Monday, March 1, 1999 | 10:57 a.m.
The most fierce competition this weekend may not be seen in Sunday's Las Vegas 400 NASCAR Winston Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but in Friday's qualifying for the Busch Series Sam's Town 300.
A staggering 68 cars are tentatively entered to attempt to qualify for 36 spots in Saturday's race. The remainder of the 43-car field will be filled with provisionals based on 1998 Busch Series points and, if necessary, one former champion.
At least 16 Winston Cup regulars will attempt to make the field for the Sam's Town 300, including Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Ken Schrader, Bobby Labonte, Michael Waltrip, Mike Skinner, Dick Trickle and Sterling Marlin.
In addition, former Atlanta Falcons head coach Jerry Glanville will attempt to qualify his Unifirst Uniforms Chevrolet for the 200-lap event.
Glanville also is entered in Friday afternoon's The Orleans 150 Winston West race at LVMS.
Brendan Gaughan and Kurt Busch of Las Vegas also are among the 51 cars that will attempt to qualify for the Winston West race.
With 53 Winston Cup cars battling for 43 spots in the field for the Las Vegas 400, a total of 172 cars are expected to make qualifying runs this weekend at the 1.5-mile Speedway.
* DRIVER CHANGE: Stanton Barrett, a Hollywood stuntman and the son of former world land speed record-holder Stan Barrett, will be the third driver in three races for Junie Donlavey's Ford in Sunday's Las Vegas 400.
Barrett, a rookie, replaces Morgan Shepherd, who drove Donlavey's car at Rockingham, and Mike Harmon, who attempted to qualify the car for the Daytona 500. The car will be sponsored by Heritage Consumer Products.
Barrett, who ran 10 Busch Series races last year, funded his racing career by working as a stuntman on such feature films as Batman, Free Jack, Mars Attacks and Last of the Mohicans, as well as television series such as Beverly Hills 90210 and Baywatch.
Barrett's father was the original driver of the Skoal Bandit car in the Winston Cup Series when it was owned by Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham.
* DOUBLE DUTY: Jerry Nadeau, who drives the Cartoon Network Ford in the Winston Cup Series, is yet another Cup regular who will pull double duty this weekend.
Nadeau has entered the No. 9 Melling Engine Parts Ford in Friday's The Orleans 150 in an attempt to get more track time on the LVMS tri-oval.
Nadeau failed to qualify for last year's Las Vegas 400 while he was driving the FirstPlus Financial Ford for car owners Bill Elliott and Dan Marino.
"I don't have a lot of track time at Las Vegas," Nadeau explained.
"The Winston West race is a great chance for me to get some extra seat time since the cars are so similar to the one I'll drive Sunday.
"My Winston West car is actually just one of our Winston Cup cars with a different engine."
Although both the Winston Cup and Winston West cars have the same wheelbase, are the identical weight and have 358-cubic-inch engines, the Winston Cup cars have a compression ratio of 12-to-1 to the Winston West's 9.5-to-1.
* SPEAKING OF MARINO: Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino is no longer affiliated with the No. 13 Ford, owned by Bill Elliott, which raced at Daytona but won't be in Las Vegas.
Marino left the team when FirstPlus Financial pulled its sponsorship last year.
Marino is a spokesman for the company.
Major League Baseball's home run champ, Mark McGwire, also severed his ties with Bobby Hillin Jr.'s Busch Series team. After being a part of the team's ownership group in 1998, McGwire dropped out because he did not have enough time to be involved with the team, Hillin said.
* POLE NUMBERS: Tickets for Friday's Bud Pole Day at LVMS are priced at $25 for adults and $10 for children.
Admission to Pole Day is not included in the price of Las Vegas 400 or Sam's Town 300 tickets.
The Pole Day ticket is good for both Winston Cup and Busch Series qualifying and practice and The Orleans 150 NASCAR Winston West race.
Gates open at 7:30 a.m. on Friday.
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