March Madness, Car Race-Style: NASCAR Fans Make Pilgrimage To Las Vegas To See Alex Bowman Win Sunday’s Pennzoil 400
Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
My, how things have changed in one year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
A mere 12,000 fans were allowed in the giant NASCAR racetrack at the speedway’s spring race a year ago because of a COVID-19 pandemic that killed 957,000 Americans.
But today, the gates are wide open and the race fans are back as part of a hellaciously busy sports industry weekend in Las Vegas where everything from UFC and WCC college basketball tourney hoops to Speedway racecar competition and Golden Knights hockey are on tap.
Winning the 400-mile, early-season NASCAR race was Alex Bowman, 28, driving the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.
The Speedway has a tattoo bar at the fan zone and the usual showgirls to go along with live music and fans signing the finish line.
The race facility has two NASCAR weekends a year and the spring race typically draws more tourists. There should be more than 75,000 fans over the three-race weekend that began Friday. Today’s crowd looked strong, with an eyeball guessestimate of about 50,000 watching the 267-lap race. The venue eliminated grandstand seats and added luxury seating a few years ago.
The race had a nice local touch as Ethel M Chocolates sponsored the Kyle Busch car.
Former Raiders great Marcus Allen is also the race marshal. “Drivers, start your engines,” Allen told the racers.
It’s not a NASCAR race and invocation without a Christ reference in the pre-race prayer. The NASCAR crowd demo here is reminiscent of the NFR rodeo crowd in December in Las Vegas.
PSA
