IRL moves awards banquet to Las Vegas
The Celebration will take place at The Pearl, a start-of-the-art theater located in The Palms resort. The Pearl seats up to 2,500, with the farthest seats just 120 feet from the stage.
The Palms is a first-class resort and will be an outstanding venue to celebrate our 2008 season, said Terry Angstadt, president of the commercial division of the Indy Racing League. Coordinating our celebration with the SEMA Show is a great way to showcase the league and its series to the automotive industry. Many of our drivers, teams, manufacturers and sponsors participate in the show. I have no doubt that Las Vegas will make for one of the more memorable stops for the celebration.
Las Vegas will be the seventh city the Indy Racing League Championship Celebration has visited since 2000, when the champion was crowned at the Murat Theatre in Indianapolis, home of the Indy Racing League corporate office. The following year the celebration took place at The Speedway Club in Fort Worth, Texas, while the 2003 event was staged at the House of Blues in Chicago. Disney's Epcot Center and the cruise ship Disney Wonder hosted the Championship Celebration in 2003 and 2004, respectively, and Paramount Theatre in Hollywood, Calif. was the site in 2005. For the last two seasons, the Championship Celebration has taken place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Drivers, teams and sponsors will experience a social atmosphere during the awards ceremony, which will be highlighted by the presentation of the IndyCar Series Championship Cup and $1 million bonus to the IndyCar Series championship-winning team and driver.
Afterward, guests will continue the celebration at Rain, a club at The Palms that features waterfalls and an elevated dance floor lit up by fireballs.