NASCAR Goes All-In for Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS -- Imagine Vegas icon Wayne Newton dropping the green flag for a race car parade on a shut down Las Vegas Strip, NASCAR pit crews performing demonstration stops in front of Bally's and the ultra-lux Bellagio resorts and four-time champ Jimmie Johnson doing victory burnouts on Las Vegas Boulevard.

This over-the-top scene is NASCAR's reality this week and the thousands of fans that have gathered here for NASCAR Champion's Week couldn't be more supportive of the sport's decision to move west after more than a decade spent holding the Sprint Cup Series Awards Ceremony in New York's famed Waldorf-Astoria.

"You couldn't pay me to leave this city right now,'' two-time cup champion Tony Stewart said Thursday, offering rave reviews. "I'm a million times happier out here. ... I don't like cabs blowing horns at two o'clock in the morning. It's just so much more relaxing and there's so much more to do here.''

"The atmosphere is so much more laid back,'' Stewart continued. "And that's something especially this time of year, we all appreciate, having something that isn't as stressful as the rest of the year.''

The black-tie Sprint Cup Series Awards Ceremony at the Wynn Las Vegas will be broadcast live on SPEED Channel at 9 p.m. ET Friday with additional live broadcasts on SIRIUS NASCAR Radio and MRN affiliates.

And there is no mistaking Las Vegas' offering of a fun, lively alternative to the stuffy, formal New York atmosphere.

There have been nightly parties at clubs and for the first time, events specifically designed to let fans be a part of the champion's celebration.

Thousands lined up on the overhead sidewalks and along the streets to watch Johnson do something as simple as burnout Thursday. Fans were invited to nearby Las Vegas Motor Speedway for what turned out to be a raucous and hilarious roast of Johnson by his 11 Chase competitors.

The atmosphere is so relaxed even Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya are acting like long-lost best friends -- only a couple weeks after crashing each other out of the Cup Series season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway.

As Stewart sat down for a brief interview session in The Venetian resort Thursday, Montoya interrupted a reporter's question, reaching in toward Stewart to straighten his tie with a "there you go sweetheart." The two laughed loudly.

Only minutes earlier, Stewart thanked Montoya for "the inspiration" during an acceptance speech for a contingency award he received in NASCAR's version of the Academy Awards' technical awards presentation held at a different time than the prime-time ceremony.

And of course, these men who risk their lives for a living aren't above risking a little of their prize money either. Craps seems to be the game of choice, although Denny Hamlin was seen waging his number on the roulette wheel and Johnson's championship crew chief Chad Knaus concedes he's down "a little" on the blackjack table.

"The thing about craps is there is so much action, it's really fast-paced, there's action all the time,'' driver Greg Biffle explained.

"Having NASCAR week here is good for the sport, good for Las Vegas, personally I like Vegas a little bit better not so cramped, not so busy and there aren't horns blowing all the time, sirens going off.

Then he added with a smile, "I do think New York would have been cheaper for me at this point, for all the gambling I've been doing.''