Moving from Fairways to Racetracks: Patrick Lindsey, SVP & GM of Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Sports Business Conversations

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Moving from Fairways to Racetracks: Patrick Lindsey, SVP & GM of Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Episode 102 • 23rd June 2026 • Sports Business Conversations • ADC Partners

00:01

Patrick Lindsey

Hey, this is Patrick Lindsey, general manager of las vegas motor speedway. And this is the sports business conversations podcast from adc partners.

00:25

Dave Almy

Hey, this is Dave Almy of ADC Partners. And it wasn't too long ago that I had Peter Murray on the show to talk about his transition from running the Professional Fighters League to serving as the CEO of the Pro Bowlers Association. And if you think that's an interesting career segue, well, let me introduce you to this episode's guest, Patrick Lindsey. You see, not that long ago, Patrick was running the PGA Tour stop in Las Vegas, the Shriners Open. When the sponsorship of that tournament fell through, Patrick began looking for his next opportunity, which he quickly found in the form of serving as the senior Vice president and General manager of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Now, a golf tournament is obviously a much different animal from a NASCAR race. Or is it?

01:12

Dave Almy

Lindsay actually sees a lot of crossover between the two and sees his golf experience as being essential for getting him ready for managing a motorsports venue. In our conversation, Patrick and I talk about his big job transition and what he's still learning on the fly. We dive into the current state of motorsports, why golf fans and NASCAR fans really aren't that different, and how he keeps his events competitive in the face of new sports entertainment competition in Las Vegas. He also reveals just what he'll be wearing the next time the world's largest EDM festival rolls into town. So thanks for listening in on my conversation with Patrick Lindsey, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Hope you enjoy. Patrick, you grew up in world famous Spruce Pine, North Carolina.

02:03

Patrick Lindsey

That's right.

02:03

Dave Almy

Which now that's about as NASCAR as it gets. Right. But you spent two decades in golf, including a decade running the Shriners Open in Las Vegas. So I'm interested in. When Speedway called about this job that you're currently in, did it feel like, I'm right back to where I started, or was this something like motorsports? Like I kind of sort of know about it? What was the vibe?

02:30

Patrick Lindsey

The vibe was really just kind of being shocked, to be honest. You know, this is a big job.

02:37

Dave Almy

Yeah.

02:37

Patrick Lindsey

And you know, and I'm not, I'm not crazy to think anything other than that. And not to discount what my role was in golf and what I had accomplished in the PGA Tour world of running their event, but I think that kind of helped me prepare to get that phone call to ask if I would be interested in that position. And, you know, just, it was a Very humbling experience for when I got, when I got that phone call. But it was one that I was overjoyed with. Right. Still had to go through the process and all of that. But you know, to get that phone call to see if I was interested in, in joining the team and such a great team in Speedway Motorsports. It was ultimately it was a pretty easy. Yes.

03:22

Dave Almy

Was it intimidating at all? Like because you just pointed out like the Shriners Open, it's an event and you have a year to kind of prep for the week of the tournament and all the things that go up for it. And I, I'm not discounting, you know, the putting on the golf tournament, but. Right. You do get to concentrate your energy into an event, the speedway. And we'll get into it in a minute from the number of events that go on there. But was there a little bit of like. That's a lot. That's a lot.

03:47

Patrick Lindsey

Yeah, it's a lot. But you know, at golf we also had a very small team. Right. And that, and going into, to this role, obviously, you know, went from, I went from managing a team of five to managing a team of 65.

04:02

Dave Almy

Yeah, it's different.

04:04

Patrick Lindsey

But the amount of resources that are available here and with Speedway Motorsports are, you know, able to help me along the way to make sure I kind of get up to speed. The biggest, the biggest change though, truly and, or my biggest learning curve, I should say not necessarily change, but a learning curve for me was between golf and motorsports. Is that with golf? You know, I was the tournament director of the host organization. I was not the property owner, was the general manager of the property. So the setup at the golf course itself, the daily operation of a golf course was not my.

04:42

Dave Almy

You did not mop.

04:42

Patrick Lindsey

That was not my job. That's right. I, and they don't want me to either. Although I'd love, I always wanted to be one of those machines that kind of rolls back and forth. That looked a lot of fun.

