Vegas.com to sponsor IRL race at Speedway

Thursday, July 29, 1999 | 10:16 a.m.

Vegas.com, Nevada's largest Internet website, will sponsor the Sept. 26 Indy Racing League event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Vegas.com publisher Danny Greenspun announced this morning.

Vegas.com is co-owned by the Greenspun family, which also owns the Las Vegas Sun.

"Racing fans are a growing and important segment of Vegas.com," Greenspun said. "Racing fans are wired, they're already using the Internet, and we've got the best racing coverage in the state on our website and we want people to know that.

"Vegas.com is the biggest and most highly traveled (Internet site) in the state of Nevada and it only makes sense that we team with one of the biggest sporting events in the state."

Last year's IRL event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway drew a crowd estimated at 35,000.

The race was sponsored last year by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and called the Las Vegas 500K, but that funding was discontinued earlier this year when the LVCVA was forced to cut its advertising and sponsorship budget.

LVMS general manager Chris Powell said he was pleased to secure sponsorship for the race from a locally owned business.

"We will always first look locally for sponsorship and given the growing attraction of business that is being done on the Internet, it's especially exciting for us to bring in Vegas.com," Powell said. "Given that Vegas.com sells Las Vegas and sells packages for those who are coming to Las Vegas, it makes for a perfect fit for Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"It's a great association and it makes it even greater that (Vegas.com) is a local entity, and we're happy to be doing business with Vegas.com and the Greenspun family. I hope this is the beginning of a very long relationship between Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Vegas.com."

Vegas.com provides 24-hour news, weather, sports and financial coverage from the Las Vegas Sun, the Associated Press and the New York Times as well as complete information for Las Vegas visitors from other Greenspun-owned publications such as Showbiz Weekly, Las Vegas Weekly and Las Vegas Life magazine.

Details of the sponsorship agreement, including its length and terms, were not disclosed.

The Vegas.com 500, featuring the stars and cars of the Indianapolis 500, will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 26 and will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

The penultimate race on the IRL's 10-race schedule will cap a three-day racing weekend at LVMS. The weekend also will feature a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday, Sept. 24 and a NASCAR Winston West Series event on Saturday, Sept. 24.

Powell also said today that the Speedway was close to announcing sponsorships for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Winston West Series races.

Last year's NCTS race was sponsored by Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall while the Winston West race was sponsored by The Orleans Hotel and Casino.

Powell said keeping the word "Vegas" in the title of the races held at LVMS was preferable, but added that the Speedway was not limiting itself to such sponsorships.

"It remains important for us to keep the Vegas name in the name of the event, such as is the case with the Vegas.com 500, but by no means are we restricted to it," he said.

"In terms of our marquee events, the IRL and NASCAR Winston Cup races, it is nice to have that Vegas name in it. But I think we've built a good enough reputation for events here that even if they don't have Las Vegas in the name of the event, we certainly have the name of the Speedway out there."