Drivers did burnouts on Vegas Strip for what Dale Earnhardt Jr. called 'NASCAR's slam dunk contest'

The Las Vegas Strip is almost always open. But Thursday evening was one of those rare occasions where part of it was shut down so NASCAR drivers could do doughnuts in the street.

That’s simplifying it a little bit, but that’s what took place outside of the Wynn Las Vegas and The Palazzo for the NASCAR Burnout Blvd Driven by Goodyear to celebrate the beginning of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs — a 10-race shootout starting Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

People line the street like it’s a national parade, Dale Earnhardt Jr. told For The Win, but it’s “extremely loud with the cars burning out and the motors revving.” Smoke consumes the intersection as drivers show off their burnouts after driving a few blocks down the boulevard from the start point at Planet Hollywood.

“It’s a small box because what can you do with a car doing doughnuts? You just spin it around,” Earnhardt said by phone Thursday while promoting Goodyear’s Burnout Sweepstakes, where fans can win a trip to the 2020 Daytona 500 and a ride in the famous blimp.

“The drivers are getting more and more creative each year, and it’s becoming NASCAR’s slam dunk contest. They have a lot of fun with it. It’s a great way for us to kick off our playoffs. The drivers get to goof around. Where else do we get to take the cars out onto the streets and break the laws?”

Good point. Here’s a look at how some of the burnouts on the Las Vegas Boulevard turned out.

The 10-race, 16-driver playoffs start Sunday with the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With rounds divided into groups of three races, the field will slowly shrink from 16 driver to 12, 12 to eight and then eight to the final Championship 4, who will compete for the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November.