Banquet, second Cup race make sense in Vegas

The recent announcement that NASCAR is moving its year-end awards banquet from New York to Las Vegas not only makes good sense but is also overdue.

In fact, back in 1981 at the Nevada Motorsports Awards at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, guest speaker and stock car driver Harry Gant hinted that NASCAR needed to take a look at what Vegas had to offer clear back then.

"Man, this is really something," Gant said of the Nevada Motorsports Awards which featured rising stages, showgirls, multi-media presentations and a full-bore stage presentation in the Siegfried and Roy Theater. "In fact, it's nicer than what NASCAR does at the Waldorf Astoria in New York."

And you can bet Gant's words were echoed by many other drivers and members of NASCAR more than 28 years ago. It's a well-known fact that NASCAR drivers, their crews, sponsors and the media love coming to Vegas anytime of year considering the hospitality, the glitz and the chance to enjoy the Adult Disneyland of the world.

New York was supposed to land a Cup race years ago, but that possibility has since been ruled out, so the awards ceremony almost seemed out of place - and when the city of New York ruled against a parade of stock cars running through the streets as part of the hoopla associated with the event, it was time to move on anyway.

God knows what Las Vegas and Las Vegas Motor Speedway spent to get the NASCAR awards brought to Las Vegas, but the move is a win-win in every single category. Vegas can use the business, those attending can use the getaway and the sport of stock car racing will benefit through added exposure and the professionalism affiliated with awards ceremonies in the city that never sleeps.

However, there is even more that needs to be added to the story. NASCAR needs to move its season-ending race from Homestead in Florida to Las Vegas where a combined year-end race and awards ceremony makes as much as much sense as high octane fuel in a race car.

Since SMI Chairman Bruton Smith purchased LVMS in 1999, he has preached that (a) Las Vegas deserves a second race and (b) Las Vegas should be the site of the season-ending NASCAR awards banquet. He came to town more than a decade ago, outbid NASCAR Chairman Bill France for LVMS and went to work finishing a drag strip that had been left unfinished.

And when he had time, Smith was preaching to the world that he was going to take Vegas and LVMS to another level. He also wasted little time telling anyone who would listen that LVMS deserved a second Cup race especially considering the fact that other tracks had two dates and didn't deserve more than a single event.

Well, now that the banquet is headed to Vegas, the wizards of NASCAR should follow by moving the year ender in Homestead to Las Vegas where a blockbuster combination would undoubtedly gain world-wide attention for a week.

However, while the combination makes good sense for every reason, the fact that International Speedway Corp. not only owns NASCAR but Homestead Raceway at the same time.

Can we spell "C-O-N-F-L-I-C-T" without too much trouble? An obvious head-butting contest between the outspoken Smith and the France family (Bill France has died and has son, Brian, is in for the fight of his life) has been ongoing for years and you can bet Sir Bruton isn't about to let up this time either.

In fact, Smith's nature as the PT Barnum of auto racing will most certainly reach 200 mph during the coming months as he puts both NASCAR and the France family on their heals - this time with the powerful Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority joining his efforts.

Smith beat the France family to the punch when he bought LVMS and you can bet he's about to throw the knockdown punch on this topic, too. He has too many teammates not to win this battle.