The Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix stirred a ton of controversy and debate in the past week. Poor management was the main issue that was criticized by fans and experts around the globe. Several drivers and insiders of NASCAR also shared their opinions about the event and a lot of it was negative. However, former Cup Series driver Kenny Wallace has come to Formula One’s defense as he outlined a history of mismanagement in sporting events held in the States.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend had started on a bad note. Formula One was already facing a lot of criticism for making life difficult for Las Vegas residents with their preparation for the race. To add to the unfortunate series of events, a drain cover mishap during the first practice session led to the organizers sending fans home as the second practice session took place in front of empty grandstands.

Kenny Wallace paints a dull picture of sporting events gone wrong in the States

While several motorsports personalities slammed the horrible mismanagement, Kenny Wallace came out in support of Formula One. The 60-year-old explained how poorly managed sporting events have always been part of American history, across all sports. One of the biggest events he recalled unfolded during the 2010 edition of The Great American Race. 

“I’ve watched other sh*t shows. I’ve watched the Daytona 500 get cut short because the track broke up in turns 1 and 2. Hell, I’ve even watched a driver hit the blower, Juan Pablo Montoya. So, we’ve all seen sh*t shows all over America, every single sport. I’ve seen sprinkler systems come on during a baseball game. You name it, all sports have had sh*t shows and boy we get to make fun of, “Look! They got a sh*t show. Of course, I’m perfect, they’re dumb’,” the former Cup Series driver said.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix was seen more like an entertainment event than a motorsports event. That is something that didn’t sit well with a lot of racing purists. However, as far as Kenny Wallace is concerned, the entertainment factor in sports today is absolutely necessary. Gone are the days when fans were happy with just racing.

“I do feel bad for Formula One because I see all the NASCAR executives, all the NASCAR people out there. We’re all trying to learn how do we keep people vested in all sports because the human has changed so much, they just can’t watch, they need to be entertained,” he added.

The build-up to the race weekend was not the best as Las Vegas residents did not shy away from expressing their dissatisfaction with the disruption of normal life. The difficulty caused to the locals was covered by several big media houses. However, as far as Kenny Wallace is concerned, he cannot criticize the process.

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The 60-year-old mentioned that since Formula One was organizing the event out of love for motorsports, why he would not be able to criticize the process. He also retorted against racing enthusiasts who believe that the Las Vegas strip is not a real track, proving to be a real defendant amidst all the criticism.

“As far as people saying, it should go to a real race track. I’m sorry I’ve always had a dream of going to Monaco. Monaco is not a real racetrack. There are a lot of facilities throughout the world that are not. You look at Winter Classic for hockey. Or you look at what baseball did in the corn fields over the last 2 or 3 years,” he said.

However, there can be no doubt that the Las Vegas locals have been most affected by the build-up to the race. If F1 is to do the event for 9 more years, they will have to come up with a more effective way of organizing it.

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