THE ELEVATOR

Wednesday, April 11, 2007 | 7:35 a.m.

A special Grand Prix edition of who's going to the penthouse in local sports - and who's getting the shaft:

GOING UP

Will Power

Let me see if I have this right: The winner of the inaugural Vegas Grand Prix is ridiculed by the media because the average sports fan has never heard of him while the winner of the Masters (Zach Whatshisname) is granted sainthood by the media because the average sports fan has never heard of him. I'm sure it took a lot of willpower for Will Power not to question the double standard.

Vegas Grand Prix Event Guide

If you picked up one of these free booklets along the race circuit, chances are you wouldn't have gotten trapped inside it. It told you where the pedestrian bridges were located, where to buy tickets, what time the Historic Grand Prix cars would be belching engine smoke, how to get first-aid for sunburn, where to hail a taxi and last and certainly least, Tristan Gommendy's car number.

Street cred at the Plaza, Binion's and Fitzgeralds

... and any other downtown hotel that reached out to locals and out-of-town race fans alike with cheap rooms, beer, hot dogs and, of course, liberal "21." It was business as usual on race weekend as the only sign of gouging was the wall in Turn 11 from the race cars hitting it.

High-octane entertainment

That's how the Vegas Grand Prix was billed and it mostly delivered, especially if you spent the weekend drinking beer out of plastic footballs. A ticket to the NBA All-Star Game played here cost thousands of dollars. A ticket for the Vegas Grand Prix was optional. Maybe you had to stand in line to catch a shuttle, but at least nobody got shot.

GOING DOWN

Price of admission

It cost a reasonable $44 for a seat in the general admission grandstands, but standing room (or sitting room if you brought a cooler) on top of the downtown parking garages was free and offered a spectacular view of the track. OK, so none of the drivers was named Rusty or Dale. It was still a heck of a deal for race fans - or curious onlookers - on a budget.

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