CATCH OF THE DAY: Can Vegas get another race?

March 1, 2010 by Sage Sammons 

Even with all the positive aspects, Las Vegas needs to do a little work before they earn a second race.

Coming into the NASCAR race this weekend, I was a big advocate of Las Vegas Motor Speedway hosting two races per calendar year. But is LVMS truly worthy?

I mean, look at the pros that fit the racetrack: You have the best, most fan-friendly infield on the circuit. No other place can get you that close to the action without you actually working on a team. From the windows, where you can watch the teams work from above, to the inspection station, where you can watch the officials measure the cars.

The service is also exquisite. But it should be, given that this city truly thrives on its hospitality.

All the hotels treat not only the fans but also the drivers very well and most probably can’t tell the difference between the two – that is unless someone offers pit passes for upgrades on rooms.

Last but not least, it is an easy and fun place to get to. Most plane tickets to Vegas are reasonable and after the race there is always something to do.

From Dierks Bentley playing a free concert at Aliante Station to the numerous driver showings around town to randomly playing blackjack with some of the crew, the race in Vegas is almost as popular at night in the city than the actual event on Sunday.

No phrase fits the weekend better than “only in Vegas.”

So with all these positive vibes, why isn’t there a second race?

Jimmie Johnson phrased it the best in his driver media session on Friday.

“I think that it is really tough to have two Sprint Cup races at any venue.” Johnson said. “I have friends and family that were season ticket holders and when there was one race a year, it was really simple. You only had one opportunity to go to that one race and watch, so you would go.”

“They added two races and the ticket packages and different things were forced upon [friends and family] to do. I think you lose a little something when you go to two dates. I think if you go to two dates, you have to have a situation like Bristol, where there’s a long waiting list for one event, then you consider expanding to two races. I don’t think you can take a facility that is seating 60 to 70 percent of its capacity and add a second date and expect a big turnout at either event. I think it would be great if we had 36 different races at 36 different tracks.”

Could Las Vegas host two races? Absolutely.

Would it fall to some of the pitfalls Johnson mentioned? Again, the answer is probably yes.

Las Vegas sells out consistently and yesterday they got their ninth consecutive sellout for the Sunday race.

Johnson’s comments about a second race without a long waiting list does list some troubles.

Basically, you would have to give fans something they didn’t have the first race. Immediately what comes to mind would be a night race in September or October, as the weather is cooling off.

But along with that, LVMS has a long way to go. Last September, when the Camping World Truck’s came to town to race their annual night race, as the race was just getting ready to start, the lights went out and didn’t get started back up for a good while.

That’s not the only electrical issues the track has had. The SPEED Channel was off the air for part of the Sprint Cup qualifying session. In fact, they missed Kurt Busch’s pole qualifying lap. Whether that was The SPEED Channel’s fault or an electrical issue at the track, it remains to be seen.

The answer is: nobody wants to deal with headaches, especially twice a year.

So if LVMS gets a chance to expand to a second race, they need to take Johnson’s words to heart to see if it is actually plausible, then they need to rework some of the systems at the track so there are no more issues.