Monday, April 9, 2007

Vegas Grand Prix - Opening Salvo






The first Vegas Grand Prix was on Sunday 8 April 2007. I attended, and took photos from various points along Main Street, between Bonneville and Carson.


(The intersection of Main Street and Carson is one block south of The Fremont Street Experience, across from The Plaza, and near the Golden Gate valet parking.)


No admission was required, though there were bleecher seats if one wanted to pay for a ticket. many people took advantage of the free Plaza rooftop garage party.


It was somewhat difficult to walk around due to fences, security borders, obstructions, etc. There are alleys behind the old buildings which are along Main Street. These alleys go behind some vacant old buildings such as the Queen Of Hearts Hotel. Normally it would not be a tourist friendly area, but many people were walking these alleys during the Grand Prix.


I thought that it was unacceptable that some sections of fence on Main Street were covered with dark material, which prevented a viewing of the race opposite a grand stand. The streets are public, and it is enough that the public accepts an inconvenience and disruption to facilitate the race. Making private, the ability to see the street from a particular point on a sidewalk is nonsense and completely wrong.


The sound of the cars passing was interesting to hear. Particularly there was a fascinating sound of distant engines as the cars left Main Street and the sound filtered through the Golden Nugget garage.


Here is my opening salvo of photos from the Vegas Grand Prix. For the record, the green car with yellow highlights (car #5) was driven by Will Power, and won the race.


The closeup I present here of car #5 was on Bonneville as the car turned left to go north on Main Street. (Photo was from one of the final laps, several minutes before the end of the race.)



Sunday, April 8, 2007

Race Day - Las Vegas Grand Prix


Today, Sunday 8 April 2007 is the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The main race will be at 1:00 p.m. (1300 hrs.) pacific time, and will last approximately 2 hours. It will be broadcast live on television in many areas.
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The race will begin and end at a point which is away from anything familiar to tourists; on Grand Central Parkway, halfway between Ogden and Bonneville. For the many people in the area of The Fremont Street Experience, the end of the race will probably feel odd; they will feel as if they are at the center of attention (every drunk on Fremont Street feels this way) but the cars will simply stop driving by, and the end will be somewhere else.
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In person though, the excitement will probably be the sound of the engines and the site of the cars racing by, rather than the race as a whole. What I mean to say is that for most people along the route of the race, certain elements of the race will be more exciting than the race itself.
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People on the streets inside the circuit of the Las Vegas Grand Prix will be limited from crossing to the area outside of the race, (and vice versa). In effect it will be like a Las Vegas Grand Prix internment camp.
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Something else noteworthy happens today, at least I think it will happen today. The return of the Las Vegas podcast Five Hundy By Midnight. Show # 113 is expected to be up some time today, and is bound to be particularly good as it will be a post trip show. The website is http://www.fivehundybymidnight.com
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For the Grand Prix check out:
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That's it for today.

Saturday, April 7, 2007

Las Vegas - The Sign On Grand Prix Weekend


Tomorrow, Sunday, is the main race of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Downtown streets will be severely interrupted. Don't park in the confines of the race, if you will need to get out. The race will be (roughly) 1pm to 330 pm, and will be televised nationally - we will see how complete that saturation is.


The race is downtown, not at all near the Welcome sign on The Strip. This photo shows a wider view of the welcome sign, and that it is very common for people to walk up to it and take pictures.


Friday, April 6, 2007

Las Vegas Grand Prix Weekend...




...starts today, Friday 6 April 2007.


Today is Friday 6 April 2007

-Starting today, and going on every Friday for the next year, The Tropicana is going to have special Friday events to celebrate their 50th year. The Tropicana turned 50 on April 4th, I think.

-Today, tomorrow, and Sunday is the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix. It will take place downtown (Fremont Street etc) and the area will be a traffic jam.

-The Plaza, which is located on the west (Main Street end) of the Fremont Street Experience will allow anyone who wants to come, to attend a garage rooftop party and watch the race from there. They will have food from Memphis Championship Barbecue. From the rooftop of The Plaza garage, a significant portion of the course can be seen.

The Plaza looks nicer at night now that they light it up blue (I miss that from The Stardust).
Many streets in the area will be closed, including Main Street going past The Plaza.


It strikes me as very cool that as other nearby hotels have supposedly voiced stricter and more militant garage regulations for the time period of this event, The Plaza has found a way to be friendly and capitalize on the event and the inconveniences which go along with it.

The fastest speed predicted for the race is 190 miles per hour, and I have read that this is believed to occur on Bonneville Avenue.


This will be my only post today (Friday).


Good job Plaza!

Thursday, April 5, 2007

Las Vegas Grand Prix - Neon And Wheels




The Las Vegas Grand Prix has events on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (April 6, 7, 8, 2007).


For my money, Fremont Street is blowing The Strip away for excitement, and a Las Vegas feel.


While The Strip has architecture, Fremont Street has neon. I am a little burned out on the covert contest being held on The Strip - the contest to bore me to death with tan brown and beige.


Monte Carlo, Aladdin/Planet Hollywood, Wynn, Caesars Palace, I am talking about YOU!!! Stop tanning me.


The Grand Prix brought me to Fremont Street for the first time in a while, and it was a good change. I have missed the neon intensity. The foul smell at the 4th street side wasn't around this time. Maybe downtown is worth more attention from me.


Okay the pictures. Here we have three photos I took this week. Two of them are of a race car which is parked in front of Fitzgerald's on Fremont Street. The third photo is a look of 4th Street near Fremont Street, with the Grand Prix barriers and fences in place.