NASCAR To Hold Block Party Instead Of Manhattan Victory Lap
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NASCAR To Replace Victory
Lap With Day-Long Block Party |
NASCAR "has scrapped" its annual Victory Lap around Manhattan in December and instead on December 4 "will stage a day-long block party on 43rd St. as part of its Champions Week events" in N.Y., according to Richard Huff of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. The block party, one of "many NASCAR themed events scheduled that week," will "close 43rd St. between 7th and 8th Avenues, for the day, and include concerts, food, race simulators, show cars and other games." NASCAR's Champions Week events begin December 1 with a NASCAR Street Tour featuring "two NASCAR-themed Ford vehicles touring the city." The Aflac Pit Stop Tour, which will place show cars around the city, will run December 2-6. The Aflac Fan Fest will be staged December 4-6 at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square, and the awards banquet will be held December 5. NASCAR had staged the Victory Lap around Manhattan since '04, but research indicated that the fans "wanted to be part of something, rather than just watch it." The lap also "angered many unwitting drivers who got stuck in traffic," despite drawing "thousands of curious onlookers and die-hard fans." N.Y. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that last year he "got e-mails -- some angry -- from people wondering how the city could think to grant a permit for the lap on a day already penciled in as one of the holiday gridlock alert days." Huff writes, "To its credit, NASCAR, after decades of having a lacksidasical approach to Champions Week, is trying harder to make the event part of the city" (NYDAILYNEWS.com, 10/8).
SHIFTING GEARS: In Charlotte, David Poole writes under the header, "Sure, NASCAR Has Changed; Haven't You?" Poole: "If you've been a NASCAR fan for 30 years, please allow me to ask you to consider something. Which do you think has changed more? NASCAR? Or you?" Poole writes NASCAR will "keep changing, too. But so are its fans, and the question of which is changing faster is a pretty good race in itself" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 10/9).
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