Actually, i can't seem to find it in Vegas 9 either. The only remotely similar option i can find is under Options / Display / Use Vegas color scheme. I doubt it will help in the same way though, but it's worth trying. I dunno; i unchecked it within 30 seconds of the first time i started Vegas 9 because i didn't like the new color scheme.
Thanks for the tip. It worked. Turned on the Vegas Color scheme and the bar reappeared. Turned the Vegas Color Scheme off again and the bar remained. So far, so good.