Repercussions from LVMS

Attending the NASCAR testing sessions at LVMS was a greatly anticipated event for many Las Vegas NASCAR fans. Those hardy souls that attended this year had many challenges.

The weather was a huge issue for both drivers and fans. Near hurricane force winds played havoc with drivers on the track, and fans in the stands. As a fan, trying to take pictures in 47 mph winds ended up being an exercise in frustration.

The second day had relief from the wind, but the temperatures were miserable up in the grandstands. For two brief periods, the sun beat strong enough for the heavy duty jacket to be unzipped, but the rest of the time was spent with the jacket zipped, muffler wrapped and blanket covering the legs.

The greatest challenge came from the track operators themselves. For some inexplicable reason, the operators first released PR that claimed the Neon Garage would be open to fans. Then, on January 3rd, a newsletter to 'insiders' claimed that was information was wrong, and the Neon Garage would be closed to fans. To add to the confusion, the website at LVMS.com showed a public info release dated on January 9th with a photo caption stating that the Neon Garage WOULD be open to the public.

I sent an email to the motor-sports writer at the Las Vegas Review Journal, Jeff Wolfe, with the above information. He checked into it, and discovered that the Neon Garage was indeed closed, and expressed thanks to me, as he had heard it would be open.

This misinformation coming from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway media office is deplorable. If a mistake was made in the original PR, it should have been loudly corrected with all available outlets. When the local writers are surprised by it, that tells me that the media department is either falling down on the job, or does not care what kind of fallout may happen.

LVMS, and Bruton Smith, have enjoyed sell outs at this venue for years. Rising ticket prices, hugely overpriced food items (at a track where no coolers are allowed), handicap parking that is routed out of the track in a direction that takes 5 hours to arrive back at the strip are issues that will irritate customers enough to not come back, and may cause failing box office returns in the near future. Adding this irritant will not help the cause.

(Let us not even discuss how much warmer fans would have been down in the Neon Garage, as opposed to the grandstand.)

But the real victim in this bad communication? Not only the angry fan, but the person in the gift shop who had to endure the anger of customers who arrived at the track, expecting entry into the Neon Garage. I heard one VERY peeved fan taking it out on the sales shop associate. While the associate was right in claiming to not be the one who made the decision, she was the only person available, and became the target. As a retail manager, I think she did an admirable job of deflecting anger, even when the anger was misplaced!

While the media folks and the track operators sit in their warm ivory towers, the front line in the gift shop took the ire of the customer. Shame on Bruton and Chris Powell! Shame! They did not bother to answer fan inquiries, and they let the gift shop sales person take the flack. And if they don't have a sell out this year, or next...they might want to reexamine some of their not-so-fan-friendly practices.

And for what it is worth, I am driving to Fontana tomorrow, for two days of testing. There, for a five dollar charity donation, I will be allowed in the infield bleacher area. Are you listening, SMI?

NASCAR testing begins on the West Coast!

Daytona testing is complete. The media tour is done, the media members are checking in with stories after being feted, wined and dined, and by now, all of the buffet tables are cleared, packed up, and the shops are back to business as usual.

Business as usual also for the transporter drivers heading out for a long trip to the West Coast. Reports had them leaving Wednesday and Thursday, so we should see them rolling into Vegas this weekend.

This year, there are two test sessions, one at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and one at California Speedway. Both should be very important to finding the right set-up for the COT on the intermediate tracks.

First up, Vegas! After a predicted round of storms, the weather should be cool and clear for the testing session on Monday and Tuesday.

Second, Thursday and Friday will find the SoCal fans flocking to testing at California Speedway. There will be a test session that extends into night on Thursday. The original idea was that the track in Fontana has a night race, but I am unsure of how testing in January in temperatures in the 40's will give any information for cars running in September with temps in the 90's to 100's.

Fans will have access to both testing sessions. For once, Cali will have a better deal for fans, as they will be allowing access to the infield bleachers for a pittance of a charitable donation.

LVMS has missed the mark on not allowing fans into the Neon Garage for testing. In addition, they have been ineffective in communicating that to the fans. One caption posted on their site on January 9th claimed fans WOULD be allowed in, while other articles, and an 'insiders' newsletter claimed no access allowed. It took an email to a writer for the local newspaper to get clarification on this.

And, California Speedway has even scheduled some Driver/Fan interactions. Gillian Zucker was on Sirius this morning, and she claims that she is thrilled with the way fan participation has increased over the years, for testing sessions at California. See, California Speedway CAN get it right, and do something better than Bruton Smith's Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

NASCAR Inspections vs Practice

Why does Dale Jarrett look so concerned? (These pix were taken from the Neon Garage at the Vegas race.)

