My pal Tom Galloway, who knows almost everything about almost everything, fills me in on a few things relevant to our mention of Formula 1 racing in Las Vegas next month…
1) Chicago's race wasn't Formula 1 like Vegas' will be. Believe it or not, it was a NASCAR (which had this Western North Carolina where NASCAR originated from drivers carrying moonshine outrunning the revenooers [sic] born person raising an eyebrow. Should've been in Charlotte) race, and they have a contract for two more years. Unfortunately, it was marred by heavy rains, cancelling the last 25 laps/quarter of the race and associated concerts. Much more affordable than Formula 1; tickets were only $269.
On the other hand, this was at least in part where people actually live, so it seriously inconvenienced the population. Also to my disappointment, since there was no mention of it, I have to assume the pace car was not a replica of the Bluesmobile from the last major street car race on the streets of Chicago in the closing act of The Blues Brothers movie. Writeup of the race and aftermath here.
2) From what I've read, Formula 1 has a ten-year race contract with whatever the appropriate authority is in the Vegas area. I phrase it that way since, as I'm sure you know but most folks outside of the Vegas area don't, despite that iconic "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign just past the Mandalay Bay on the south end of the Strip, the Strip itself is not in Las Vegas, but rather the unincorporated town of Paradise.
Paradise was created in 1950 to counter the actual city of Las Vegas (i.e.. for most tourists, downtown Las Vegas/Fremont Street. If I'm recalling correctly, the Vegas city limits on Las Vegas Blvd aka "The Strip" is Sahara Ave, such that Sahara the casino is in Paradise and the Strat casino a short bit down on the other side of the street is in Las Vegas) from annexing and taxing the Strip casinos. It's governed by the Clark County Commission and a town Advisory Board and also contains the airport and UNLV. F1 is confident enough about its Vegas adjacent events to have built a significant operations and paddock/pit building across from Ellis Island Casino.
All very interesting. By the way: In racing, the "paddock" is where the racers store their transporters…kind of like temporary headquarters and garages. But in the Formula 1 event in Vegas, every effort is being made to refer to that as "The Pit." Why? Because the name of the guy who committed that mass shooting in Vegas in 2017 was Stephen Paddock. We don't do much in this country to stop mass shooters besides trying to avoid saying their names.