What happens when the NFL and NASCAR trade paint in Las Vegas?

With Las Vegas Motor Speedway having recently been awarded a fall NASCAR race, and with the NFL this week having bestowed the Raiders upon Las Vegas, there may come a day when NASCAR and the NFL trade paint and knock helmets on the same Sunday afternoon.

They better start widening Interstate 15 near Barstow, California.

First, a public service announcement: “Let me be quick to say we are ecstatic about the Raiders coming to town,” LVMS president Chris Powell said. “This is something that’s great for our city.”

Should NASCAR and the NFL race side by side on any given Sunday — and with both expected to draw heavily from Southern California if they do — it will be something equally great for the In-N-Out Burger and other merchants at the refueling and restroom stop known as Barstow.

As for the logistics, Powell said it’s probably too early to say what impact the NFL would have on a fall race at LVMS, provided the Raiders were playing at home the same day.

“We’ve never been in that situation, so I really don’t know,” Powell said about the crossing of bridges when it becomes necessary.

Taking the high groove, he suggested there might be an opportunity to avoid a conflict before NASCAR and the NFL set schedules in stone. The NFL has Thursday night games, and Sunday and Monday night games; LVMS has lights. So there are options.

But if a conflict cannot be avoided?

Even when NASCAR was going stronger than it is now, it bowed in deference to the omnipotent pro football behemoth.

In 2012, when word got out the NFL could possibly play the Super Bowl as late as Feb. 11, NASCAR moved its Super Bowl, the season-opening Daytona 500 and ancillary events, forward a week to remove any chance of a conflict.

It was a smart move by NASCAR. Only a crazy person or Kyle Busch would challenge the NFL to a fight on pit road.

WHELDON’S WIDOW SPEAKS

It has been a little more than five years since Dan Wheldon, the popular two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, was killed in a fiery wreck at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Until recently, his widow, Susie, had not spoken about it.

She broke her silence to the Tampa Bay Times before IndyCar opened its season in St Petersburg, Florida, in Dan and Susie Wheldon’s adopted hometown.

It wasn’t easy for her.

“I just remember it being really chaotic,” Susie Wheldon said while choking back tears in a video that ran with the story. “I knew it was pretty bad …

“Grief is just messy. It’s lonely, and it’s all those things. But if you can kind of push through, you can be hopeful again …”

Five years later, Dan Wheldon’s death is still a compelling story that tugs at heartstrings. You can read it here.

ILL-FITTING SUITS

It is my belief that auto racing fans could not care less about lawsuits and other stuff that happens away from the track. But let the record show that Kurt Busch, the reigning Daytona 500 champ from Las Vegas, has filed a counter suit, claiming he already has paid Jon Caponigro $1.3 million of the $1.4 million his former manager has sued him for. Busch is seeking “millions” in counter damages, because he claims Caponigro gave him bad advice.

Suddenly Kyle Busch and Joey Logano don’t look quite so childish for having resolving their differences with their fists on Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s pit road.

FLIPPIN’ CRAZY

The Monster Energy folks posted a short video of a Monster SUV performing the first front flip in Monster Jam history at Sam Boyd Stadium last weekend.

Somebody on Twitter compared it to Kirk Gibson hitting a home run in the World Series off Dennis Eckersley.

“I can’t believe what I just saw,” wrote a monsterly energized fan with a Twitter account.

WHITE FLAG

NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer, after finishing third at Auto Club Speedway in California:

“First time in a long time I grabbed the bottle of Jack in the plane for the right reason …”

Follow all of our NASCAR coverage online at reviewjournal.com/Nascar. Follow all of our Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas coverage online at reviewjournal.com/Raiders and @NFLinVegas on Twitter.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.