For the major-league drag racers who have descended on Las Vegas for this weekend’s National Hot Rod Association Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event, there’s no clamor for a “diversity program.” The diverse backgrounds of the NHRA competitors serve as an organic feature of the drag racing’s premier circuit to be deployed for marketing, ticket sales and media exposure.
The clock was ticking on his speed date, but Justin Fantozzi looked cool and relaxed Friday at the Encore at Wynn Las Vegas. Fantozzi wasn’t looking for love. The Goodyear marketing manager was looking for a fruitful business relationship.
Speedway Motorsports Inc., parent company of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, saw 2012 fourth-quarter revenues drop nearly 8 percent from the previous year and plans to focus on attracting more families and kids to increase revenue in 2013.
If “The Bachelor” TV show can post Twitter feeds from viewers during broadcasts, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway figures it can offer instantaneous social networking quips at a social media nerve center at this weekend’s NASCAR weekend, featuring guests from Team Lowe’s Racing, NASCAR, Sprint and media churning out real-time comments.
The major leagues of car racing comes to Las Vegas next weekend. So race organizers rolled out former mayor and NASCAR fan Oscar Goodman along with Las Vegas native and big-time racer Kurt Busch on Thursday to extol the economic virtues of hosting a NASCAR race.
