NASCAR & Hockey Trade Places In Vegas To Celebrate New Race Series

Cars Driven Today

Sports! Today in Las Vegas NASCAR and Hockey came together to celebrate the 2nd big race being brought to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway the LVMS’ South Point 400 weekend begins with the Star Nursery 100 NASCAR K&N Series West race at the Dirt Track on Thursday, Sept. 13, before moving to the superspeedway for three consecutive days. The World of Westgate 200 Camping World Truck Series race is set for Friday, with the DC Solar 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series event following on Saturday and the South Point 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff kickoff capping the weekend’s racing on Sunday. So start your engines and head on down to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway!

Deryk , Kurt & Shane Hnidy

It was a swap with NASCAR champion and Blog Fave Kurt Busch starting out on the ice with Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland. While Kurt was a little unsteady, by the end of the session he was hitting the pucks like a pro! Deryk was gliding around on the ice and showing the NASCAR driver how to run some basic formations and exercises. They traded tips on how the sports are similar but different. With NASCAR it is one driver with a team and with Hockey it is a full team on the ice. Each sport depends upon their team and teammates.

Then it was time to get on the party bus and continue onto the track! As Kurt Busch said jokingly “Time to go to my house!” Waiting on the track were four race cars. Yes Ford cars, because that is what Kurt drives. I asked him, “How do I make my Ford Focus roar like his car” and got a smile.

Golden Knight Deryk Engelland said about the driving experience “It had my adrenaline rushing and getting that close to the wall while in the passenger seat was quite an awesome experience.”   Engelland gained a new respect for the stamina NASCAR drivers must have to compete in extreme conditions at the highest level. “I only did a handful of laps, and my arms are killing me,” Engelland said. “So, to have to do it for an entire race with 40 other cars out there is a whole other ballgame.”

I had a chance to ask Kurt a few questions and since I love horseback riding I asked him if he and his wife ride together. His wife Ashley is a championship Polo player and recently played with Prince Harry in a charity match in the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club with the Sentebale St. Regis team. Turns out he does enjoy horseback riding “Yes I do enjoy spending time on horseback and riding with Ashley.”  A different kind of horsepower! He also did mention that while he enjoyed his time on the ice today, “Man I need more than six times on skates to get this right.” Oh and yes Kurt does drive a Ford with his everyday ride being his 2017 Expedition.

Deryk, Kurt & LVM's Chris Powell

After the turns around the track the athletes also participated in a jersey swap, with Busch getting a No. 41 Vegas Golden Knights jersey from the team and Engelland taking home LVMS, Monster and Stewart-Haas Racing shirts to commemorate the experience. LVMS track President Chris Powell also received a HAAS Ford shirt to commemorate the day.

Now Las Vegas has two NASCAR events a year to look forward to. Nothing gets my blood racing and blood pumping like the roar of those NASCAR powerful cars. So super excited about having the LVMS’ South Point 400 weekend in Vegas, SPECTACULAR!

Various ticket packages, fun extras and special-access passes for LVMS’s second NASCAR weekend of the year are available at www.lvms.com or by calling 1-800-644-4444.