04:51

Dave Almy

Yeah, we're all eight year olds at heart.

04:53

Patrick Lindsey

That's right. That's right. But you know, coming to this job, you know, not only do I kind of oversee the events, but I also oversee the day to day function property. So that property management side was new to me. But that's kind of when I go and reference all of you know, all of our team members and our facilities team, our operations team and how great they are and also inheriting A team that has just so much experience. I mean, Everybody has here 15, 20 years, so. But it's that. That was my biggest learning curve going from golf to. To motorsports. But, you know, again, like I said, it's been. It's been awesome. Really. Zero complaint.

05:39

Dave Almy

Can you. Can you talk a little bit about your. Your welcome to motorsports moment? Because, look, I mean, golf and motorsports, I'm talking about the spectrum. And like, golf is way down at one end, and motorsports has to be all the way down at the other end, right? So, like, what translates the most for you, like, between two. What is the bridge that helps you be effective in your job right now from those two very, very different worlds?

06:07

Patrick Lindsey

Yeah, very different. You know, a lot of people have heard me say this. My staff's probably sick of me saying it. But, you know, I get to, you know, people get to make noise now, right? And I get to ask people to make noise where in golf I had to tell people to be quiet all the time, right? The little sign, be quiet, please.

06:25

Dave Almy

But now I get that's not nascar.

06:27

Patrick Lindsey

I get exactly the exact opposite.

06:30

Dave Almy

That would be hilarious to walk around the racetrack with that sign over your head just to see what the response would be.

06:36

Patrick Lindsey

One of my gifts I was given when I came to work here, somebody actually put together a little quiet, please paddle with the Speedway Motorsports logo. And the certain member of my teams I just need to give it to sometimes. But, you know, that's. That's been. What's fun, though, is that we can. We can put together activities for fans, engaging activities for fans, where I have to worry about, you know, them making noise or not. We can do concerts, we can play music. You know, all of this. All the stuff that I wasn't really able to. To do before. So that. That's been a lot of fun.

07:12

Patrick Lindsey

I would say, though, you know, my welcome the motorsports moment, I mean, I walk around here every day and just in all of the size of the property, the size of the track, and you know, there's always kind of that. That moment that I tend to. To always take, whether it was in golf or now for about a year and a half now, and then motorsports of just that quiet moment on a, you know, Saturday or Sunday morning, and you're kind of, you know, you're in one of your. Your. One of your areas, whether it's in the grandstands or suite level, and you just kind of take a deep breath for a moment. And I've had a couple of those moments, and, you know, Just in all of what we're able to do here. So that's one of those, the other ones.

07:56

Patrick Lindsey

I went to Daytona this year and going to Daytona and going into that infield, I mean that's as, you know, kind of a member of the motorsports community now. And being at Daytona and seeing the fanfare, seeing how large that place was, that was an eye opening moment for me as well. So I mean outside of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, going to another track and be like, holy cow.

08:18

Dave Almy

So it's good learning experience for you to get hands on to the, so over to the super bowl aspect of racing.

08:24

Patrick Lindsey

Right.

08:24

Dave Almy

And what did you learn about fans when you were there? And you're watching the fan base go because again, we like, we talk about, you know, golf exists one end and racing on the other. How about from a fan perspective? You're sitting there in the infield of Daytona. What realizations did you come to about okay, this is a motorsports fan. This is what we have to make sure that we're catering to at my place.

08:44

Patrick Lindsey

It's the passion of the fans. Without a doubt.

08:47

Dave Almy

Yeah.

08:47

Patrick Lindsey

You know, the, the, the golf fans were, were passionate about their golfers. But it's a different level and different motorsports. Yeah. I mean, you know, listen, it's the flags and the loud merchandise that you wear. Right. I mean we all have one of those shirts of your favorite driver. And it's loud and it's bold and it is right in your face.

09:11

Dave Almy

I got my Mark Martin diecast race car right over there somewhere.

09:14

Patrick Lindsey

That, that's right. But that doesn't exist in golf. Right. Occasionally I think I have a Jordan Spieth and a Tiger woods bobblehead. Right. But you're not quietly on your shoulder.

