HIGH-SPEED STARS RACE TO OPEN NEW INDOOR SPEEDWAY
Over 300 people turned up for the red-carpet grand opening of the newest race attraction in town: Pole Position Raceway, a break-through indoor race-kart company.
NASCAR 2004 champion Kurt Busch and ESPN/ABC reporter Jamie Little, investors in the unique sports attraction, welcomed a slew of guests including the Blue Man Group, two-time Indy 500 champion Al Unser Jr., NASCAR drivers Robbie Gordon and Jason Leffler, Smashmouth rocker Steve Harwell, X-Games gold medalists Mike Metzger and Ken Block, and four-time world hill-climb champion Kerry Peterson.
Additional investors include Cold Case actress Kathryn Morris, Supercross champion Jeremy McGrath and Bionic Woman producer David Barrett. Kurt also co-designed the European-inspired track where up to 13 drivers at a time can race at speeds up to 45mph and pulling 1G in the cornering. Al Unser Jr. proved that “once a racing legend, always a racing legend.” He won the 12-lap celebrity race and Robbie Gordon, who had the best single quarter-mile lap time of 26.87, placed 2nd. For the record, Kurt Busch ranked 5th and lead singer Harwell was 7th.
Pole Position Raceway has quickly become a top entertainment experience in Vegas. With a 60,000 square foot facility, it is home to one of the fastest and most exhilarating indoor racetracks in the Southwest. In addition to the 58 indoor Italian designed electronic karts the raceway features exciting racing memorabilia. NASCAR legends Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Kyle Petty donated race-worn suits, and two Indy cars are on display, plus a collection of Jason Beam helmets worn by such greats as Jimmy Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Tony Stewart.
Located across from the new Palms Place condo-hotel at the Palms resort, the raceway also features a unique computerized “Speed Sheet.” It’s a premiere timing and scoring technology program that records each visit so racing stats are recorded and kept in the computer system to enable drivers to check on their individual progress each time and to see how their speeds compare with other drivers’.
Incidentally, if you watched the Super Bowl telecast here in Vegas last night, you probably spotted Kurt Busch starring in the new “I Want My PT’s” commercials, which kicked off the pre-game show.
Golden Gaming and PT’s, the largest tavern operator in Southern Nevada, are the local sponsors of his NASCAR racing team. Kurt himself stopped out at the Henderson “local” to enjoy the food and drink specials during the Super Sunday game.