Sipple: NASCAR popularity decreasing since Earnhardt death

Sadly, I see the interest in NASCAR has been fading more and more lately. As for Dover, I was at the first race at Dover Downs and witnessed the rise and fall of racing there. The first race had a small stretch of bleachers. As the popularity increased, the entire track was encircled with seats. Race week in Dover was packed with people, all week. Restaurants and hotels were booked and hard to get into.

Then, it happened. Dale Earnhardt was killed in a crash. His son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Jeff Gordon kept the sport alive for a while, but the sport has been going down ever since. There was nobody that the public seemed to latch on to. Interest started fading. It got so bad that Dover Downs started taking down some of its bleachers, and people in Dover barely noticed race week in Dover.

I hope NASCAR can return to its glory days. Dover could use the tourism dollars.

Stan Sipple

Felton

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