09:24

Dave Almy

On the, on the shelf, just nodding. Nodding occasionally.

09:27

Patrick Lindsey

That's right. But you're not walking around, you know, like a big, you know, picture of, you know, Bubba Watson or you know, Tiger or Phil or anyone. So it's just like that passion of the fan is what is driving. Right. That's what drives your ideas. It drives what you want to do in your fan zone or in between stage breaks.

09:48

Dave Almy

And does it feel like with motorsports there's a level. I mean golf is kind of boxed in by the structure of golf and you know, like you said, quiet and like there's an expectation that people have when you get to the golf course. Like it's Going to be structured in a certain way. Does that then for motorsports feel like that opens up your ability to say hey let's try this, let's do this differently. Does it provide you with a broader canvas than maybe you thought you had at golf?

10:17

Patrick Lindsey

Well, what I think the big difference in the fan experience that we didn't have in golf but we never had engulfed it's just because of the time constraints of playing for a round and having to get 144 players through a golf course a day is that there is no like real true build up to the start of of a golf tournament on any particular day. Yeah, right. Like because that tee time starts at. You know, sometimes when I was working for Shriners and term and director for Shriners Children's Open, our tee times would start at 6:30 in the morning. Oh yeah. So there was no like build up to the excitement.

10:55

Dave Almy

But nobody's coming out at 4 o' clock in the morning and that's Right.

10:58

Patrick Lindsey

And doing a concert. Right. Or a flyover. But that's what's been really fun so far in kind of the two real races last fall and the Springs NASCAR races that I've really kind of been at the helm for is being a part of the buildup of all of the activities.

11:15

Dave Almy

Y.

11:15

Patrick Lindsey

Right. Again like it's whether it's the fan zone stuff and the stuff we have going on in our, on our pre race stages. The driver introductions. You know, you don't have player introductions in golf. Right. I. I tried to do a flyover one year and they told me I couldn't. Right. It's like what, you want us to stop play at you know, noon.

11:37

Dave Almy

Yes.

11:37

Patrick Lindsey

So you can do a flyover. I'm like yeah, I kind of do. I kind of do want you to stop play.

11:41

Dave Almy

Hold that back swing.

11:43

Patrick Lindsey

Right? Correct. And I actually saw an article that they are going to do that and I'm like well, I can't really get.

11:48

Dave Almy

Ahead of your time, but.

11:50

Patrick Lindsey

Right. Yeah, true. And center. But you know, but that, but I.

11:53

Dave Almy

Love all of that. I love all that.

11:54

Patrick Lindsey

The driver's meeting. You know, we have our drivers meeting that's open to the public in the Neon garage prior to where all the fans can get around and see the drivers go through the driver's meeting then get introduced and go. But there's just this whole build up to that green flag that has been a lot of fun and you know, different from golf for sure.

12:15

Dave Almy

Can you give a little bit now that you've been in at the track for a little over about a year and a half, right About. Is that what it's been?

12:23

Patrick Lindsey

It's been a year. I said a year and a half earlier. It's really been a year and two months now.

12:28

Dave Almy

Okay, a year and a half. We're rounding up. This is not a math show, Patrick.

12:31

Patrick Lindsey

This is a.

12:31

Dave Almy

This is a sports business conversation. You know, we're not. We're not going to dive into the details that fast, but can you, like, now that you have over a year under your belt, what's the state of the state for motorsports as you see it? Because, like, your track has it all, man. You got nascar, you got nhra, you know, World of Outlaws, you know, what's the. What's the current vibe in the industry right now from your perspective?

12:54

Patrick Lindsey

Well, I think there's a lot of growth and excitement that's. That's getting ready to happen. You know, you can see, especially on a nascar piece and just really the success that, you know, as the lawsuit has kind of transitioned. But, you know, Michael Jordan, who is a headline, you know, a headline athlete everywhere you go. Right. You know, his success now this year and Tyler Reddick's five wins this year, I think is just making NASCAR more and more exciting because people are leaning forward a little bit like Michael Jordan as, you know, an owner of the most successful team right now. You know, people are really starting to take notice. And you have a, you know, someone like Michael Jordan and a personality like Michael Jordan who wants to invest in the sport. I think really just shows, you know, the.

