I watched the race after recording it. It is the only one I watched this year in its entirety.
I have no idea what the appeal is. The announcers are shouting at every turn and there is nothing going on. In summation: Someone gets a run, they blast by, and it is a miraculous event. Otherwise, they bang tires at some corner and someone gets penalized for being off-line.
It has its moments and the speed and technology is awe-inspiring but the racing is terrible.
Vegas was appealing simply because I have been there on many occasions and know all of the ins and outs of the city design and it was super cool to see how they put the track in. I watched the race, and paused it over and over again, to see parts of the city and how they did the lighting, the barriers, the run-offs, and more. The engineering feat was amazing - especially the track surface. Incredible transformation.
As the races go, it was actually one of the more entertaining ones. I usually scrub through what I record, but on this instance, I watched quite a bit of it. It sure looked slippery and they really did have to get up on the wheel.
I think the course would have been pretty suitable for NASCAR too - but there is a lot to judge about that statement being true. The corners, the straights, and the design are better than some of the tracks they have now.
It is all a bit Speed Racer to me. I wish someone in TV land would figure out that something like 600s on a dirt track running wheel to wheel is by far the most exciting form of motorsport in the world and figure out a way to make it look good on TV. If the public at large saw an F1-style promotion of Chili Bowl style racing, they would not look back - especially if the stars were promoted in a big way. There was a feature done in the spring that was outstanding with Larson, Justin Grant, and others. If only it was more widely understood.
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