A second Las Vegas Cup date in 2018 appears all-but certain
A second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race date at Las Vegas Motor Speedway appears all-but certain for the 2018 season, Motorsport.com has learned.
Photo by: Action Sports Photography
“We’ve always said we’d entertain a second date at Las Vegas,” said Speedway Motorsports Inc. chairman Marcus Smith said before Sunday’s drivers’ meeting at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Asked if he would discuss where a second date would come from, Smith said, “Not right now.”
Sources confirmed to Motorsport.com that the race would come from an existing date on the Cup series schedule but not necessarily from a track that SMI currently owns.
SMI currently owns the tracks at Charlotte, New Hampshire, Atlanta, Sonoma, Calif., Bristol, Tenn., Kentucky, Texas and Las Vegas.
NASCAR has allowed track owners to realign dates among their own tracks where it could still be maintained within the current 36-race points-paying schedule.
Sources also said the addition of a fall Las Vegas race to the Cup schedule could also mean the series’ annual awards banquet, which has most recently been held in Las Vegas, could move to Charlotte as early as the 2018 season.
On Friday, The Las Vegas Review-Journal first reported Las Vegas Motor Speedway was close to gaining a second date for the 2018 NASCAR season.
The LVRJ added the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board “scheduled a special meeting Wednesday to consider a seven-year $2.5 million annual sponsorship agreement with NASCAR that would include the addition of a fall race at the speedway.”
When asked about the possibility of a second LVMS race, 2014 MENCS champion Kevin Harvick had this to say: "I love Vegas. I think it is a great atmosphere and it would be good but sometimes you can turn one great into two mediocre. I think that is something you have to be careful of and look at and really evaluate. Vegas is a great place to race and I enjoy going there. If it did wind up with a second race I would be fine with that but I would be cautious to look at a California type situation where we have the one great event there and when we had two it wasn’t so great. You just have to be careful of not doing that.”
Wednesday's meeting comes in the advent of NASCAR's stop next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, currently the third Cup race on the schedule.
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Josh Berry "not necessarily panicked" over tough 2024 season
Greg Biffle among new 2025 NASCAR Hall of Fame nominees
How NASCAR is gearing up for its "biggest change" in 2022
Full-time IndyCar move “an option” says supersub Pourchaire
When Senna broke his F1 duck by walking on water
Josh Berry "not necessarily panicked" over tough 2024 season
Greg Biffle among new 2025 NASCAR Hall of Fame nominees
The ex-F1 driver taking on NASCAR with a new team
The early benefits and challenges of NASCAR's Next Gen car
How Penske's rookie sensation opened NASCAR's new era in style
Six key themes to follow in the 2022 NASCAR Cup season
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments