INDIANAPOLIS - Elliott Sadler wants NASCAR to roll the dice.
Or at least, he figures, a few betting windows can be added to race tracks across America.
Amid sagging television ratings, dwindling attendance and longtime sponsors pulling out of the stock-car racing series, the former Cup Series driver and current Xfinity Series contender thinks NASCAR should embrace race-day gambling.
"I think attendance would double tomorrow," he said Friday at Indianapolis, site of this weekend's Brickyard 400. "I told them they should get an 18-wheeler and take it track to track. That would be my number-one suggestion."
NASCAR will give the idea an initial whirl in four weeks when the circuit visits Dover International Speedway in Delaware.
While many state governments seek new revenue sources and many leagues find themselves rethinking policies after a Supreme Court decision in May opened the door to legalizing sports wagering everywhere, it's a novel and complicated concept for a sport so deeply rooted in the Bible Belt.
"As states consider, legalize, regulate and offer sports betting, those licensed to offer sports betting may differ," American Gaming Association spokesman Casey M. Clark said in a statement to The Associated Press. "In Delaware's case, the track is on the property of a licensed casino that offers legalized sports wagering. For others to follow suit, their state laws and regulations would have to allow for it either in proximity to a licensed operator, like they do at Dover, or in statute that enables tracks to offer wagering."
Currently, sports wagering is not legal in Indiana. It's unclear whether there would ever be enough support in the state legislature to pass. Even if new laws were adopted, NASCAR officials and race organizers would likely have to consent as well, and any step along the way could become the pitfall.
"If the state legislature ever thought that was something that could work, I think the technical rights holder of this event is NASCAR," Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Doug Boles said as rain saturated the historic 2.5-mile oval Friday afternoon. "So I think NASCAR would have to first believe they're comfortable with some type of on-track betting, and then I guess we would have to look at that on our own and decide whether it made sense."
Friday's scene around the speedway illustrates why Sadler believes gambling could solve NASCAR's ills.
Just two days before NASCAR's 25th Brickyard race is run at one of the world's most revered racing venues, cars moved briskly along city streets, parking lots were mostly empty, and aside from barriers preventing left-hand turns into the track's main tunnel, there was virtually no hint race weekend had arrived.
When Cup Series drivers first started coming to Indy in 1994, it was one of the series' toughest tickets, attracting more than 250,000 people. After 2008, when the race was marred by tire wear and a series of roughly 10-lap shootouts, interest waned and the crowds shrank. Observers estimated more than 200,000 seats were empty for last year's race.
Despite making bold, creative attempts to regenerate interest in the Brickyard, Boles and his staff have not seen the results. Ideas already tried include expanding the weekend schedule, doubling up by running sports-car races on the track's road course, hiring more musical acts and even trying a standalone concert.
This year, Cup Series officials agreed to move the race out of July and into September in an effort to eliminate fans' most common complaint - the searing heat. Now track officials face new obstacles beyond their control.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck will make his first start in more than 20 months when the NFL team opens its season just a few miles across town, a little more than an hour before the green flag is supposed to wave. Forecasters are calling for rain most of the afternoon - which won't be a problem for the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium, with its retractable roof, but could be the latest damper on NASCAR.