Fans roared as perennial NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson won the latest Shelby American Sprint Cup race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But event organizers and convention officials say the local economy was the real winner.

The NASCAR cup race on Feb. 28 likely matched or exceeded the nearly $107 million in nongaming economic impact of last year's event, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority spokesman Jeremy Handel said. The convention authority's initial attendance numbers from the LVMS are close to 150,000, he added.

"As a one-day event, Sunday's NASCAR race is up there with New Year's Eve," Handel said. Last year it drew an estimated 149,200 fans, including 108,300 out-of-town visitors. Feb. 27's Sam's Town 300 -- part of the NASCAR Nationwide race series -- isn't tracked by the authority. However, the Saturday race in Las Vegas drew 50,000 fans, LVMS President Chris Powell said.

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It's not often that you to get witness first-hand two athletes in diametrically opposed sports making their debuts in such feverish circumstances. But getting to see Danica Patrick take her first laps in a stock car -- and run her first races at Daytona -- and Stephen Strasburg throw his first pitches for the Washington Nationals, beg comparisons.

Both were, and in fact are, being seen as saviors -- Patrick for NASCAR, which is struggling to match its previously stratospheric TV and live attendance numbers, and Strasburg for the Nationals, who have lost more than 100 games the past two seasons.

And while Patrick's first act has come and gone -- she's headed back to IndyCars before returning to run the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on June 26 at New Hampshire -- Strasburg's eagerly-as-awaited debut is scheduled for Tuesday. That's when the mainly minor-league roster of the Detroit Tigers comes calling at Space Coast Stadium.

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Has the "Danica stopper" been found? Only time will tell. The question of whether or not young Swiss driver Simona de Silvestro can turn into a true star in the IZOD IndyCar Series and enter a rivalry with its most popular driver, Danica Patrick, won't be decided for a while.

But what's for certain is that America's top open-wheel league will feature two full-time female competitors on the grid in 2010.

De Silvestro will make the jump to IndyCar with HVM Racing after winning four events in last year's Atlantics season. To get used to the bigger IndyCars, she tested with the team during the offseason and at last week's IRL Open Test at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala.

"It's a little weird when you come from one series and you're winning, and then you kind have to re-learn everything," she said during a league teleconference yesterday.

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At least three female drivers will be competing in most Izod IndyCar Series races in 2010, and possibly four. HVM Racing announced Monday that Atlantic Championship graduate Simona De Silvestro will drive its No. 78 Team Stargate Worlds car for a full campaign. The 21-year-old from Switzerland won four Atlantic races in 2009 and took the championship lead into the season finale before getting crashed out.

Milka Duno reportedly has sponsorship for at least a partial Indy car season and is trying to find a team to field her entry. And owner/driver Sarah Fisher has expanded her 2010 program to include at least nine races.Finally, Indy Lights race winner Ana Beatriz will make her IndyCar Series debut in her home race at Sao Paulo, Brazil for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Additional races are a possibility if 'Bia' turns in a good performance in Brazil.

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Danica Patrick’s first three NASCAR Nationwide races weren’t exactly memorable, other than the publicity they garnered.

She placed 35th after wrecking at Daytona; she was not competitive and finished 31st, three laps down, at Fontana, Calif.; and she was 36th after wrecking Sunday at Las Vegas.

Patrick now will step away from NASCAR for a while, returning to her primary ride in the Indy Racing League.

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Those hoping to see Danica Patrick driving a stock car better do it this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway or wait until late June. Saturday's Sam's Town 300 Nationwide Series race will end.

The first phase of Patrick's NASCAR tutorial before she focuses on her day job as an Izod IndyCar Series driver with Andretti Autosport, with whom she spent testing Wednesday and Thursday at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.

Her next scheduled Nationwide start for JR Motorsports is June 26 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. "We've put a lot of effort into these first three stock-car races, but my ultimate goal is still to win the Indianapolis 500 and the IndyCar championship; that's the primary focus," Patrick said in a prerace release.

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In a word? Yes! Danica Patrick started 36th at the Stater Bros. 300 in Fontana CA last Saturday and ran a clean race finishing 31st. 

That doesn't sound like a great race, but it is a lot better than some so called "fans" have been giving her credit for.

She hung back, stayed out of trouble and tried to get used to the car.  Some of the GoDaddy team's radio traffic was broadcast and I thought the questions.

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It's the day every girl dreams of: Her 16th birthday, when she can finally get her driver's license, and parading around in ripped-up stockings becomes only mildly disturbing.

Dakota Fanning, who turned the big 1-6 on Tuesday, celebrated the milestone by sashaying through the streets of Los Angeles in a furry tiara and, perhaps more intriguingly, a super-torn pair of stockings. Leftover wardrobe from her recent movie The Runaways, or a birthday gift from Miley Cyrus?

Before Danica Patrick hit the track on  Feb. 20th for the Stater Bros. 300 in Fontana, CA driving the No. 7 GoDaddy car for JR Motorsports, she was making the rounds of Southern California media.

She appeared on "The Ellen Degeneres Show" on  Feb. 17 and made other stops at "Good Day LA" on KTTV FOX 11, "The Bonnie Hunt Show" , the "CBS Evening News" and CNN for future air dates.

She was a guest on the syndicated "On- Air with Ryan Seacrest" radio show on  Feb. 18 and  "Chelsea Lately" set to air Feb. 23 on E! She was also a guest on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on ABC.

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Twenty years ago, the thought of a woman NASCAR driver was absolutely absurd. Even 10 years ago, the thought may not have been welcome in the male-dominated sport.

Well, the times have changed and now GoDaddy girl Danica Patrick has taken the NASCAR nation by storm. And she doesn’t even race in the premier stock cup series. In the racing offseason, Patrick signed with JR Motorsports to drive a select number of races in the Nationwide Series. She will also still race in the Indy Cup Series for Andretti Green Racing.

She raced in her first stock car race two weeks ago at Daytona, and last weekend she raced in California. Next weekend, she will race in her third race in Las Vegas before taking a few months break to concentrate on her open-wheel circuit.

In both races, she has shown signs of being a rookie, getting caught up in an accident in Daytona and having pit road issues in California. She finished 35th and 31st respectively, but still she received all the media attention. So, what about her attracts the media? It definitely isn’t the love she shows them.

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