April 13th, 2009 
Journo I might be alone in this, but I’m not among those excited the end of season banquet will be relocated to Las Vegas.
I know New York didn’t care if NASCAR was there for one week a year. I’m also aware hotel rooms are very expensive in New York City. And I know increasingly the city was impeding the celebration.
But none of that is the point of the banquet. It is a time for everyone to get dressed up, get drunk and celebrate the season that just concluded. It is a chance for everyone to congratulate the champion and for the champion to have his moment in the sun, even if New York isn’t (or I guess wasn’t) paying attention.
Now I like Las Vegas just fine. I’m not a big gambler but there are plenty of other things to do there. If nothing else it is a great place to sit and people watch.
The city provides a great infrastructure and facilities that are second to none. And there is no doubt they will push and support the event like no other city would. In fact it looks like the city is tentatively even paying NASCAR six to seven figures to relocate the event there.
I suppose though that is where my problem lies. I see NASCAR relocating the banquet as the gateway for them to turn it into another money making event. I see them selling tickets and turning it into even more of a TV spectacle than it already is.
The idea of fans in the mezzanine of a ballroom booing the champion or any driver in the top-10 as they go to the stage to make their speech makes me nauseous. While I appreciate and respect the passion of fans, this is neither the time nor the place for that sort of thing (and we all know it would happen).
I have always enjoyed the banquet. I think NASCAR usually does a nice job with it. But I don’t think it is another event for them to prostitute-out for a little money (or a little more money). It really just cheapens the championship and the celebration. I hope the move to Vegas is strictly an event relocation and nothing else.
As always it’s now your turn. What do you think? Do you think Vegas will be a good venue for the banquet? Would you buy tickets to see the banquet?
Posted in 
Tags: 
Hey Journo, I agree with you regarding the spectacle in Vegas. Unfortunately it’s been like that for a few years now,just another awards show!
For us wrenchheads, the banquet never had anything to offer anyway!
So on it goes to another level of commercialization of NASCAR and the greed of Brian France!
We rarely even watch the banquet, certainly would not buy tickets for it. It used to be interesting when the drivers spoke on their own, but since the influx of PR firms and their canned and sanitized speeches it has become booooring! The driver’s personalities are totally submerged in the process.
This is a wonderful idea if Nascar wants to set itself back 50 years. All the Billy Bob’s And Daisy Mae’s will flock to Vegas for this event. Nascar playing with the big boys, I think not, This is playing to the lowest common denominator. Nascar needs to be in a sophisticated city such as New York to increase its appeal. If it must be moved from New york at least move it to Washington so it still will bve in the south and think of all the publicity from the political hacks just dieing to have their picture taken with a Nascar star. Sin City, Redneckville west NO WAY!!!!!
Yes its the best thing in the world to happen to NASCAR. N.Y. doesn’t like NASCAR any way so go some where they are liked and any way its time for a change. I am going your right I live in Calif. and its close to me. (Easy on the CAPS Scott)
I disagree with you, I think (once NASCAR makes it official) that it will be good for the sport. I am also a country music fan and one event I look forward to is the ACM’s in Las Vegas, they sell a few tickets and at the same time honor some of the best artists, that doesn’t cheapen the entertainer of the year, so why would it cheapen the championship, it just lets fans watch their favorites be honored after a good year.
I even love the idea of the top 10 victory lap down the strip and yes there are alot of hotels. Hopefully NASCAR will at least try it for a couple of years.
Bottom line, this is a fan driven sport just like country music is fan driven, we buy the tickets, apparel, diecasts, and more, so why not let a few fans be a part of it, but for the fans, just keep it in check.
I wholeheartedly approve of the move to Las Vegas and I’d buy tickets for the banquet in a heartbeat.
I agree with you, though, on the possible fan response. This is not the event for booing anyone, this is the event for celebrating everyone of the top ten drivers.
I’d like to think Nascar fans have a little more class than that!
For example, I am not a fan of Kyle Busch (no offense to Kyle fans), but if it’s the Nascar banquet, I’ll be cheering for him, too. It’s a celebration of the sport and if you are a fan of a sport then you appreciate talent even if it isn’t your “team”.
IMHO…move it around the country every year and open up, at least some, tickets for fans.
I think Vegas is a great place for the banquet. All the glitz and night lights seem to make for a fine venue, and maybe the drivers would feel a bit more comfortable in those surroundings. N.Y. does’nt seem to want this event anyway. The drivers are real class people, not stuffed shirts. Why don’t we ask THEM where they would like to go for their awards? Besides, they don’t have to sell tickets or etc. Also remember, NASCAR started in the south, and like them or not, rednecks are a large part of their following.
I like everything said by Mike Taylor except I think the exact opposite way. I would love to see Nascar revert to how it was back in the day. What it has become is a joke. Brian France is killing the sport. I never watch the banquet anymore. It’s boring, contrived, and none of the drivers or crew chiefs look comfortable with their surroundings. How about moving it to Whiskey River? I’d watch that.
I agree with Journo on this one. I think New York is a better place for the banquet than Las Vegas. I will admit I have been to New York City but have never been to Vegas. The reason is I have no desire to go to Vegas. When I hear a singer has started playing some hotel in Las Vegas I know their career is about over. It just seems sooooooooo cheesey. I think Neon might be on to something though. Have the banquet at different locations from year to year. I dont know about tickets for fans because I also agree booing in this context is inappropriate.
