http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=3002
by Doug French
http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=2618 has been one the hardest tickets in Las Vegas to secure, selling out six straight times prior to Sunday with attendance reaching 155,000 last year. Even Saturday’s Sam’s Town 300 race attracted 110,000, the third year in a row with attendance for the penultimate event reaching six-figures.
But this year 10,000 fewer seats were made available for the big race, and those on the ground trying to sell extra tickets – both Saturday and Sunday – found the market to be “no bid.” Because of the http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=1375, Speedway general manager Chris Powell decided not to erect a 10,000-seat temporary grandstand that has been used the last couple years.
NASCAR exemplifies the stagflation. Three-day ticket packages ranged in price from $135 to $192 apiece and beers were $7 a pop. An upgrade to a seat in the Dale Earnhardt Terrace or Richard Petty Terrace was $249. And premium seating in the Vegas Clubhouse would set you back $849, but that included someone fetching your brews for you. Race fans with an RV could park in the infield for $900 and those who wanted to avoid the traffic could copter in for $399 round trip. Helicopter tour companies, that normally tote tourists to the Grand Canyon, do great business on race Sunday. Standing in the parking lot before the race will remind you of the helicopter attack scene by the Air Calvary in the movie Apocalypse Now.But, while fat cats were being airlifted to the track for beer and giant turkey legs, riders on The Foreclosure Express were munching on Danish and signing “All aboard the Foreclosure Express. Climb aboard, get your houses for less,” while cruising around Vegas looking for bargains. The Express’ proprietor, Barbara Zucker, told the Las Vegas Sun that she came up with those catchy lyrics while in shower. And she and her husband Marshall spent $100,000 on the 24-seat bus, hoping to capitalize on the sale of homes that are underwater, so to speak.
There are 11,000 bank-owned homes for (short) sale in Las Vegas according to RealtyTrac. So, the Zuckers’ busing idea should pay off in spades. But, Las Vegas homeowners that are performing on their mortgages, don’t great the Express with smiles. “In every neighborhood the bus goes through,” writes Las Vegas Sun reporter Brendan Buhler, “people glare at it.” Even little kids shake their fists and jeer at the Express bus.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/french/french78.html