NASCAR, glitzy Las Vegas were made for each other

LAS VEGAS -- Sitting in snarled traffic on the Las Vegas Strip, with towers of neon shimmering on either side of the eight-lane boulevard, you begin to think that Bruton Smith has it right. Maybe they really should move the NASCAR postseason banquet out here, and award a second Nextel Cup date to the 1.5-mile track rising out of the Nevada desert.

And while they're at it, bring along the all-star race. And move NASCAR headquarters. And stop building that hall of fame in Charlotte, and plop it down right in the middle of Fremont Street. Because no place on the planet better personifies NASCAR than this brash, bold, bright, beguiling city in the middle of nowhere.

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It's a natural marriage between a place and a series both built upon exposure and risk. The vivid, attention-grabbing lights along Las Vegas Boulevard perfectly complement the vivid, attention-grabbing sponsor logos on the hoods of the Nextel Cup cars. One features spectacular shows like Cirque du Soleil and Blue Man Group, the other spectacular sights like Paul Menard going airborne on a qualifying lap. Both include plenty of gambling -- two tires, or double-down on 11? -- and just enough danger to keep people coming back for more.

But it goes deeper than similarities and big crowds, like the 105,000 that showed up for Saturday's Busch race and the 160,000 expected for Sunday's sold-out UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400. Vegas embraces NASCAR on every level, doing more than almost any other city to help the sport put on races, gladly clearing a path for an economic dynamo that fills thousands upon thousands of hotel rooms each spring.

"They're very interested in things they can bring in to fill those rooms up. And they will go way out of their way, way more than any city I've ever seem, to help you out," said H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, president of Speedway Motorsports Inc., the company that owns and operates Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (Continued)