LVMS, CART working on deal for test session

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 1999 | 10:48 a.m.

The open-wheel race cars of the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) FedEx Championship Series could be turning laps at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as soon as this year, according to LVMS general manager Chris Powell.

But they won't be racing for a trophy. And it's highly unlikely local race fans will get the opportunity to see the sleek 800-horsepower machines tour the 1.5-mile superspeedway.

Powell confirmed Monday that he and CART chairman Andrew Craig have discussed bringing in some of the series' teams to test at the Speedway at the conclusion of the 1999 season.

"There is certainly the possibility that we might be able to come to an agreement on their coming here to test later in the year," Powell said. "That doesn't mean that they're going to, it just means we have discussed it."

Such test sessions usually are closed to the public.

Powell was quick to add that having CART teams test at LVMS was not an indication that the Speedway and the series have come to terms to hold a CART race here next year or in 2001.

"I had a good chat with Andrew Craig last week," Powell said. "I don't think (negotiations) stand far differently from where they stood a week ago or a month ago. He's very aware of our interest but I don't foresee anything changing based on what we we've already said publicly."

While Powell said it was "unlikely" LVMS would host a CART race next season, he left the door open for such a possibility in his last conversation with Craig.

"I don't know where they stand with Cleveland or any of their other venues ... but I have told him that, if over the next month to six weeks, they hit a stumbling block with one of their venues and they would like to call us, I have told them that I would welcome his call," Powell said.

CART lost its long-standing race in Cleveland after the race promoter, IMG Motorsports, Inc., decided to bring the rival Indy Racing League to a temporary oval at the Burke Lakefront Airport beginning next year.

Cleveland mayor Michael White has since stepped in and said the IRL would not be able to race at the airport because costly changes would be necessary to transform the temporary road course into an oval, and reportedly is seeking to bring CART back in.

A published report said White also was put off by merger talks between the IRL and CART and the IRL's lack of drawing power outside of Indianapolis and Texas. This year's CART race at Cleveland was a virtual sellout.

The major stumbling block in LVMS landing a CART race remains the reported $2.5 million sanctioning fee that CART is seeking -- which is roughly $1.5 million more than the Speedway pays to stage its annual IRL race.

While Powell would not specifically address the sanctioning fee issue, he said significant "hurdles" remained in bringing CART to Las Vegas.

"(Craig) knows my feelings on the hurdles that we were looking at three or four months ago (and) we did not discuss any of those hurdles last week when we chatted," Powell said.

"I think we have a real good relationship with CART. Whether we have an event here in 2000 or any other year in the future, I'm proud that our speedway is looked very favorably upon by people in CART."