If Journo really likes the banquet in NYC, he is one of the few. Besides some of the wives who liked the NYC trip for the shopping and shows, almost everyone I know hated it.
20 years ago it may have been important to have the banquet in a place like NYC in order to legitimize the sport and provide easy access to the media centers based there. Those days are over, plenty of media follow NASCAR year round, and NYC never cared much for the NASCAR crowd but tolerated them.
Vegas may not be an ideal location but, honestly, where is? Charlotte would be the preference for most teams and personnel, and when the HoF is complete, that will likely be the place to hold the banquet.
Vegas is accessible, affordable, appeals to a wide cross section of people and is willing and able to provide a level of entertainment that NYC never would.
The reason many people do not watch the banquet is because it’s boring as watch cars rust. NYC is too formal, too stiff, and too dull. The banquet needs a little spice and pizazz to generate more interest. Vegas can provide that.
And as for the snobs, elitist and journalists with expense accounts, Vegas has their own Nobu, Le Cirque, Il Mulino, or whatever overpriced joint you prefer to max out what’s left of your gold card credit line.
Maybe NASCAR can have a joint awards ceremony with the WWF. That’s what NASCAR’s turning into.
I’ve always presumed that the banquet is for the race teams and the sponsors, not viewers. What does really gall me about the idea of moving the banquet to Vegsa is Bruton Smith’s trying to help hurt N.C. some more. N.C. has helped make BSmith weathy, but since it might benefit him, he has no problem trying to help the city that is trying to take the Furniture Market from N.C. to Vegas. The last figures I’ve seen were that the Furniture Market still brings 40,000 to 60,000 visitors to High Poin, NC twice a year.
I think this switch is all about the money, I believe that Vegas has forked over some cash to Nascar, which New York is not doing. Unless of course that is just a rumor. Perhaps it is a temporary change until the Hall of Fame is completed. I like watching the banquet but I was always confused as what was going on, it obviously was for the teams (sort of since everyone but the crew chief was in the nosebleed seats) and the sponsors not so much the fans but they decided to televise it and never changed the focus. I would like to see the crew chief also be honored at the banquet instead of at the luncheon perhaps they can make that happen it is a team sport after all. Maybe they can make some things open to the fans and others just the teams etc so they can have some fun too.
I like the idea of NASCAR being in Vegas!! “I” would not buy tickets….. although would like 2 attend some of the other events!! I HATE the THOUGHT of fans being present and BOO’ing… I am NOT a fan of booing………. imagine a track full of race fans…… the most UNpopular driver walks out and is introduced…… AND the stands are TOTALLY SILENT!! WOW what an impact that would make!! (will NEVER happen) But in Vegas hopefully NASCAR drivers,teams,owners,sponsors will all get the attention and respect they deserve!!
Moving the banquet to Vegas is okay, but letting the fans buy tickets to sit in the cheap seats and act like fools like they do at the NFL Draft, is not. It is an event to allow their peers and NASCAR to honor the best teams in the sport.
It was RJ Renyolds who encouraged NASCAR to move their banquet to New York. At the time, it was a great way to connect the sport with the major ad agencies on Madison Avenue. Today, the big teams have their own marketing departments who spend the entire year working the corporate trot line, making the New York banquet less important for marketing the sport.
I live in New York City, so I am biased. This was my best chance to see NASCAR teams and events up close. But, while most people in the city really did not care about NASCAR, New York is still the media capital. I understand that it is very expensive here, which can be a real problem to banquet week participants in the press and the industry. Traveling media does not replace the homes of the four networks and countless talk shows. Those appearances are very valuable to NASCAR’s image. In Vegas, NASCAR will be an afterthought: something else they pay to get into town and run through the usual convention process. It may be nicer for the participants and give NASCAR more cash, but it won’t build the brand.
Charlotte, NC is the only truly appropriate location.
@Uncle Bo, you’ve got the right idea in my opinion too.
The NASCAR HoF *should* be the place all banquets are held (once it’s open) and should be so in perpetuity.
Charlotte and the relevant surrounding area here in NC deserve the opportunity, for NASCAR to do other smacks of disingenuousness.
I completely agree with you, Journo. There are so many NASCAR fans around the New York City area and the only race-tracks near the New York City area are almost 5 hours away. With Championship Week in New York City, these fans are able to come out and support their favorite sport for one week during a year.
Maybe the media wasn’t paying attention to NASCAR during this week but the fans sure did. The fans were always there to support their favorite sport. I was always there. And, I think that’s what really matters.
However, NASCAR seems to think that attention from the media matters most. To change the venue of the Banquet and eliminate New York City’s Championship Week is solely to create more attention from the media. Which, in turn, would allow NASCAR to make more money.
Above all, NASCAR really needs to think about the fans. This includes how much they’re taking away from the fans in New York City. And, like you have stated, even if they say they’d give out tickets so that fans could see the Banquet in Las Vegas, are they really giving them out FOR the fans? I just think this whole thing is for the money.
I’m so upset it’s not going to be held in NY this year! I had all these plans and I can’t travel to Las Vegas! I love NASCAR and get so upset when people look at me like if I have two heads because of it! Congrats Jimmie on 4-peating! NASCAR FOREVER!!!