13:48

Patrick Lindsey

What he thinks the. The potential of NASCAR can be now moving. Moving forward, and hopefully we can get back to, you know, the, you know, the. The success and the popularity and hosting hundreds of thousands of people we can. And week out that. That we had, you know, several years ago.

14:07

Dave Almy

Yep.

14:08

Patrick Lindsey

But that. That's where I think. That's where I think the state of, like, NASCAR is right now. I think there's. There's a lot of. There's a lot of excitement, and a lot of that comes from. I think Michael Jordan's team and also they just changed the playoff format to something that I think is a little bit simpler for the average fan to understand. Right. It's something that the drivers wanted as well. There's. There's a little negotiation and compromise there, and I think they, you know, I think they're set up for success moving forward.

14:36

Dave Almy

There's been some pretty aggressive moves about trying to make sure that NASCAR in particular is staying at the forefront. Right. Like you talked about the playoff format. We've seen the All Star race changing venues and dirt track at Bristol and race in the naval base at San Diego's.

14:54

Patrick Lindsey

Come on.

14:54

Dave Almy

So really trying to create some visual and structural changes that make the sport interesting and compelling. How does Las Vegas and your track want to keep that vibe? I'm using the word vibe a lot. Here's a lot of vibes about nascar. Try to keep that alive, that spirit of reinvention to that tweaking and adjusting. So when you think about some of those other things that have been done, as you look forward to NASCAR at Las Vegas, what are some of the things that you'd like to try?

15:24

Patrick Lindsey

You know, I was thinking about this earlier and, you know, kind of half jokingly, you know, why don't we come out here and make some right turns instead of some left turns and go the opposite way around the track? You know, what would that look like?

15:40

Dave Almy

Mid race U turn.

15:42

Patrick Lindsey

That's right. That's right. Let's just go. Go the opposite way.

15:44

Dave Almy

I think you had trouble with the flyover golf. Yeah.

15:48

Patrick Lindsey

Yeah. Talk about changing a tradition, right? I mean, we got Robles and we got road course and all of that. You know, I. It's, it's. It's a very interesting question. And I, I do think it is. Is hard to do something different here just because we are a points race. Yep. Right. You know, we have, we host two races a year, One in the spring, one in the fall. One of those is a, is a playoff race. And I think it would be really hard to do something different because there's so much writing on those points.

16:19

Dave Almy

Yeah.

16:20

Patrick Lindsey

So I do think it would be hard. I will say, though, we are always open for anything here in Las Vegas. I think we have an extremely versatile piece of property and a really versatile super speedway. So, I mean, I would always be open to conversation. I tell my team all the time is like, well, what do you think about X Company X Partnership? I'm like, listen, we just need to have conversations, guys. You know, let's have a conversation. Conversations are free, right. And they spark a lot of brainstorming and hopefully eventual partnership. When it comes to working with different partners in town, the same can be had with the competition side. And could we do something different? I would be all ears for that, and I know our company would be as well.

17:11

Patrick Lindsey

But I do think it's kind of hard to change when you are an important.

17:15

Dave Almy

There's a lot riding on it. Yeah.

17:17

Patrick Lindsey

And, and one the fall when you have all of these points associated with it.

17:21

Dave Almy

So, so like as you mentioned, you got two cup races there, which is, makes you sort of select company as far as racetracks in North America. When you're making that pitch to NASCAR about hosting races here and like valuable races here. Right. Points races. What makes Vegas that compelling cup destination? Why does that continue to be the case for your track? What is Charlotte seeing? There they go. Yeah, no, they, we need two races in Vegas.

17:51

Patrick Lindsey

Well, you know, it's really easy to sit here and just say, you know, because it's Vegas. Yeah, sure. Right. I mean, who doesn't want to come out here? You know, I'm sure the teams might want to come out here more than twice. Right. Because why would you not want to come out to Las Vegas? You know, maybe July would be a bad time to come out in our 120 degree heat, but you know, the spring and the fall, that's tough on,.

