Race Cars and Rockers Take the Town

It's the most exciting weekend of motor-racing on our annual calendar: three-days of NASCAR madness, mayhem and mag-speed mileage. So much so that we're letting this posting of LuxeLife live through the long weekend. It's an incredible invasion of some 150,000+ auto-fanatics gathering from across America for the penultimate pit party with such race greats as Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and around the city.

Among the high-speed heroes battling at up to 200 MPH for the checkered flag are Jimmie Johnson (right), Mark Martin (below) and our local race heroes Kurt and Kyle Busch, who finished 2nd and 3rd last year. Johnson -- who was the youngest driver to ever win at LV Motor Speedway at age 29 last year -- will be defending his win last year in the 9th annual UAW-DaimlerChrysler400 Nextel Cup race on Sunday. Martin, who won the Sams Town 300 Busch Series 200-lap race last year defends his title on Saturday, with the winning purse standing at $1.6 million. Country band Thunder Road plays for an hour during the pre-race show. Original 'Dukes of Hazzard' star John Schneider will sing Saturday's national anthem, and Trick Pony will sing it on Sunday, as yours truly wraps duties on the pre-game show as MC. Having introduced the 43 cars and drivers and their pole positions, I turn the order "gentlemen start your engines" over to the national Fox telecast to cover the 400-mile 267-lap race with its purse of $6.2 million. Fasten your seatbelts and come on out, all you motorheads!

I'm grateful to my statistician friends at Las Vegas Magazine for calculating the number of miles driven if all 43 racers complete the 400 on the 1.5-mile track. It would total 17,200 miles -- just enough to travel between LA and NYC seven times! Now, that's firing on all cylinders.

To mark the attendance of Pentagon's Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne a pair of F15C fighter jets and two F15E jets will fly over the track prior to Saturday's Sam's Town race, and the famed US Air Force Thunderbirds will fly over in Delta formation after Sunday's national anthem (Our military uses NASCAR events as an integral part of its recruiting drives, fyi)...

Speedway owner Bruton Smith is also using the occasion Friday to unveil plans for major changes there. He's kept it secret as to whether he'll join the current Vegas condo-craze and include two residential buildings for the ultimate race fanatics. But he did tell me that he's going to increase the stands to eventually accommodate up to 200,000 fans, improve pit areas so fans can get a closer look at the action pre-race, and narrow but increase the track banking in the turns from 12 degrees to 20 degrees to produce more exciting racing. Four of the five largest buildings in the infield will be torn down and replaced with structures closer to the grandstands at a cost of $25 million this year. "I want Vegas to have the best speedway complex in the world," he told me. " Las Vegas is the entertainment capital of the world, so we have to be the biggest and best." Bruton, who plans to invest $300 million over the next 18 months in the Speedway, will unveil all his super-plans at a VIP luncheon Friday to which he's invited me, so I can provide our LuxdeLife readers with a first-hand report on the upcoming improvements.

On Saturday night, between the two major race events, there's a free
Race Jam street party from 6pm thru midnight downtown on Fremont Street, featuring Jason Aldean and David Lee Murphy. Afterwards, the drivers from
the Sam's Town 300 will head out to Sam's Town Hotel & Casino on the Boulder Strip for their official after-race party -- providing they aren't racing next day! Santana's original lead singer Gregg Rolie and his band will be entertaining. Incidentally Dale Jr 's racing experience is open free to fans through Sunday at Sam's Town.

Here's the 3-day rundown (approximate times):

Thursday (March 9)  6PM: World of Outlaws/Spectator Gates Open/ Speedway Children's Charities NASCAR drivers auction

Friday (March 10) 10AM: Spectator Gates Open; 2PM: 300 Practice followed by 400 Qualifying laps

Saturday (March 11) 8AM: Spectator Gates Open; 12:30PM: Two lap
Qualifying; 3:30PM: Sam's Town 300 Busch Series Race

Sunday (March 12): 7AM: Spectator Gates Open; 12:45PM: Pre-Race Show; 1:05PM Driver Introductions; 1:40PM: NASCAR 400 Nextel Cup Race.

