NASCAR's December Awards 'theater' may be playing in Las Vegas this winter

  
Bruton Smith (R), with son Marcus here, has been pushing NASCAR to bring the annual Awards banquet to Las Vegas, and now it's going to happen (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   FORT WORTH, Texas
   Bruton Smith is stepping up his bid to bring NASCAR's annual early December awards banquet to Las Vegas, with the city of Las Vegas itself – hard hit this year with the U.S. economic recession – chipping in perhaps as much as $1 million to NASCAR to get the affair.
   "It's going to happen," a key NASCAR source insisted Friday morning as the story broke.
   NASCAR executives themselves were somewhat non-committal about any move to Vegas, saying only that it would be a desirable location for the event, which has languished in NYC, almost lost in the city, despite heavy NASCAR promotion.
   A banquet move from its long-time New York City Waldorf haunts to glitzy Vegas might be a win-win for both. Las Vegas needs promotional help itself, and so does NASCAR, which is suffering from declining TV ratings and less-than-sellout crowds.
   Smith has been lobbying NASCAR to move the event to Las Vegas for two years, and several times he was claiming the event would be indeed be in Las Vegas, only to have NASCAR reject that in favor of staying in New York City.
  
  

  
Las Vegas: Playing host to the 2009 NASCAR awards banquet....and selling tickets to the 2010 400 too (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

  
Smith himself is to talk with the media Friday morning at Texas Motor Speedway. One of the topics could be sluggish sales at his 134 car dealerships.
   Chris Powell, who runs Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Smith, says bringing the NASCAR event to Las Vegas would be great for the city itself. "Las Vegas has taken such a hit, with companies feeling heat for bringing their conventions to Vegas, and it's really hurt this town. But having NASCAR come here with the awards banquet would offer a lot of NASCAR companies the opportunity to promote themselves – you could have Kyle Busch M&Ms golf tournament, you could have Jeff Burton hosting a Caterpillar affair….
   "I've written a lot of letters to Brian France about this and about what we could do with banquet out here."
   Powell said he would envision bringing more race fans into the banquet events.
   "We could take the champion to New York City Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, then everyone comes out here to Las Vegas for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and then the champ gets a day off and then goes over to Los Angeles (only three hours away) for the Jay Leno show and things like that."
   For Powell's track and the France family's California track, moving the banquet to Las Vegas in December would have the added plus of serving as a major pre-race promotion for two of the season's first three events – the Las Vegas 400 Feb. 28th and the California 500 Feb. 21st.
  
  

  
Bruton Smith (R), with Texas boss Eddie Gossage (L) and Vegas boss Chris Powell (C) (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

  

Where in Las Vegas the award banquet might be held? Perhaps Smith could get some of the casinos to bid for it. The Mandalay  Bay might be nice, for example. And every casino has facilities well suited for the event.
   "New York City has been a great place for the banquet since NASCAR and R. J. Reynolds moved it there in 1981, and it worked great, with Bill France Jr., and Ralph Seagraves and T. Wayne Robertson all making it work," Powell said. "But in a sense the NASCAR awards banquet has outgrown New York."
   Smith has been lobbying NASCAR to move the event to Las Vegas for two years, and several times he was claiming the event would be indeed be in Las Vegas, only to have NASCAR reject that in favor of staying in New York City.
   Smith himself is to talk with the media Friday morning at Texas Motor Speedway.
   One of the topics could be sluggish sales at his 134 car dealerships.
  
  

  
Bruton Smith: Mr. Las Vegas? (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

  

   About moving the banquet to Vegas, Jimmie Johnson, who has celebrated his three championships in New York, says "I'm not against trying stuff out and seeing if we can't make it better.
    "It would be smart to sit down a group of drivers, owners, sponsors and fans and find out what's important to everyone and what the right venue would be.
    "It might still be New York...or it might be Las Vegas. Or it could be somewhere else.
     "As long as we're making progress with our sport, and making the experience better, and taking care of sponsors, that's what we need to do."