LVMS may land IRL race in 2001

Tuesday, July 11, 2000 | 10:40 a.m.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway will have to wait until 2002 to host a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) race, but that does not necessarily mean the Speedway will be without open-wheel racing next season.

LVMS general manager Chris Powell said Monday that he has held talks with Indianapolis Motor Speedway senior vice-president Bob Reif about the series returning to LVMS next season.

"I talked to Bob Reif last week and I think both sides would like to get a deal done, but it comes down to finances and what's best for the IRL and what's best for (LVMS)," Powell said.

"If there's a meeting ground in there, perhaps we'll have an Indy Racing League event -- most likely sometime between Easter and when they congregate in Indianapolis (for the Indy 500)."

It was believed Las Vegas had little hope of securing an IRL race for 2001 after Reif made several negative comments prior to this year's race about LVMS' inability to draw significant crowds for its past four IRL events. At the time, Reif questioned whether Las Vegas was an open-wheel racing market.

Although the IRL already has announced a 12-race schedule for next season that does not include a race at LVMS, IRL founder Tony George said last month that discussions with Las Vegas Motor Speedway were continuing and additional races could be added to the schedule.

Of the 12 races on the 2001 schedule, five will be held at tracks which are owned, at least in part, by Bill France's International Speedway Corp. -- a rival of Bruton Smith's Speedway Motorsports, Inc. SMI owns Las Vegas Motor Speedway and five other tracks.

Powell said he didn't see the IRL's expanding alliance with ISC as a deterrent to LVMS continuing to host an IRL event.

"I can't speak for (the IRL), but I think I'm correctly reflecting their attitude that (Reif) displayed, which was they would like very much to be here," Powell said.

LVMS has hosted an annual IRL race since the series' inception in 1996. After drawing an estimated 67,000 fans to the inaugural race, the series has failed to attract similar crowds for any of the past four races. This year's crowd was estimated at less than 18,000.

Powell said it likely would be necessary for the Speedway to secure a title sponsor if it is to host an IRL race next season.

"If there were a sponsor locally that's willing to step up to provide itself with the exposure on the event, that would make it more likely that it would happen," he said.