Another Racing Oriented Restuarant Closed? Yep – UPDATE: hearing that Race Rock Restaurant in Las Vegas has closed its doors, at least temporarily. The Pettys, Jeff Gordon, Rusty Wallace, Mario and Michael Andretti, John Force and Don Prudhomme are among the owners of the restaurant. The restaurant was full of memorabilia from various race teams. It was the site of numerous NASCAR related press conferences, and a favorite hangout of race teams and fans during NASCAR events in Las Vegas. There is a possibility it may re-open in February. This has no effect on the Race Rock Restaurant in Orlando.(4-10-2001) UPDATE: The multimillion-dollar Race Rock restaurant became downtown Las Vegas’ perhaps most expensive empty storefront Monday after managers said that delays at the unbuilt Neonopolis entertainment complex across the street had cut too deeply into their business. Race Rock’s closing means taxpayers must continue to wait for the downtown casino-funded Fremont Street Experience to repay more than $5.6 million in public funds spent to obtain the land that the restaurant was built on, city officials said. Slightly more than $8,000 has been returned, officials said. Tourists walking by the motorsports-themed Race Rock on Monday saw a locksmith barring the entrance. A sign taped to the door read, “If circumstances allow it, we expect to reopen our Supercharged Restaurant when Neonopolis reopens in our block of Fremont Street early next year. However, we cannot continue to sustain the significant operating losses we’ve been experiencing until that happens.”(Las Vegas Review Journal)(4-13-2001) (4-12-2001)
