Las Vegas Motor Speedway

I got to play Lewie and go with his daughter Ashley to the NASCAR races in Vegas earlier this month. They have great seats and it was my first time to LVMS so I was excited.

They have a really cool feature at the Speedway called The Neon Garage. It's a plaza of sorts in the middle of the track and all of the garage spots are spread around it. There are plexiglass windows on two levels so you have a really intimate view of the garage stalls.

It should be no surprise that there was a constant crowd by Junior's stall. I'm still trying to reconcile the fact that he's a teammate now. I'm getting close to accepting the situation.

The Neon Garage from our seats. The haulers are right outside the driver's stall and we could see the cars drive in and out.

The view of the 48's engine from the lower level of The Neon Garage. I never got a good picture of Jimmie nor Chad, dang it.

Ashley's favorite driver is Kasey Kahne. It's not just in the Allstate commercials that Kasey's fans are middle-aged women. His stall was surrounded by teenage girls and old ladies. Constantly surrounded.

I tried to get a good picture of Kasey but the best I could get was a view of his butt. It's not bad. He's a bit skinny for my tastes. And, though I hate to admit it, too young looking. I like the boys and all but the teenage look is just not right.

They had all of the cars out on the track before the race. Jimmie's car is so pretty! I'm used to watching it pass cars as he works his way to the front. Um, that didn't happen in Vegas. As a matter of fact, he was the one getting passed. It was horrible. Chad finally came on the radio and said they couldn't fix the car. It was a bummer day for Team 48 and its fans.

Our seats had a great view of the finish line and the gang around us had been there before. There were three brothers right behind us and one of them remembered Ashley from last year. They were not Jimmie fans. In fact, they called him "Anyone But". They did give me a beer so I forgave them.

In the row behind them, there was a Stewart guy and a Junior guy. Man, did I get abused by them. I mean, really verbally beat up. Stewart crashed out and I was so nice that I didn't even rub it in to the Stewart guy.

Despite Jimmie's poor showing, I had a good time. It was a treat to be able to see a race somewhere other than PIR. However, I have to give the edge to PIR despite LVMS having The Neon Garage. PIR is really loud and you feel very involved in the race. We were a little more removed from the action at LVMS.