On the Loose Side
A NASCAR BLOG BY Kenny Bruce
First Cup banquet in Vegas was memorable
LAS VEGAS – NASCAR’s first foray into the desert to dole out postseason awards was, well, interesting.
Just as some fans enjoy NASCAR competition on the short tracks while others are faithful to the superspeedways, Las Vegas provided another perspective for the annual year-end event formally known as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards Ceremony.
One of the selling points to the move was the ability to get the fans more involved. Those that attended Friday night’s festivities couldn’t exactly be described as boisterous, but they seemed to enjoy the event. Several track officials spent the evening seated with the fans, which I think was probably one of the smartest moves made this year.
As Bristol Motor Speedway’s Jeff Byrd noted, “These are the folks that pay my salary.”
While there’s not a lot that can be done to spice up an event that consists of recapping noteworthy achievements of the past season, this year’s entertainment was a step in the right direction. Frank Caliendo and John Pinette’s standup routines were a hit, while the music of Brooks and Dunn, David Gray and Escala provided different sounds for different tastes.
Of course, Friday night’s festivities were only one portion, albeit a very large one, of nearly a week’s worth of activities here. Las Vegas Motor Speedway played host to programs earlier in the week which gave fans the chance to see this year’s top 10 drivers up close, and the revival of the victory lap drew a surprisingly large crowd out onto the Strip.
Maybe everything didn’t go exactly as planned, maybe there were some kinks that created a few problems, but that was to be expected.
The event will likely get bigger, and it will likely get better. On the whole, it came off as a memorable first attempt.
Kenny Bruce
Kenny Bruce is a three-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association's George Cunningham Writer of the Year Award. He joined Street & Smith's Sports Group in 2001.
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