Viva Las Vegas

In every sport, there are those that fit the description of “larger than life,” people whose talents and charisma come together to make a combination that is memorable for years and years. Most of the time, those types are the on-field stars. But sometimes you find these characters behind the scenes and working the levers.

Such is the case with Bruton Smith, the billionaire owner of race tracks and car dealerships and Southern-fried firebrand. As the leader of Speedway Motorsports, Inc., he operates six of NASCAR's top tracks, including this week's stop on the Nextel Cup circuit, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. LVMS's 1.5-mile oval has been in existence since 1996 and while it hasn't always been the most exciting of race tracks, it had also been a perfectly good one with its modest 12 degrees of banking and smooth asphalt surface.

But here's the difference with Smith. In his eyes, perfectly good isn't good enough at all. As Tom Jensen of SPEEDTV.com writes, "His world is the American dream on human growth hormones -- bigger, louder, flashier and more bodacious than anyone else...At an age when most men care only about a favorite chair, staying regular and watching sitcoms, he’s still looking for the Next Big Thing, something brilliant and audacious to bring to NASCAR."

And so he has. In his quest to create the finest speedway in the world, Smith's gang pretty much erased the old track from existence and built a new one on the same spot. Twelve degrees in the turns? Now it's 20 at the peak of its progressive banks. The rest of the track? Replaced by a new surface that has created speeds near 189 miles per hour. The infield? Ripped to shreds save for one solitary building. Pit lane? Torn up and moved closer to the front stretch for the fans.

Las Vegas 2.0 now features a "neon garage" with a multi-level viewing area for the fans. According to the track's web site www.lvms.com, the diamond-shaped garage features team haulers on the outside and the fans on the inside as they look down from the roof onto the stalls for the cars and crews. A new media center is also ready to go and features corporate hospitality suites, a drivers' meeting area and a full-service spa for the drivers and their families. The bill for the facelift: A cool $300 million.

That's a pretty good chunk of Smith's net worth ($1.4 billion according to last year's list of Forbes' 400 Richest Americans), but if you look at his 160,000+ seat “racing stadium” at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, his Lone Star palace in Texas Motor Speedway (the second-biggest sporting facility in the country), and of course, his SMI flagship in Lowe's Motor Speedway (Charlotte, N.C.), you can't help but believe that $300 million is a mere pittance in the 79-year-old's mind. The bigger his fantasies become, the bigger the payoff is for the fans.

Yes, he's a little pompous. During the Nextel Cup media tour, he said that Europe would need a "mental enema" to cleanse its pro-road racing mentality before he'd think of building an oval track there. And he's not exactly politically correct. According to ESPN.com's Terry Blount, when asked about the possibility of building said track in Europe, Smith replied to the Frankfurt, Germany-based journalist: "Oh, I've been [to Frankfurt]. Not when the bombing was going on, but I've been there."

But being loud, bold, and brazen is Smith's trademark. It's in his personality and it's in his tracks. As the drivers attempt to handle the lightning-fast speeds with a smaller fuel tank (13 gallons) following January's wreck-fest of a test session at Vegas, all eyes will be on Smith as he prepares to roll the dice once again. Eyes from NASCAR. Eyes from Smith's speedway rival in International Speedway Corporation. Eyes from tracks trying to hang on to a race date. You think Smith would blow $300 million on Vegas for one Nextel Cup race a year? Please.

I can see it now. The 79-year-old with a Las Vegas showgirl on each arm and high rollers surrounding the table. And he's got the two red dice in his hands.

Sevens? Snake eyes? We'll find out this Sunday.