SAHARA – NASCAR CAFE
While auto racing has had a presence in Las Vegas for decades, including unique events like the Mint 400 off-road race in the 1960s, the sport did not formally coalesce until the arrival of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, or NASCAR, in the mid-to-late-1990s. First, in 1996, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway opened and became integral to the sport, hosting major events like the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the playoff race, the Pennzoil 400. Later, in 1999, construction began on a NASCAR themed project on the Las Vegas Strip, known as the NASCAR Café.
Built on the original site of the Sahara Las Vegas’ Congo Showroom, the NASCAR Café was a 75,000-square-foot complex that was intended to appeal to race fans from all over the world. Jam-packed with memorabilia, merchandise, and giant projection televisions equipped with surround sound televising the latest in NASCAR driving. The Café also featured some unique offerings, such as the cutting-edge linear-induction roller coaster, Speed – The Ride, a virtual reality coaster, and six-pound burrito simply called “The Bomb.” The “centerpiece to the complex” was a three-ton stock car, a green and red Pontiac Grand Prix, dubbed “Carzilla.”
In attendance at the grand opening of the NASCAR Café were racing icons, such as Dale Jarrett and Dale Earnhardt. Upon opening, the hotel projected over 4,000 people per day [riding] Speed on weekdays, with up to 12,000 on weekends, which they hoped would translate into additional gaming revenue. In 2011, both the Café and the Sahara closed down as the property began its transition to the SLS Las Vegas, which opened in 2014. Items from the defunct NASCAR Café were auctioned off in a 2012 estate sale.
STARDUST INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
By the mid-1960s, entrepreneur Moe Dalitz was financially involved with a number of properties in Las Vegas, including the Stardust Resort and Casino, the Las Vegas Convention Center, and the Sundance Hotel (later the Fitzgeralds Hotel and Casino). Through his ownership of the Stardust, Dalitz conceived of the idea to open a racetrack in Las Vegas as a means of attracting high-rollers to the casino properties he was financially involved with, similar to how today’s resorts might use a championship golf course or upscale shopping mall to perform the same function. Borrowing the Stardust name and branding, Dalitz opened the Stardust International Raceway in 1965, miles away from the Las Vegas Strip.
Over “190,000 cubic yards of earth” were moved to make way for the course, and 9,000 tons of asphalt were paved over a three-mile area, consisting of 13-turns. Before construction was even completed, races began; this eagerness resulted in a lack of grandstands, restrooms, and an abundance of dangerous rocks and gravel just off the course of the track. The opening of the track was a high-profile event, that saw a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by members of the Carrol Shelby Racing team, Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee Ken Miles, and racers Allard Roen and Harold Jason.
This opening set a high-standard for events at the track, which would go on to host racing legends such as Mario Andretti and Bruce McLaren, the latter of which set the all-time record for fastest lap, at 1:30.950, during the Stardust Grand Prix in 1968. Despite these world-class events, the track struggled to attract an audience, and its closure was announced in 1971. The land was acquired by Pardee Homes, with the intention of developing the barren land into a major urban housing expansion that would become Spring Valley. Today, Spring Valley is one of the city’s better known neighborhoods, and there is almost no evidence of the Stardust International Raceway’s presence in the area.
CAESARS PALACE – RACING
2023 marked the return of Formula One racing to Southern Nevada, more than 40 years after the Caesars Palace Grand Prix was run in 1981 and 1982. The Las Vegas Grand Prix, held in November 2023, received worldwide attention and was the result of a $600 million investment from F1 into an extended relationship with the city of Las Vegas as an ongoing venue. Despite traffic obstructions and high ticket costs, the Las Vegas Grand Prix is estimated to have an economic impact for the area amounting to $1.2 billion, and was attended by over 300,000 people over the course of four nights. While not without technical setbacks, 2023’s race was vastly different from the sport’s initial foray into Las Vegas in the 1980s.
The brainchild of former Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino marketing director Bill Weinberger, the project took a total of five years to develop, with the initial conversations occurring in the mid-1970s, with Weinberger attributing the delayed timeline to navigating the politics of Grand Prix racing. The first rendering of what would become the Caesars Palace Grand Prix track was drawn by Weinberger and F1 official Bernie Eccelstone on the back of a placemat in 1980, with the final track being designed by Las Vegas architect Anthony Marnell. Located in an asphalt lot on the Caesars Palace property, the 2.5 mile circuit contained 14 turns, to be driven over the course of 75 laps. An outlier in F1 circles, the Caesars Palace Grand Prix track was essentially a series of parallel straights connected by tight curves, sending drivers in a counter-clockwise direction. Drivers participating in the race had strong opinions on the layout, with Mario Andretti even referring to the track as a wonderful go-kart course.
Both years of the Caesars Palace Grand Prix were marked by low attendance, mechanical issues, and a lack of interest from gamblers and bettors in Las Vegas, despite the superstar drivers who were competing. Andretti, as well as Carlos Reutemann, Alain Prost, and Jacques Laffite all participated, but the victors of the Grand Prix were Alan Jones and Michele Alboreto in 1981 and 1982, respectively. Tickets were sold for as low as $50, or about $168 when adjusted for inflation, a vast difference from the asking price of single-day grandstand tickets for 2023’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, which peaked at $1,645 just weeks before the race began
FORMULA ONE’S IMPACT IN LAS VEGAS
Since its founding in 1950, Formula One has grown to be the most prestigious class of international auto racing, with competitors from around the world racing laps around unique circuits in the hopes of scoring enough points to best their opponents. Originally conceived as the culmination of decades of disparate European auto races throughout the late-1800s and early 1900s, Formula One formalized competitions and became known for the distinctive and unique locales that were selected to host races, including circuits in Melbourne, Mexico City, Montreal, Sao Paolo, and, most recently, Las Vegas.
The relationship between Formula One and Las Vegas made headlines in 2023, but was first established in the early 1980s. The short-lived Caesars Palace Grand Prix was held for two consecutive years, 1981 and 1982, in the car park of Caesars on an impossibly tight and unedifying circuit that failed to excite drivers or fans. Plagued by technical issues and an overall lack of public interest, Formula One’s initial foray into Las Vegas failed to make much of an impact.
Formula One’s return to Las Vegas, however, made headlines and was designed to be an unmissable event, strategically utilized to put more eyeballs on the sport both in the US and globally. Over half a billion dollars were invested by Formula One into the three-day event, with accompanying marketing experiences, pop-up shops, and musical performances. The track itself, over the course of 3.8 miles and 17 corners, ran through many iconic Las Vegas streets and passed iconic properties, and was ultimately bested by Belgian-Dutch racer, Max Verstappen. In total, the race was attended by over 315,000 people and is estimated to have an economic impact of over $1.2 billion, resulting in what the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has referred to as the city’s best November ever.
Despite his vocal criticism of the event, which he described as 99% show, 1% sporting event, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen emerged victorious, with Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez placing second and third, respectively.