Sunday evening, after all the raucous NASCAR excitement, it's time for a total change of pace when Public Broadcasting presents Andrea Bocelli's 'Love Under the Desert Sky' concert special as part of its March-long pledge drive. The concert, as faithful Luxe Life readers will remember, was recorded back in December just 17 miles from the Strip at the Lake Las Vegas resort. LLV owner Ron Boeddeker said: "His magical voice set atop our serene lake makes for an unbelievably powerful performance that viewers will never forget." My friend, Grammy Award winning songwriter/producer David Foster, who both conducted this special and produced Bocelli's latest album 'Amore' told us "It is the album the world has been waiting for from Andrea. This TV special has reached the ultimate in musical quality performance."  Bocelli sings in English, Italian and even criss-crosses from a French standard to a Latin-American hit. I guarantee that if you tune in you will be thoroughly pleased and satisfied with the recommendation...

There's a new gang of gorgeous girls in town, and they're ready to give the Pussycat Dolls, the X Girls, the Crazy Girls, Fantasy and La Femme a run for their high heels and garter-belts. Meet the Vegas Pinups, who dance hourly at TAO on Thursday nights and ICE on Friday and Saturday nights. Creator Amber Brovelli recruited her founding dancemates when all 3 of them were Beachers Babes dancing at the Hard Rock for Jeff Beacher's Madhouse shows. "We're real dancers," Amber proudly points out, "not a T&A show." Here's the first photos of the team, who are high on energy, great on gymnastics, and both delicious and dangerous on dance. Since their New Year's Eve coming-out party, they've danced for Steve Wynn's Superbowl event, gyrated at Monday's Nightclub party in TAO, and have already posed for their inaugural calendar. You can check them out at www.vegaspin-ups.com  or on www.myspace.com/vegaspinups .

And now to a very rockin' Robin royal rundown:
Tonight, (Thurs. March 9) Busta Rhymes hosts the big bang of all parties at TAO while Puddle of Mudd performs in Rain at the Palms following Adam Carolla's radio broadcast from ghostbar, for Kurt Busch and Miller Lite Racing as part of NASCAR weekend; Friday and Saturday nights, million-selling classic rockers Kansas and REO Speedwagon perform, at the Stardust and Hilton respectively; Also Saturday, Bon Jovi's first tour since 2003 (titled 'Have a Nice Day World Tour') pulls into MGM --- and expect Jon BonJovi and Richie Sambora to hi-tail it over to Beachers Comedy Madhouse in the Hard Rock right afterwards. Eddie Money also rocks the Silverton Saturday, while Trick Pony warm up for their national anthem performance Sunday with a Saturday gig at Boulder Station.

if comedy is your choosing, there's the blue-collar cracks of Bill Engvall at the Orleans thru Sunday night, or 'King of Queens' star Kevin James at the Mirage Friday and Saturday evenings... And for something truly "completely different," there's the Irish dance show Ragus at the Suncoast through Sunday evening, with a cast of great young musicians singers and dancers tapping their way
into your hearts, with or without the Guinness at hand. Begorrah!

We'll be back Monday with a full rundown of NASCAR race weekend along
with all the stars that packed our party HQ. If you can't make it down to the Speedway, join us live on Fox on Sunday -- check times on your local listings -- as I utter the immortal words: "Gentlemen start your engines, this party is just beginning!" Have a wild weekend everybody. Meantime, rev up your raves and recriminations and send them to robinsvegas@aol.com. So you don’t miss one exciting edition, simply click here or on the 'Alert Me' tab up top and we’ll remind you every day the moment we’re up and running.  

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And when visiting Vegas, be sure to see Las Vegas Magazine in your hotel suite featuring a print edition of Luxe Life: Vegas, and an incredible directory of attractions, shows and restaurants here.

Read previous columns from Robin Leach at: journals.aol.com/robinsvegas/LuxeLifeVegas