Las Vegas Weekly

February 25, 2010 · 9:33 AM

Photos: NASCAR comes to town for four fast and furious days

By Robin Leach

Action from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

Our annual NASCAR love affair gets underway today as we start four days of high-speed activities. Racecar driver appearances are scheduled throughout town, and the haulers parade is on the Strip at 6 tonight.

It culminates Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with The Big Race after The Mirage headliner Terry Fator has sung the national anthem. Human Nature, the Smokey Robinson-discovered Australian group who perform all the Motown hits in their show at Imperial Palace, will entertain during the pre-race show.

Celebrities including Kim Kardashian and Carrot Top will mingle with NASCAR drivers including Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick and hometown heroes Kyle and Kurt Busch. I’ll be out there at center track on the starting line to emcee pre-race festivities and introduce the drivers to hundreds of thousands of fans.

Although there’s a chance of rain on Saturday during the Sam’s Town race, the forecast is a high in the lower 60s and sunshine on Sunday.

We’ll have the full four days later today in a ROYAL ROBIN RUNDOWN format. Meantime, enjoy our flashback photo gallery from last year’s excitement that contributing photographer Tom Donoghue compiled for us.

Check back later for everything you need to know about our NASCAR weekend.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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