When people ask me about my favorite type of trivia, I often say “escalators.” They’re wonderful for reason I’m sure I’ve discussed before, but if not, maybe I will in an upcoming Weekender. Anyway, today’s story is about escalators, and when I learned about it, I was immediately entranced. — Dan

Formula 1 (F1) racing has been around since 1950. It’s extremely popular, with hundreds of millions of fans around the world. These fans flock to major cities and dedicated race sites to watch as some of the best drivers on the planet steer custom-built cars through closed city streets and purpose-built race tracks, with the fastest of racecars going more than 200 miles per hour (320 km/hr). With that many fans, the price of getting a ticket to a race can be very high.

Which is why some people spent a lot of time riding escalators.

In late 2023, F1 racing returned to Vegas after a decades long hiatus. On November 18 of that year, fans got to watch the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, a 50-lap race around a 3.85 mile (6.2 km) circuit which included a stretch down the famed Las Vegas Strip. (Here’s a race map.) The race proved popular and has been held in November every year since.

The race is held in an area with a lot of foot traffic, as gamblers and the like walk from one casino or other attraction to another. As the Athletic reported in 2024, “nature of holding a race in a major tourist area means public sidewalks and pedestrian bridges over the circuit must remain open for foot traffic. Both directions of The Strip itself are closed to vehicles during on-track activity, making the pedestrian routes vital for movement for casino employees and fans.” And for race organizers, that’s free marketing — it’s hard to ignore cars zipping by you if you’re on one such walk. Passersby may take notice of the sport and become lifelong fans in an instant.

But there’s a downside to this free access: it makes it harder to charge for tickets. Fans can find places along those pedestrian paths to stop and watch the race for free. Since 2023, race organizers and the city have partnered to limit such things — enforcing loitering laws, hanging tarps to block views, etc. As The Verge reported, “Most of the view is obstructed along the pedestrian areas. One of the few exceptions is a pair of escalators at Spring Mountain and Las Vegas Blvd, which are closer than any of the seats and at one of the best turns.” In previous years, fans would gather at the top of the escalator, blocking pedestrians (and frustrating race organizers). So in 2025, authorities created a new rule — you can’t stop to watch the race. Police were stationed at the top of the escalator and on the staircase adjacent to it, instructing people to keep on moving, as seen in this TikTok. For your few second ride up or down the escalator, you got to see an enthralling race, but then you had to continue on your way.

Fans, though, got creative. There was no rule preventing you from riding the escalator down, watching the race, and then getting on the upscalator (to coin a term) and watching the race as you make your ascent. And similarly, there was nothing illegal about doing this over and over again. So that’s exactly what a bunch of fans did, as seen on Instagram, here. For the better part of an hour, if not more, some fans did nothing but go up and down once and again, all to watch the race.

It’s not clear if — or how — race organizers will try to prevent this in future years. There were some reports of them shutting down escalators on race day, but those rumors proved incorrect (and besides, that would cause a ton of pedestrian traffic). For now, if you’re a fan of F1 racing — and a fan of riding escalators — November 2026 may be a great time to go to Las Vegas.

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Today’s Bonus fact: Singapore hosts an F1 race every year, typically in September or October, and it draws a lot of tourists. Those tourists need hotel rooms, and some of those hotel rooms have a view of the race course. Once again, race organizers don’t want fans watching for free, in this case from their hotel rooms. So in this case, they partner with the hotels to offer F1 viewing packages. If you don’t purchase one? According to Pro Football Talk, “There have been cases where opaque film was placed on hotel windows to hinder people who didn’t buy F1 viewing packages from seeing the on-track action.”

From the Archives: Yes, This $500 Piece of Junk is a Real Racecar: And it’s not winning any F1 races.

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And thanks! — Dan