NASCAR hopes to keep Sprint Cup ceremony in Vegas

As invitees filed out of the Sprint Cup awards ceremony on Friday, it marked not only the end of the event, but also the end of the three-year deal that brought NASCAR's Champion's Week to Las Vegas. The week-long championship celebration moved to the desert in 2009 after a long stint in New York, where the event often struggled for recognition. In Las Vegas, NASCAR has found that and more — strong crowds attended events such as the Victory Lap show car parade down the Strip, which even attracted news helicopters hovering overhead. As this Champion's Week concluded, indications were that the event would return to Las Vegas, although no formal announcement of such has yet been made. An agreement between NASCAR and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority brought the event to the city.

"We certainly have a desire to come back. There's a desire I think from them to have us back," Steve Phelps, NASCAR's chief marketing officer, said Friday. "I think we're just trying to figure out, what are the right assets that work for them? What is the best way to engage with the fan base and bring as many people to the city as possible? But we're excited about the possibilities of getting something renewed. We don't have anything right now. There are discussions that are going on." NASCAR.com