Jimmie Johnson accepts the trophy for winning the 2006 Nextel Cup title during the awards ceremony Dec. 1 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. Photo by The Associated Press
The courtship of NASCAR's awards banquet is getting serious.
Hoping for a dream date, Chris Powell, general manager of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Rossi Ralenkotter, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, huddled with NASCAR marketing chief Mark Dyer last week.
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Powell and Ralenkotter pitched the idea of timing the event to coincide with the National Finals Rodeo, Powell confirmed on Tuesday.
Tying the two major attractions together would be "great for this city," said Powell.
Talk about horsepower.
Powell cautioned that the meeting, which took place at McCormick & Schmick's last week, was "preliminary. I just thought if I could ever get the two parties together and see what kind of common interest is there. Rossi's the go-to guy as far as bringing events here, and Mark used to live here."
Dyer, who owned the NASCAR Café at the Sahara for four years before moving to NASCAR's front office in 2003, said Tuesday that "Las Vegas is a very important speedway and it's a very important market, and that's why I had lunch with them."
The season-ending NASCAR event has been at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York for 25 years. This year's event took place Dec. 1.
Powell said it is "no secret I've been trying to instigate the possibility" of moving the banquet to Las Vegas.
"We've got better weather, more space (in a major resort) and it would give the fans an opportunity to attend and turn it into a real season-ending event," added Powell.
The cross-marketing with the rodeo would be a bonus, he said.
TRUE GRIT
More on the Glen Campbell-Tanya Tucker situation over the weekend: Showgoers tell me they knew something was up when they saw extra security, "like someone was trying to crash the party," said a spy.
It was reported here on Tuesday that Campbell's people got wind of a plan by Tucker to surprise Campbell by walking on stage, waving a white flag.
In the early 1980's, Campbell, then in his 40s, and Tucker, 21, had a messy affair. She formerly lived in St. George, Utah and the Las Vegas Valley before hitting it big.
When Campbell came on stage for Saturday's show at the Suncoast (not the Orleans, as reported here), he told the audience he was limping because he overturned a golf cart. He also mentioned he broke a bone in his hand, which limited his guitar playing to about four songs.
The "Rhinestone Cowboy" showed true grit in finishing the show, which lasted about 70 minutes, but it was "Campbell karaoke at its worse," said another attendee.
Terry Jenkins, director of entertainment for Boyd Gaming, said the security presence was normal. Campbell is scheduled to perform at the Orleans Feb. 22-25.
THE SCENE AND HEARD
Evel Knievel has a message for rapper Kanye West: take a flying leap on someone else's name. Knievel, whose career soared after a daredevil stunt at Caesars Palace, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Tampa on Monday claiming trademark infringement on name and likeness. Knievel is unhappy that West's music video shows the rapper taking on the persona of "Evel Kanyaevel" while jumping a canyon in a rocket-powered motorcycle. Knievel nearly died while attempting to jump Idaho's Snake River Canyon in 1974.
SIGHTINGS
Seattle Mariners hitting sensation Ichiro Suzuki, being filmed on the Stratosphere's X Scream thrill ride on Tuesday by a Japanese film crew. ... TV star Raven-Symone of "That's So Raven," celebrating her 21st birthday on Monday at "Ka" (MGM Grand) with six galpals. The birthday celebration began at Tao (Venetian) at midnight Saturday. She turned 21 at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.
THE PUNCH LINE
"Kevin Federline might be competing in an upcoming pro-wrestling event. I never thought I would ever say this, but I expected better out of pro-wrestling." -- Conan O'Brien
Norm Clarke can be reached at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com.
