NASCAR is trading the Christmas lights of New York for the neon of Las Vegas.
The Sprint Cup postseason awards banquet, a fixture in Manhattan since in 1981, will be moved to Las Vegas for this season. Although the venue is yet to be determined, the change has already been approved by NASCAR and is awaiting only final approval from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, a taxpayer-funded entity that has championed the move west.
"Maybe we could sell 10,000 tickets to the race fans and let them come and enjoy the festivities," said Bruton Smith, chairman of the company that owns Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and someone who has been lobbying to move the banquet for years. "That's what I'd like to see."
The banquet has been an annual event in New York since former NASCAR chairman Bill France Jr. moved the ceremony from Daytona Beach, Fla., nearly three decades ago in an attempt to attract more sponsors and national recognition. Although it was difficult to beat the setting -- the opulent Grand Ballroom of the historic Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, festooned in holiday garland -- the event often struggled for acceptance from local media and area residents. A parade of show cars around Midtown was cancelled prior to last year's event, partially because of complaints from pedestrians who didn't like being stuck behind barriers as stock cars rumbled by.
