And we need to get corporations spending marketing dollars again.

"Back when things were really rocking we could have anywhere from 15,000 to 18,000 guests of companies here [at races]. When that dried up it creates a big hole in the grandstand. It's very difficult to fill selling two tickets at a time to individuals, particularly when so many of those people are struggling to make ends meet."

Dover is hosting the AAA 400 Sunday, the third race in the Chase for the Championship. Racing in the fall means major competition. McGlynn noted that the Eagles host the New York Giants Sunday night and the Baltimore Orioles play Boston Sunday afternoon. McGlynn believes these games probably keep some fans away from the Dover race.

McGlynn, 66, has worked at the Dover facility since 1972 when he was discharged from the Air Force. The native New Yorker started as the speedway's public relations director. He has seen the seating capacity expand from 22,000 to 130,000. A casino and a first-class trackside hotel also have been added on his watch.

In June, Dover hosted its first "Firefly" concert series. The event was a huge success and has been scheduled again for next June.

"It was a real injection of energy into our staff here," McGlynn said. "Everybody's been beaten down for the last 5-6 years. To engage in something new and have it be a success and see a new younger audience that had a wonderful time, you couldn't ask for anything better."

Unless it's a better economy that allows more fans to return to the race tracks.

Matt Kenseth arrives in Dover with some unfinished business. Kenseth wants to complete his 13-year run with Roush Fenway Racing on a strong note before he moves on to Joe Gibbs Racing next year.

Finishes of 18th and 14th in the first two Chase races aren't what Matt Kenseth had in mind. The 2003 Cup titlist is 11th in points.

"It's really important for me to finish strong at Roush Fenway Racing," he said. "It's a really great organization. It's like family."

Kenseth, 40, said parting ways with longtime co-workers at Roush Fenway is difficult.

"The first couple weeks for me [after he announced he is leaving] were awkward," the Wisconsin native said. "You feel like you are letting some people down."

If he has such attachments at Roush Fenway, then why is he leaving?

"I think timing is everything in this sport," he said. "Trying to get sponsorship secured [for 2013], just a lot of things were going on. I got into May and still didn't really have anything done [with Roush Fenway]."

He started discussions with Joe Gibbs and his son J.D. and will drive the No. 20 Toyota. The seat is being vacated by Joey Logano, who moves to Penske Racing next year. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will drive Kenseth's No. 17 Ford next year.

Kenseth is a two-time winner at Dover. His latest victory was in last year's spring race. He hasn't won this year since the season opener at Daytona.

Look for Pocono Raceway on next year's Izod IndyCar schedule, probably in July between the track's NASCAR races in early June and early August. The 2013 IndyCar lineup will be announced Sunday at 9 p.m. on the Speed channel's "Wind Tunnel" program. Indy cars last raced at Pocono in 1989.