Trucks will be out for NASCAR weekend — recycling trucks

By Brian Hilderbrand

Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Each day during the annual NASCAR weekend, a veritable army of garbage trucks descends on Las Vegas Motor Speedway and hauls countless tons of trash to the nearby Apex landfill.

Nobody seems to be keeping track, but it is estimated that the weekend crowd of 300,000 will produce 25 to 50 tons of trash during the three days the track is open to spectators.

Beginning this year, speedway officials hope to reduce the amount of trash that heads to the landfill by allowing fans to recycle their aluminum cans at designated bins that will be placed throughout the speedway property during the race weekend.

Chris Powell, Las Vegas Motor Speedway general manager, said the decision to begin recycling during the track’s NASCAR weekend came about when its food and beverage provider, Levy Restaurants, switched from plastic bottles to aluminum cans.

“We’ve been working closely with Levy to transition from plastic bottles to the aluminum cans, and these receptacles will give our fans a real good way of helping us do our part,” Powell said.

“We’re excited to support our partnership with Las Vegas Motor Speedway by making a significant contribution to the recycling efforts associated with the speedway’s ‘Going Green’ initiative,” said Jay Satenspiel, director of operations for Levy Restaurants at the speedway.

This is Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s first step in joining its sister track, Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., in becoming more environmentally friendly. Infineon Raceway, which bills itself as the only major auto racing facility in the country with a comprehensive recycling program, last year collected nearly 16 tons of recyclables during its four major race weekends. Like the Las Vegas track, Infineon Raceway is owned by Bruton Smith’s Speedway Motorsports Inc.

According to track spokesman John Cardinale, the raceway collected 31,604 pounds of recyclables in 2007, including 160,668 plastic bottles, 64,431 cans and 32,981 glass bottles.

Since Infineon started the program in 2004, the facility has recycled more than 56 tons of material, Cardinale said, and has been recognized by California for its efforts.

Powell said Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Levy Restaurants would look at expanding their recycling program to include items such as plastic bottles and paper.

“Our plan is to evaluate this program as soon as this event is over and see how we can improve it in the future,” Powell said.

The speedway will post the locations of its recycling bins on its Web site (www.lvms.com) before the race weekend.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway will host its 11th annual NASCAR weekend Feb. 29 to March 2. Qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series UAW-Dodge 400 will be Friday, Feb. 29; the Nationwide Series Sam’s Town 300 will be Saturday, March 1; and the UAW-Dodge 400 will be Sunday, March 2.

Last year’s Sam’s Town 300 attracted a crowd in excess of 100,000. Sunday’s main event drew an estimated 155,000.