He was intently watching the action on the track. The track was busy with his fellow competitors who are already out on the track for practice. DJ's car was still in the inspection bay.

I remember a few years ago, Hermie Sadler complained that the 'back burners' (my term, not his) were always struggling to get through inspection while the other cars had a full use of the practice session. It was always ironic that those who needed the practice most were not able to utilize the full session. Most fans did not take notice of that situation when Hermie said it. After all, it was someone who was not a regular to the series, and one who traditionally did not run up front.

This year, we have some name drivers that are now being hampered by the inspection process cutting into practice time. There will soon be a few name drivers who will discover that being at the back of the line is going to hurt them.

To be fair, this situation usually only happens the first few races of the year, as the teams usually get the cars in better shape before heading into inspection later in the season. And this year, due to the Car of Tomorrow, the inspections will be open for a full day before the first practice both for Bristol and for Martinsville. NASCAR says that in this case they want plenty of time to work with the teams on the new car.

Now, should NASCAR create longer or earlier inspection times for the rest of the races? In my opinion, no!

This process has been in place for quite awhile. A few years ago, when we were having problems filling the field, there were no problems getting the cars through tech in plenty of time. The situation this year is made larger due to the huge entry lists. NASCAR should not be adjusting their rules based on something that will cycle out.

And if NASCAR were to make that large of an adjustment, then the howling would begin that it was made to help some of the 'big names' that are low in the points. Send up the black helicopters again!

Flotsam and Jetsam in NASCAR!

A few short weeks ago, the NASCAR Nation was up in arms over the uncomplimentary comments by two Washington legislators. The news was broken by Charlotte Observer writer, and Sirius "Morning Drive" Host, and BTW, a fellow blogspot blogger,
David Poole. One political pundit, House Speaker Frank Chopp, made the mistake of disparaging one of our sports most beloved icons, Richard Petty. The other, House member Larry Seaquist, spouted awful comments about the fans. (Later, he claimed he was saying it about Int. Speedway Corp...yeah, uh huh, right!)

"These people are not the kind of people you would want living next door to you. They'd be the ones with the junky cars in the front yard and would try to slip around the law"

Well now, Mr. Seaquist....you do have a Basketball team in your state right? The Seattle Sonics? They are an NBA team, right? Well, Mr. Seaguest, were you aware that there was a NASCAR event in Las Vegas, where there was an estimated participation of 160,000 fans? As a reminder, Las Vegas recently hosted the NBA All-stars, 3 weeks before the NASCAR race. There is one very important fact that Mr. Seaquist really needs to know, if he were to begin comparing the two events, as cited in this article from The Las Vegas Sun

1 Number of arrests reported by Metro during the three-day NASCAR weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

403 Number of arrests reported by Metro during the four-day NBA All-Star weekend in Las Vegas

Enough said!

******

Now, a few comments about attending the LVMS race.

There is absolutely no way to compare being at the race, to sitting home on the couch with remote in hand. (Ok, I admit it, not only is the remote in my hand, but the mouse for TWO computers with Trackpass and Raceview playing, and listening to not one, but TWO drivers scanners!) The sounds of the track cannot be duplicated, even if you follow the directions and "Crank It UP!" The sound of the cars bounces off of the opposite walls and echoes through out the facility. The sounds of the field passing by as the green flag flies can be felt in your heart! And believe it or not, the smell of hot asphalt and burning rubber, for a bit, can be quite the aroma!

Enough said!

**********

I adore my Sirius radio. I am thrilled that I have the opportunity to catch up on my NASCAR-related favorite shows, when they are replayed. I find it bizarre though, that I keep hitting the exact same spots of the 'replay!' And frankly, Tony, as much as I adore you, I really did think your complaints about LVMS crossed over into whining. Tony, I know you don't like a lot of the LVMS facility or experience, but then again, you are being paid millions of bucks to go fast and turn left. If driving on the edge, and being irritated by your fans watching you in the garage bothers you so much, you have options.

Enough said!

*****************

It looks as if there is a huge broo-ha-ha brewing with the sponsorship issues in NASCAR. This will bear watching, as it could cause future sponsors to not want to enter our sport. That would be bad, very bad.

Enough said, but it still bears watching!

********************

Car of Tomorrow is now Car of Next Week! We will find out how it performs, and which teams were on the ball! And for those of you who wonder where the 'street version' of the COT can be found, just come out here! We have a ton of that type of rear wing appearing on cars out here!

