Las Vegas Weekly

March 1, 2010 · 7:02 PM

Photos: Is another NASCAR race coming to Las Vegas?

By Robin Leach

The NASCAR Shelby American GT 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Feb. 28, 2010.

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

Jimmie Johnson yesterday scored his 49th NASCAR victory with his fourth win in six years out at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and his second consecutive win of the season, and our contributing photographer Tom Donoghue shot one of the most extraordinary set of NASCAR photos from 7,000 feet up in the air.

Tom was strapped in safely in an open-door Maverick helicopter to get the Red Bull Air Force skydivers almost eyeball to lens. Said Tom after the sky-high experience: “Jimmie might well have won the track, but I think my Nikon’s really scored from the air!”

Then as The Mirage headliner Terry Fator was onstage trackside to sing the national anthem, Tom and pilot John Mandernach got in position to shoot the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. They dropped back down to 500 feet above the track for the aerial shots of the 400-mile Shelby American GT 350 Sprint Cup Series. Tom also was at the helicopter-landing site at LVMS when Carrot Top, Kim Kardashian, Human Nature and Terry with girlfriend Taylor Makakoa arrived via Maverick.

Among the other guests that flew with our Las Vegas Strip Maverick Helicopters this weekend to and from the races were winner Jimmie Johnson (who won at California’s Fontana Speedway one week ago), Danica Patrick, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, Brian Vickers, Kevin Harvick (who won the Sam’s Town 300 on Saturday at LVMS), Denny Hamlin, Sam Hornish Jr., Matt Kenseth, Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin, Elliott Sadler, Martin Truex Jr., Richard Childress, Clint Bowyer, plus Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Miles Austin, racecar owner Rick Hendrick and yours truly.

I was there to emcee the 43-driver starting lineup introduction, and Mayor Oscar Goodman was on hand with two of his sparkling showgirls. LVMS track chaplain Joe Freiburger handled the invocation, and Terry performed the national anthem with split-second timing for the Thunderbirds to fly over the back and front stretch exactly as he finished the last six words of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Then it was time for Fox cameras to zoom in on the co-grand marshals as I introduced them: racing and automotive legend Carroll Shelby and Keeping Up With the Kardashians reality TV sweetheart Kim Kardashian. It was their job to deliver the four most famous words in motorsports: “Gentlemen, start your engines!”

We have stories and photo galleries of NASCAR’s visit in Las Vegas from Thursday through today, so click back to the homepage for our coverage. Our colleagues at the Las Vegas Sun also produced a special NASCAR section that includes coverage of the third NASCAR race for Danica on Saturday that ended with her ouster after she crashed.

LVMS owner Bruton Smith told me that ticket buyers this year came from more than 17 countries and all 50 states. “It’s the largest crowd of the year,” he said proudly. LVMS President Chris Powell added: “It’s a near-capacity crowd of 140,000-plus. We won’t know for a few weeks until the Convention & Visitors Authority figures are announced, but we’re estimating that with every hotel room filled, it will add an economic impact of some $160 million to the Vegas economy.”

Up high above the track in his owner’s suite, Bruton also told me that he really wants another NASCAR race at LVMS. “I’ve talked with NASCAR, and I’ve now put a proposal on the table with the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority. If LVCVA accepts it, we can have a second race toward the end of the track year as early as next year,” he said.

“We brought the LVCVA officials to New York for the NASCAR Awards dinner, and we were able to move that to Las Vegas. Our first one was in December. It was a huge success. Everybody loves being in Las Vegas. All the drivers say they’ll happily come here, and the race team owners do, too. We’ve now got the awards dinner here for another three years, and I hope that will become permanent. So now all that’s left is to get that second race. I’ve never been more optimistic we can achieve that, too.”

After the race, Jimmie celebrated his victory with dinner at Lavo in the Palazzo last night, and fellow driver Brian Vickers and members of the Loews and Red Bull racing teams joined him. They toasted his win before heading up to a VIP table in the boutique nightclub, where they danced to the sounds of DJ Vice, who gave them shout-outs throughout the night.

NASCAR rankings put Jimmie in first place, followed by Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth. They rolled out of Las Vegas today headed for the Atlanta Motor Speedway and next Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 race, which also will be televised on Fox.

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.

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

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