18:13

Dave Almy

That's tough on tires.

18:15

Patrick Lindsey

That's. That's right. But it's such an incredible place to be. The hospitality that the city provides, you know, kind of paired with our track which, you know, I think we can say is probably one of the newer tracks in NASCAR. Even though it's been around for 20 plus years. You know, it's probably one of the newer tracks. We have some modern amenities out there for the drivers, you know that the track is a mile and a half oval, high speed. I mean, I think it checks a lot of boxes. But at the end of the day, you know, we can have a great track and a so market and probably not have two races. Yeah. But we have a great track and we have great market. Yep. And a city full of lights.

19:07

Patrick Lindsey

A city who wants to party, A city who wants to, you know, provide you the best hospitality. So it's a, it's a truly great place to be in the spring and the fall and our temperatures, you know, really not all accommodating.

19:20

Dave Almy

It wasn't that long ago when the speedway was really the sports option in Las Vegas. And that's obviously changed considerably over the last 10, 15 years. Right.

19:33

Patrick Lindsey

I mean there's so much here now. Right.

19:36

Dave Almy

It's nuts.

19:36

Patrick Lindsey

And, and we would like to think, and you know, I've. When I was with golf. I talked about the speedway and golf. Right. I mean, I think those two professional sports were the really the first ones that were here. The speedway kind of kicked it off and golf came shortly after that. But we would like to think that, you know, we kind of started all of this and kind of set and laid the ball rolling the initial groundwork on that to, for the city to be really interested in hosting professional sports now they came, you know, years later. Right. With Vegas Gold Knights, you know, basically coming next. And this is the success that they've had, I think has just made all of us better as well.

20:23

Patrick Lindsey

But, you know, we talk about, you know, hosting the super bowl and how many people came to the super bowl and experience that. Well, you know, let's backtrack just a little bit and let's think about when we had 150,000 people here for some races. Call it 15. Yeah, call it 15 years ago, we had 150,000 people here. And let's talk about, you know, get a little bit off of sports, but go to the entertainment side and how this property hosts 180,000 plus people for three nights in a row. I mean, let's not forget about Las Vegas Motor Speedway and what this property has done for the city to lay some groundwork to bring some other large events and, and how, you know, capable the city is to do that.

21:11

Dave Almy

So it's great in that, I mean, having all these new sports entertainment properties and it's great. And then it raises the profile and people see what's going on and Vegas becomes top of mind, everything like that. But it does create competition in market. Right. Particularly for some of the things that racetracks live and breathe on.

21:26

Patrick Lindsey

Right.

21:26

Dave Almy

It's, you know, it's ticket sales, it's sponsor revenue, and these are all things that you're intimately familiar with from your previous life in golf, too. So as you talk to your teams and you talk to them about how to be successful in a crowded marketplace, what are the, some of the things that you're giving them advice on, like how do you make sure that they're keeping their edge and making sure that as they talk to people, what message are you sending out about the speedway in the market itself?

21:55

Patrick Lindsey

Yeah, I mean, we do like to talk about our history, some of kind of being the ones that laid that groundwork, but you know, that doesn't get new money in. Right, right. So, so we talk a lot about kind of the sales process. And you know, at the end of the day, the sales process itself is. Is not hard right now. It can, it can get hard. Right. You know, the sales process is about, you know, making the connection, getting the meeting, talking about goals and objectives of companies and then presenting them something that meets those goals and objectives. I mean, that's. And then hopefully getting a signed contract. Now, there are difficult steps along the way, but the actual process, when you say it out loud, it's not that difficult to understand.

22:39

Dave Almy

As Lafarna likes to say, it's not rocket surgery.

22:42

Patrick Lindsey

It's. It's. It's not. It's not at all. And I used to say that at golf as well. It's about connecting with your client and then getting the client to open up about their business or their goals and then again, putting together something that matches that and, you know, you're not going to win all of them. And some people are hockey fans, some are F1 fans, some are baseball or Raider fans. But at the end of the day, it's convincing the client that your property and, you know, your competition in the case of this can be nhra or it can be. Can be nascar is something that can suit their goals. And X, Y and Z are ways or are the whys of why our property, our sport, can accomplish your goals. So that's really what it's about.

