Fans support NASCAR’s longtime relationship with NRA

They say policy change wouldn’t make a difference

LAS VEGAS – Five months after the Las Vegas Boulevard shooting that killed 58 people and sent the nation into another round — and not the last — of gun-control debate, visitors still walk by the Mandalay Bay hotel/casino and stop to look at the 32nd-floor window where the gunman perched.

Some take photos.

This weekend, NASCAR fans in town for Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway joined the curious as they visited the Vegas Strip and wondered about sudden violence on a huge and largely inexplicable scale.

“It makes it even more real to see the place where it happened,” said Nancy Willimon, a fan from Phoenix. “You think about stuff like that and that it can never happen where you are, but it seems so random now. It’s still hard to imagine what happened here.”

The latest mass shooting, Feb. 14 at a high school in Parkland, Fla., marked a turning point of sorts on one front of the gun discussion. Several companies have cut financial ties with the National Rifle Association, and some stores that sell guns have announced changes in their policies.

The debate touched the NASCAR world.

The NRA is a co-sponsor, along with Bass Pro Shops, of the Aug. 18 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

BMS officials say they have no intention of dropping the NRA as a sponsor.

“This has been a good long-standing partnership, and we plan to continue,” the track said in a statement.

The NRA has had a presence in NASCAR circles for years. It has co-sponsored Bristol’s popular night race since 2016 and has been a financial contributor to Speedway Children’s Charities, a Charlotte-based motor sports charity.

After 26 people were killed by a gunman at a church in rural Texas last November, Texas Motor Speedway, which held a NASCAR race the same day, changed its victory lane procedures to eliminate the traditional firing of handguns by the race winner. Track President Eddie Gossage said he made the change out of respect for the victims.

A TMS official said Friday that there are no plans to eliminate the celebratory gun firings from future victory lane cer- emonies at the Fort Worth speedway.

The NRA also has been a TMS race sponsor.

Fans in Las Vegas for this weekend’s race generally support racing’s relationship with the NRA.

“I don’t know that anything needs to change,” said Bobby Hines, a Denny Hamlin fan from Tulsa. “I know everybody doesn’t like the NRA, but they do some good things as far as gun safety and the like. I don’t see any reason why NASCAR shouldn’t be involved with them. Ending that sponsorship won’t change anything in the wider world.”

James Contresas, 19, of Henderson, Nev., a Las Vegas suburb, said he was saddened by the Parkland school shooting.

“I agree that we need some kind of change as far as controlling what people get what kinds of guns,” he said. “But I don’t know that having the NRA involved in NASCAR has anything to do with that one way or the other. It’s tough to see those kids and those families go through that, but I don’t see a real connection between the two.”

Sacramento resident Lillie Henderson, who described herself as a “lifelong Kevin Harvick fan,” said mass shootings have changed her thinking on guns but not to the extent that dramatic changes are needed.

“I don’t see the need for people to have these military-type weapons, and with the number of shootings we’ve had something needs to be done,” she said. “But I don’t think we need to upset the whole apple cart. I’m not sure how I feel about the NRA, but I don’t know that they should be chased out of the sport.”