Massive land yacht will give select fans rich NASCAR experience

There’s a proud tradition of NASCAR fans attending races in food-filled RVs and beer-packed campers that are stationed in speedway infields for an up-close view of the fast-moving cars.

Companies like that idea, too.

That’s why Nationwide, the Columbus, Ohio-based insurance giant, has rolled a massive hospitality unit into the infield at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for this weekend’s NASCAR events for the first time.

Nationwide, which sponsors popular racer Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Speedway Motorsports Inc., the Las Vegas track’s corporate parent, is using a massive land yacht complete with a trailer to give 150 agents, clients and guests a rich taste of today’s Boyd Gaming 300 and the Kobalt 400 on Sunday.

About 75 to 80 people can use the roof of the RV and trailer as a viewing perch in a speedway infield area dubbed the “High Roller Lot.” The High Roller Lot has 30 RV spaces sold, with about two-thirds bought by corporations and a third by individuals, said Mike Burch, Speedway Motorsports senior vice president of national sales and marketing.

In past years, Nationwide guests dined and drank in a spacious room in the media center building, but the insurance company wanted to boost the race experience, said Jim McCoy, Nationwide director of sports marketing. The hospitality costs of fixed building versus mobile unit are comparable, he said.

“We wanted to give a different experience for the guests that is closer to the action,” McCoy said.

Speedway Motorsports has created special sections in their track infields just for the mammoth corporate hospitality units on wheels, Burch said.

The evolution of corporate hospitality began with white tents and garage tours. Business then moved inside to race track suites so that company leaders could talk business in a quieter setting, Burch said.

Then about two or three years ago, companies started setting up shop in the infields just like thousands of fans, he said.

“There’s a chance to have an indoor meeting space (in the RV) and experience everything the race has to offer,” Burch said Friday.

Nationwide’s blue RV near the track’s turn one is equipped with three restrooms, TVs and umbrellas on the roof. A walking bridge links the viewing decks of the RV and trailer.

Other brands that use the RV-in-the-infield approach at NASCAR tracks are Coors Light and Monster Energy. Some NASCAR speedways can host as many as 10 corporate mobile hospitality RVs in the track’s infield to go along with the hundreds of fan RVs and campers.

Nationwide plans to roll out the mobile hospitality unit at 14 of the 38 Sprint Cup races in 2015, McCoy said. The RV logs about 25,000 miles a year, McCoy said.

Nationwide also announced Friday an extension of its sponsorship deal with Speedway Motorsports, serving as the official insurance company of Charlotte Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway through 2017.

Separately, Las Vegas Motor Speedway said Toyota has become the speedway’s official vehicle under a multiyear deal. Also, Lowe’s Cos. Inc. and the Stratosphere have agreed to multiyear deals to remain title sponsors of the Kobalt 400 NASCAR Sprint Sup Series race and Stratosphere Pole Day.

Contact reporter Alan Snel at asnel@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5273. Find him on Twitter: @BicycleManSnel