23:32

Patrick Lindsey

Now I'll say even when I was in golf, the stuff that the Gold Knights and the Raiders particularly had done is really just raise everybody's profile. I mean, and race sports marketing profile. And to understand that, you know, a company's way of advertising doesn't have to be commercials and billboards, that there's a way to spread your message through, you know, through these sports properties, whether it's, you know, entertaining or sponsoring a certain area in a concourse or in a fan zone, just different ways to engage. And you know, I, I felt when I was in golf that as soon as the Golden Knights came in, I was worried.

24:19

Patrick Lindsey

But after they actually had launched and we're in market, we saw more sales than what we had before because I do think that they helped convince businesses in town that this is another platform that, you know, really hadn't been used.

24:32

Dave Almy

Right. Maybe we just didn't see it before.

24:34

Patrick Lindsey

And people are, and businesses are seeing a lot of success and they're sports marketing and advertising.

24:40

Dave Almy

So we have to talk about F1 obviously arrived on the scene a couple years ago. How does that change the calculus for motorsports from where you sit Is it comparative? Does it suck the oxygen out of the room? Or is it more of like, hey, it's just more interested in motorsports all around. So F1's just one part of, it's not here that long. What's, what's the, how does you, how do you address the fact that there's that other significant motorsports property?

25:05

Patrick Lindsey

Yeah, again, I think it just kind of raises the profile of everyone. You know, it's also, you know, I, I've been to the race here. I, I watch it on the weekends just as much as I watch nascar. I, I, I enjoy it because it's, you know, it's different. You know, it's a different way of motorsports. Love the drama in it. You know, it's, I think it's also, it's a different style of race. Right. And the reason why you attend an F1 race, I think, could be a little bit different than why you attend a NASCAR race. Right. I think the NASCAR fan wants to see the entire race. The F1 fan, you know, can't see the entire race. They're there for more of an experience, and there's nothing wrong with that. Right.

25:51

Patrick Lindsey

You, you catch glimpses of the race that you're, you're excited about that you can see, and then you have an inch, you know, a great fan and FNB experience. So, and there's nothing wrong with that, but I do think that the fan base, they are distinct, different. Yeah, yeah, they're fan bases are different. And, you know, we, I would, I'm sure they would love to have some more of our fans. We would love to have more of their fans, but, you know, maybe there's a way to do that. Yeah, but, you know, we, we've enjoyed having them in town and hopefully they enjoy coming out to our race when we have it a couple times a year, too.

26:30

Dave Almy

Now, as we talked about, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, just by its very name, it is a motorsports venue and you get a lot of race fans out there, but by no means is it limited to motorsports. I mean, you get a, you mentioned earlier you had 180,000 people out there for the Electric Daisy Carnival. For people who don't know what the Electric Daisy Carnival is, because this is a sports business podcast. I mean, that is a electronic dance music festival, and it's the world's largest.

26:58

Patrick Lindsey

World's largest music festival.

27:01

Dave Almy

Those are two very different customers. I'm assuming, I'm assuming those are two very different customers. But that kind of creates a unique challenge.

27:10

Patrick Lindsey

They're dressed differently.

27:11

Dave Almy

They're dressed a little.

27:11

Patrick Lindsey

David.

27:13

Dave Almy

They are indeed. I mean, as a general manager for the facility, do you have. Have to pay close attention to how you're accommodating fans of those two very distinct properties differently or is, you know,.

27:29

Patrick Lindsey

Hey, look, as long as the bathrooms.

27:30

Dave Almy

Are clean and the hot dogs are hot, you know, we're good to go.

27:33

Patrick Lindsey

Well, we always like to say, no matter what event is here, whether it's just a small corporate event or if it's NASCAR or edc, you know, what happens at our property, people will. Will first critique it for the good or the bad to the owners of the property or us, the staff members here. So we take a tremendous amount of pride and the cleanliness of our property and how it is used even by insomniac who owns and operates edc. Or it could be the owners of foodie land who were here just a few weeks ago with about 60,000 people. Really cool food festival. You know, it's on us to make sure that we're giving them that property and it's best and, you know, and it's in its best possible condition. But what we love about all those events is.

