Two casino companies pushing ties with NASCAR

Monday, Feb. 28, 2000 | 9:45 a.m.

It's race week in Las Vegas and a couple of casino companies are cashing in on the fever.

The Sahara Hotel opens its new NASCAR Cafe Thursday, the latest innovation of longtime casino executive William Bennett.

And Boyd Gaming Corp. is spending close to $1 million marketing the Sam's Town 300 Busch series race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday.

The weekend culminates with the running of the CarsDirect.com Las Vegas 400 NASCAR race on Sunday.

The NASCAR Cafe is part of $100 million Bennett is spending to renovate the Sahara, a Las Vegas Strip icon.

The Las Vegas project is the latest in a chain of NASCAR Cafes that have opened nationwide. The first opened three years ago in Myrtle Beach, S.C., followed by properties in Nashville, Tenn.; Orlando, Fla.; and the Smoky Mountain Resort in Tennessee.

Linked to the cafe is Speed, a 1,400-foot roller coaster that will propel riders through a 79-foot loop at 70 mph and top out at a 240-foot peak, where riders will experience four seconds of weightlessness before returning to the starting point in reverse.

Mark Dyer, owner of the local NASCAR Cafe franchise, said he hopes the $6 million coaster will be operating by April 1.

In addition to sponsoring the Sam's Town 300, Boyd Gaming is dressing up its Sam's Town hotel-casino in racing gear, bringing in the interactive Coca-Cola Wall of Speed and inviting fans to meet NASCAR legend Richard Petty and his son, Kyle.

Dan Stark, director of marketing for Boyd Gaming, said his company is taking an active role in its sponsorship effort, rather than just paying sponsorship dollars and hoping the benefits follow.

"The biggest mistake companies make is they don't activate their sponsorship," Stark said. "They pay a big fee to put their name on something, but don't try to get actively involved with the event. They figure the people running the event will promote it. At the end, they're unhappy with results.

"I'm a believer that if you're in for a penny, you're in for a pound," Stark said.