The Hard Rock Hotel's Peter and Harry Morton will be chasing a different breed of competitor this spring.
This one has nothing to do with the potential sale of the Hard Rock.
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They're entering the Gumball 3000, an exotic car race that starts April 29 and includes runs from London to Istanbul, Beijing to Hong Kong and Salt Lake City to Rodeo Drive, with an overnight stop at the Hard Rock for a Snoop Dogg concert.
The Mortons will be among the celebrities taking turns in the 120-driver, eight-day race, which is being turned into a movie and a TV show.
After the first two legs, the cars will be loaded on cargo planes and flown to the beginning of the next leg.
"It's a cannonball run, a wild extravagant sporting event," said Harry Morton, Peter's 24-year-old son.
His dad will be driving on the Hard Rock team's Salt Lake City-to-Vegas leg, which ends at the Hard Rock's parking lot. "It's an insane race," said the elder Morton.
BASKOW IN SPOTLIGHT
Talent hunter Jaki Baskow, this year's honoree at the Arthritis Foundation's Oscar Night bash tonight at the Bellagio, received a well-wishing e-mail Friday from Trenton, N.J., detective Jim Paisano.
He finished it with a note saying the cold case file is moving along on the July 10, 1967, murder of her father, Martin Baskow, a Camden, N.J., bar owner.
"The whole reason I moved to Las Vegas that year was to raise money to hire a detective so I could find out who killed my father," said Baskow, owner of Baskow & Associates.
The first detective on her father's case was former boxing champ Jersey Joe Walcott.
Ticket information for the Oscar party: 367-1626.
THE SCENE AND HEARD
You can't coop up five big-name rockers in the same space for more than a week and not have friction. I hear MTV's "Supergroup" participants Sebastian Bach and Evan Seinfeld engaged in fisticuffs back at the Parisian Palace after a night out last week.
SIGHTINGS
Steven Spielberg, sporting a red clown nose while performers from "Ka" entertained his wife, Kate Capshaw, and daughter Mikaela, who was celebrating her 10th birthday at Fiamma (MGM Grand) on Friday night. Her birthday was Feb. 28. ... NASCAR stars Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch, at Tryst (Wynn). Then Earnhardt split for the Kingpin bowling suite at the Palms' new Fantasy tower. ... Actor/comedian Chris Tucker, performing 20 minutes of stand-up during George Wallace's shows on Thursday and Friday nights at the Flamingo. ... Robert Iler, who plays Tony Soprano's son, Anthony, on "The Sopranos," celebrating his 21st with pals at The Venetian casino and Tao on Friday in an all-white suit. The casino was abuzz that he had lost about $10,000 playing No. 21 on a roulette table. Two babes dressed as angels in white outfits with wings greeted Iler and his posse of pals. Jamie-Lynn Sigler, his sis on the show, joined him on the red carpet and inside. ... Jerry and Lois Tarkanian, with their kids and grandkids at Hash House A Go Go on Saturday. ... Willa Ford, Playboy's centerfold in the March issue, in the crowd Saturday at the Ultimate Fighting Championships at Mandalay Bay Events Center. She's dating Chuck Liddell, the UFC Light Heavyweight champion.
THE PUNCH LINE
"The Academy Awards are this weekend. The 78th version. ... There will be a lot of new faces. Same people, just new faces." -- David Letterman
