It’s official: No trucks at LVMS

Wednesday, Nov. 17, 1999 | 11:19 a.m.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will visit four new tracks in 2000 but, as was reported in the Oct. 28 Sun, the series will not return to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next year.

In announcing its 24-race truck schedule Tuesday, the NCTS added races at Daytona International Speedway, Dover Downs International Speedway, Chicago Motor Speedway and Kentucky Motor Speedway.

Officials from NASCAR and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway were unable to agree on a date for a truck race at the 1.5-mile superspeedway here, ending a four-year relationship between LVMS and the truck series.

Dennis Huth, vice president of touring operations and international development for NASCAR, said the split with LVMS was amicable and did not rule out the chance of the series returning to Las Vegas after the 2000 season.

"When it came to scheduling time and it got down to TV times and the rest of it, it just didn't come together," Huth said. "We have an exclusive cable arrangement with ESPN and we also have (an exclusive) broadcast network with CBS.

"With times that didn't fit, and the changes in the schedule of Las Vegas, it was just tough to put it together. Naturally, it's disappointing, we'd love to go back, and down the road you never know. We never rule out any possibility."

LVMS general manager Chris Powell echoed Huth's comments.

"We would love to arrange the schedule to where they can race here in 2000," Powell said. "Dennis and I have talked, but we were unable to find a date that was suitable to us.

"It's disappointing that we're not on the schedule but at the same time, we have to look out for what's best for Las Vegas Motor Speedway and our fans."

The NCTS ran as a companion event to the Indy Racing League event at LVMS earlier this fall. But when the Speedway elected to move its IRL race to the spring, it had no other event to run in conjunction with the trucks.

This year's truck race drew an estimated 25,000 fans to the 117,000-seat facility. LVMS officials were not willing to run a truck race as a stand-alone event because of its inability to draw a suitable crowd.

Huth said he and Powell tried to work around the Speedway's schedule, but ultimately could not agree on a date.

"There were some dates that had been kicked around that were different than what we had been running, and there were just some weekends that are virtually impossible to put into the package," Huth said. "A lot of it just had to do with the scheduling process.

"This was a business decision (and) we don't have any hard feelings in any way, shape or form. A business decision is a business decision and you can't argue with that."