LVMS releases 1997 schedule

Friday, Dec. 20, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

There are nine events slated for the mammoth 1.5-mile, 107,000-seat superspeedway, with the Oct. 9-11 Indy Racing League Las Vegas 500K, the Nov. 9 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Carquest Auto Parts 420K, the March 15 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series 300 and a Sept. 19-20 International Motor Sports Association date featuring the IMSA World Sports Cars topping the bill.

The IRL and IMSA dates still are tentative but look to be done deals. LVMS president Richie Clyne said earlier this week the IRL announcement was being held up by television negotiations -- both LVMS and the IRL want to run the race at night, but haven't been able to tie down a prime-time TV slot.

The IMSA date is the big surprise under the LVMS tree. It was added to the schedule on Thursday, although the ink is not dry on that contract, either.

"Richie put together a deal with those people. It's going to happen, but I probably wouldn't (call it) a firm deal just yet," LVMS G.M. Ray Wilkings said Thursday.

The revised schedule also should allay the concerns of grass-roots racers, who feared the transfer of the Las Vegas Speedway Park lease to LVMS might signal the demise of those programs.

Not true. The 1997 schedule lists 21 events for the soon-to-be refurbished 3/8ths-mile paved oval and 20 for the quarter-mile drag strip. Virtually all cater to local racers.

Backmarkers

Most observers considered the out-of-court settlement in which Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) agreed to drop the designation "IndyCar" from its series title in deference to the fledgling Indy Racing League as a peace offering between the rival sanctioning bodies. Perhaps, although CART chairman Andrew Craig was compelled to issue a press release in response to IRL chief Tony George's statements regarding the settlement. "Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc., will cease using the brand name 'IndyCar' but contrary to the implications raised by Mr. George's comments, a condition of the agreement is that the Speedway and the Indy Racing League cannot use 'IndyCar' as their brand name until at least Dec. 31, 2002. Secondly, while the brand name 'IndyCar' may not be used by CART, the agreement specifically acknowledges that 'Indy car' and its variants have evolved into descriptive terms for high-performance, single-seat, American, open-wheel racing. Use of 'Indy car' and its variants to describe our type of racing, our drivers and our cars will continue under the agreement." Still, fans and others yearning for a unified series -- at least for the Indy 500 -- indicated the "IndyCar" settlement was at least a step in the right direction. "Our hope is by '98 or '99 the sides will be back together," said Larry Gigerich, an economic development assistant to Indianapolis mayor Stephen Goldsmith. Last year, CART teams boycotted the Indy 500 and staged the first U.S. 500 in Michigan, in protest to qualifying changes at Indianapolis that reserved 25 of the 33 starting spots for IRL regulars. CART will race on Memorial Weekend again this year but on Saturday, in a new event at St. Louis, instead of Sunday opposite the 500. That decision also was viewed as another small concession and/or gesture of goodwill to the IRL. Said sports marketing executive Joyce Julius Cotman: "Each side has its own advantages and nobody has a clear-cut one. CART has names everybody knows and the IRL has the event everybody wants."

Veteran Scott Goodyear will join Treadway Racing as teammate to Arie Luyendyk for the 1997 Indy Racing League season. The pair will drive G Force chassis powered by the Oldsmobile Aurora engine. Goodyear posted two victories in 98 Indy car starts but is best known for his second-place finish to Al Unser Jr. in the closest Indy 500 finish, in 1992. ... Racing greybeard Danny Ongais will be driver for a new IRL team founded by stunt car specialist Joie Chitwood Jr.. ... Actor Craig T. Nelson, owner of the Screaming Eagles World Sports Car team, will test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Saturday and Sunday in preparation for February's Rolex 24 at Daytona IMSA season opener. ... Tickets for the Jan. 31-Feb. 2 20th Skoal Bandit Racing Copper World Classic at Phoenix featuring USAC midgets and Silver Crown cars, WSMRA Supermodifieds and the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour can be purchased by calling 1-800-638-4253. ... Nigel Mansell has decided not to contest the 1997 Formula One season after testing for Jordan at Barcelona last week. "The idea of the test was originally to have some fun, but my natural competitive instinct took over very quickly, and a return to Formula One with Jordan Grand Prix became a serious possibility," said the the 1992 World Champion, who won 31 F-1 races. "However, after consultations with my family and business advisers, I quickly came to realize that my schedule would not permit me to give sufficient time to the Jordan team and their sponsors." ... Las Vegan Jimmy Vasser and Target/Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Alex Zanardi Thursday concluded five days of testing the new 1997 Target Reynard Honda at Firebird International Raceway near Phoenix. "It's the first time I've driven on a road course in three months," said Vasser, the 1996 CART PPG World Series champion. "The new Target Reynard felt good ... I only ran on the control Firestone tires so we could concentrate on how the chassis was working. For the first day out with the new car, it was positive." ... Zanardi confirmed he was married to Daniela Manni right here in Las Vegas on Oct. 30. "We didn't want to announce it to the public right away, until we could tell our family and friends," said the 1996 CART rookie of the year.

THE INDY Racing League will return to LVMS for an October race.

BRAD TALBUTT / STAFF