By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
LVSportsBiz.com photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
Before there were fancy sports venues like T-Mobile Arena and Allegiant Stadium (opening in the summer), there was mammoth Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which drew gigantic crowds of race fans who enjoyed making the trip north of Las Vegas to watch NASCAR’s best stock car racers.
The Speedway, back in its day, drew Las Vegas’ biggest sports crowds. But now the Speedway’s biggest crowd isn’t even motor sports — it’s the Electric Daisy Carnival, which drew 465,000 over three days in May 2019.
But on Sunday, the Speedway was back in its sweet spot, hosting the Pennzoil 400 won by Joey Logano. Here’s a pic of the winner before the race, which began at 12:37 p.m. after Golden Knights game anthem singer Carnell “Golden Pipes” Johnson belted out the anthem at the track. The 1980 U.S. Miracle on Ice Olympic hockey team was also at the Speedway after appearing at the Golden Knights’ win Saturday night.
Here are some Logano and his number 22 car.
The fact is NASCAR attendance has trended down for a while. And Las Vegas Motor Speedway has tried everything from a social media station a few years ago to a Ferris wheel to make the big venue a fun place for the sport’s core fans as well as casual race followers.
And after rain washed out Saturday’s racing, a Mardi Gras celebration greeted NASCAR fans Sunday morning around 9 a.m. in the Neon Garage area.
Some 60,000 fans were expected at the Speedway Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 and the Boyd Gaming 300, which was washed out Saturday and rescheduled for after the 400 race. Based on an eyeball look, the crowd looked smaller than the 60K.
One of the great fan amenities at NASCAR is the ability to walk on the track and check out the garages before the race. The Bubba Wallace pit has a Las Vegas edge to it.
Fun fact — the Neon Knights volunteers at Las Vegas Motor Speedway pre-date the Vegas Golden Knights.
Local Las Vegas driver Kyle Busch is a popular autograph get before the race.
Martin Truex Jr is always a threat to win on the NASCAR circuit.