28:22

Patrick Lindsey

Is how we are able to showcase our property in so many different ways. Right. That we're not just a motorsports complex. We can be whatever you want us to be at the end of the day. Yeah. And the team's ability to flip events to make sure that we're able to have, you know, multiple events going on at the same time or events that start and end just days apart. We take a lot of pride in that as well.

28:49

Dave Almy

Those quick turns.

28:51

Patrick Lindsey

That's right. That's right. We put. We put a lot on our staff, and our staff is just so. So unbelievably remarkable because they just. They just do it and no questions asked. They know that is what we are about, and they take a lot of. A lot of pride in it. EDC setting up right now. The event is in a month. They already. They're. They're here.

29:13

Dave Almy

It's a month away. They're already starting to set up infrastructure.

29:17

Patrick Lindsey

Yeah. Yep. It's. It's crazy. They're setting up their campgrounds right now that about 40,000 people will camp on site of the 180,000 that will attend nightly. 40,000 Of them. Camp. Camp right here on site on these little pods. And they create just an unbelievable atmosphere. That event is probably, you know, as close to a masterpiece as I can See, from what I saw from last year, the coordination that they have from security to all the way up to the artists, you know, of. Of whether it's the cars or the buses or the helicopters that are bringing people in, the coordination of all of that, from fan to performer on stage, it's a dance. Is very impressive. And we're really proud that we're able to host it here.

30:04

Dave Almy

It puts a lot of strain on employees and with that kind of activity. And this is the other thing about racetracks, right? Everybody looks at race day and sees race day, but I mean, there's stuff going on every day of the year. Like you mentioned corporate events, and there's concerts and there's races and there's race teams that live out there, and there's people who have their garages. I mean, there's always something going on, which can be a lot for an employee team. But Speedway was named some of the best place, one of the best places to work in sports by Sports business journal, like 20, 24, 25. And I'm wondering, as you've.

30:35

Dave Almy

You've spent a little over a year there, if you've gotten inside the circle of Speedway Motorsports, the company, and got a sense of who they are and how they work and create an environment for their employees, why do you feel like they earned that unique distinction? What is it about Speedway that separates themselves from all the other places that are, you know, run sports facilities and things?

30:59

Patrick Lindsey

Well, it starts with our leadership, without a doubt. You know, Marcus Smith and the Smith family, you know, they set the groundwork for us and they allow us to. What our chief operating officer, Mike Dirks likes to say a lot is they allow us to be remarkable. Like, we want. We want our employees to be remarkable. We want the events that we put on to be remarkable. And that just kind of goes up and down, I mean, from leadership all the way down through all of our teammates here at Speedway Motorsports. It's about being remarkable and putting on remarkable events.

31:36

Patrick Lindsey

We have our PvP, which is our principles, values and practices that we kind of live by daily and just talks about caring for each other, like I said before, being remarkable, putting on great events, making sure we're taking good care of our client, whether it's that corporate. Whether it's that, you know, that corporate person who's coming in corporate event, who's putting on an event here, or just, you know, our grandstand purchaser or our camper on site. You know, let's make sure that we're providing great experiences for everyone. But, you know, it starts with the Smith family and Marcus at the top and really putting those values on us all the way down so we can.

32:18

Dave Almy

Apply them consistently, too. Right. It's not just. I think plenty of companies are out there with, hey, these are the three bullet points that represent our corporate culture and then just move on into the next thing. But it takes a separate sort of focus to make sure that they're actually being acted upon and employed.

32:33

Patrick Lindsey

That's right. And, you know, from. From my seat, you know, I'm. I really want to be a leader for my team just here in Las Vegas. Las Vegas Motor Speedway of. Of one that is making sure that I'm providing resources for my staff to be successful. I mean, I think that, at the end of the day is. Is my. Is my job is to make sure that my department heads and those team members have the resources that they have to be remarkable. Right. If I take away resources and all of a sudden their productivity, you know, falls, that's on. That's on me.

33:09

Dave Almy

Right.

