People are getting rich, staying rich and staying here. This week, driver Bobby Labonte had lunch with fans at the Outback Steakhouse, and Tony Stewart and Derrike Cope appeared on the morning radio shows talking about how drivers sometimes are pulled so strongly as their cars turn that their stomachs feel as if they're in their throats. Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway in Forth Worth and Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. Sponsors have gotten exposure, team owners have grown rich, and drawling drivers have begun wearing Rolex watches along with their black Wrangler jeans. This is a 24-hour city that is afraid to call gambling its only professional sport.
Many people are tourists.
Others are people who can' t get away. In the last decade, Las Vegas has seen a Canadian Football League franchise and a dog track come and go. Evel Knievel jumped over practically everything here in a motorcycle, then faded. The number is too volatile,'' said Kevin Bagger, a senior research analyst with the authority. With grimy fingertips, they scooped nickels, dimes and quarters from plastic tubs and fed them to the machine.