Enough said! I promise!

Post LVMS Views! Part 1!

I had the best of intentions on blogging daily after the three days of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway event. As you all probably figured out, it didn't happen. However, the guests are all gone! I adore my in-laws, and I am thrilled that we were able to meet with our family and continue this annual event.

Chapter ONE will address the LVMS experience. Next, I hope to discuss the racing, and then one final blog on any thing not covered in the first two blogs.

*******************

The NEON Garage ROCKS! The views are incredible! You can view from the ground level, much like Daytona.





You can also work your way up one level, and view the teams working on the cars from both the front and the back of the garage stall.



And from the outside, you can also view the haulers, and catch the drivers moving from hauler to garage.






The details in the brightly colored garage were amazing. There were many, many signs giving you detailed locations of the garage of your favorite driver/team. The food was upgraded in quality from the 'outside' midway, and yet keeping within the same price range! If you were on the second level, looking out to the haulers...they even provided a shelf for you to set your 'favorite beverage' while you snap your pictures.

The bad? Only one ATM that I could find in the whole neon area. The upper levels provide a possible safety hazard in the viewing area of the fan favorites. On Saturday, I made the mistake of passing the upper viewing area of Dale Jr's garage, and it was so clogged that it was impossible to move. Suddenly, when Jr backed out of his pit stall, there was a sudden jump of fans who ran from the viewing area to the outside viewing area, not caring who they knocked over.

The center stage is so very Las Vegas. The "Celebrities:" were a tremendous amount of fun!




Dale Earnhardt Jr and Richard Petty had wax figures made for Madame Tussauds, to be permanetly located at the Venetian. The figure of Dale Jr was not quite right, except they got the stance EXACTLY right.

Richard Petty's likeness was spooky in its realism! Check it out!

(I am still spooked by the realism of The Kings replica.)

Speaking of Richard Petty, for the first time we sat in the Terrace named after him. We sat high enough to have a perfect view of all of the track, and a fabulous view of the exit of pit road. The seats were individual drop down, with cup holders! There was enough room under the seat to hide the backpack, and my purchase from the midway. The only improvement would be signs at the stair level directing folks to their sections. We and several others had challenges finding our way to the right section. A simple sign with the section number and an arrow pointing to the correct side would suffice. The ones out on the concourse were not very helpful, even to the extent the "ticket checker-guard" could not always figure it out! One of them directed me to find a supervisor, and of course, there was not a single supervisor available.

But an added bonus, we were surrounded by a group of fans who had fun, teased us, and we gave it right back. After the race, they hoped we would be back next year in the same seats. The answer? YES!

The track has improved in several ways. The pit road is a great view! It was wonderful to have it moved so much closer to the grandstand. I was delighted to see that a previous rant of mine has been addressed, and they now have Nextel Vision on all turns, including the turn 3 $99-bucks-for-the-weekend seats. Well done!

The worst part of the weekend may stem from something totally amazing. My father-in-law was visiting. A staunch Jeff Gordon fan, he was the first in our family to be a NASCAR fan. At 82 years old, he is the reason the family gathers here every year. This year, we took two cars, to provide for his comfort, and so that he and my husband could park in the handicap parking area. (He has bone cancer, in remission, so walking distances is a challenge for him.)

This was a *very very bad word* disaster. The handicap area they were directed to was behind the drag strip, and there was a one hour wait for the handicap shuttle. After the Busch race, they were funneled out of the track onto Las Vegas Blvd.....going NORTH! They were stuck in slow moving traffic until it connected to the 15, turned them south, and they passed by the track with nearly empty parking lots. After the cup race, it was even worse, taking over 5 hours to get home. And BTW, the rest of us parked in a different parking lot, and it took us two hours to get home.

Now mind you, I understand that traffic needs are paramount. But this so-called handicapped parking area was not near the track at all. There was one closer, but there was no signage on how to get there. It is shameful that a parking lot supposedly set up to help the disabled access and enjoy the race takes the members so far away from their destination, while not affecting many of the others parking lots. I would hope that there were no health issues involved with any of the cars that were pulled over in the desert, as these cars were primarily from that parking lot.

And on a minor note, I think they need to rethink the location of the Speed Stage. It created a very narrow funnel for some of the traffic, and I think would have been served better being further towards the center of the midway, where it is wider. OR, don't have so many haulers or displays gathered around. It was almost dangerous trying to get through that area, all to arrive at your own seats.

Other than that, Bruton Smith has a winner! The track will, in the future, provide for great racing. It deserves a second date!