By Mike Mulhern
LAS VEGAS
Bruton Smith says he expects to have a second NASCAR Sprint Cup tour event weekend next season here at his Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but the head of Speedway Motorsports wouldn’t offer many details or explain why he felt so confident.
However, Smith did talk in more detail about tentative plans to move NASCAR’s Labor Day weekend 500 from California Speedway to his Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2009, in plan that would move the California 500—run in 115 degree weather last September—to Atlanta’s current late October Cup date.
Eddie Gossage, who runs Texas Motor Speedway for Smith, is not a man to shy away from heavy-handed or humorous promotions, and Friday he said he would give $15,000 to the favorite charity of the first Cup driver to throw his helmet at another driver…as part of NASCAR’s new ‘let the drivers show their personalities’ campaign.
Jeff Burton took a dim view of Gossage’s move: “First, it would have to be $15,000 PLUS the amount of money NASCAR would fine you. Second, well there are just something I wouldn’t do.”