33:10

Patrick Lindsey

Right. So I need to make sure I'm constantly in communication with our team members here and make sure that, you know, they have the resources available to them to be as. As group as they can.

33:21

Dave Almy

So now, as you look to the future, there have been some rumblings about Vegas and the championship race and things like that. So as you think about being in the elevator with the guys in Charlotte and you want to try to make the, you know, convince them that's the place to be. What's the pitch? What you. You got 10 floors to make the pitch. What's it going to be?

33:44

Patrick Lindsey

Well, we're the, We're a championship town now, right? We got stainless steel Stanley cup champions and the Golden Knights. We have WNBA champions, and in the Aces, we. We host Super Bowls and we're hosting conference championships. I mean, for. For all the reasons I've said before, the excitement and the hospitality and the party that Las Vegas can throw. Right. I mean, there's. There would be no reason why we shouldn't be looked at to host that. To host that championship. And then, you know, typically the weather in October is. Is incredible as we host our, you know, our South Point 400 in October as well. You know, with all of that being being said, I mean, we can list a hundred reasons why Las Vegas and Las Vegas Motor Speedway needs to host that race. But, you know, we. We love our South.

34:36

Patrick Lindsey

Our current South Point 400. We love South Pointe as a Client. And, you know, we're always excited to host just our playoff race. And I don't want to say just the playoff race. Right. Because it's incredibly important. And South Point takes tremendous pride in hosting that race every fall and they're a tremendous partner and we're really happy with what we're currently doing. But you know, on the flip side, a championship race in Las Vegas also makes a lot of sense. So when those conversations are had, you know. Well, you know, like I said before, we're always open to having conversations about how we can put the best product for NASCAR and Las Vegas Motor Speedway out there.

35:16

Dave Almy

Maybe we should add that third race onto the schedule. That would no big deal there with Patrick Lindsay. He's the general manager of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Patrick, thanks for the time. Before I let you go, though, I'm going toss you into the lightning round. A few last minute questions for you. I'm just going to ask you to give me the first thing that pops into that head of yours. Are you ready?

35:37

Patrick Lindsey

Yep. Okay.

35:39

Dave Almy

All right, Patrick Lindsay, in the lightning round, what would be tougher to watch, your last round of golf or your last hot lap around the track?

35:47

Patrick Lindsey

My last round of golf.

35:49

Dave Almy

Last round of golf.

35:49

Patrick Lindsey

Okay. What's the.

35:50

Dave Almy

I'm gonna give the under over on the score. 95.

35:53

Patrick Lindsey

Oh, it's less than that, but man,.

35:55

Dave Almy

It's still thinking about my golf room. Okay.

35:57

Patrick Lindsey

It's still, you know, being in golf for so long. I should be much better than what I am.

36:03

Dave Almy

All right. Very good. All right. What is your go to game when you're out for a night in Las Vegas,.

36:12

Patrick Lindsey

Usually with my wife, and it's a lot of times it's the show at the Smith center or performing arts center and dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Resorts World called Crossroads.

36:26

Dave Almy

Okay, Crossroads. A little insider's tip for a Las Vegas visit. Complete the following sentence. The strangest thing I ever saw on the street trip was. Remember, this is PG 13.

36:45

Patrick Lindsey

Oh, man, I'm going to say the boats now in the Bellagio fountains.

36:51

Dave Almy

Oh, really? Okay, I. I've not seen those. All right, last one. What will you be wearing to the next electric Daisy Carnival event?

37:04

Patrick Lindsey

I'm going to go ahead and think about putting a little staff uniform together of neon pink and neon yellow. Now we're talking some LVMs. Loud, loud clothing to match. To match the bold lifestyle of NASA. Take a while.

37:23

Dave Almy

It's going to take a lot to blend into that group.

37:25

Patrick Lindsey

But if I do it, Dave, you have to come out. All right.

37:28

Dave Almy

Believe me, as my spouse will be happy to tell you, I never miss an opportunity to play dress up.

37:34

Patrick Lindsey

There you go.

37:34

Dave Almy

All right. Patrick Lindsey is the General Manager of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Patrick, many thanks for the time.

37:39

Patrick Lindsey

Thank you.