Indy Racing schedule leaves out Las Vegas

Monday, June 19, 2000 | 10:07 a.m.

The Indy Racing Northern Light Series on Sunday announced a 12-race schedule for the 2001 season that does not include a race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

But that does not necessarily mean the open-wheel racing series won't return to Las Vegas next season, according to series founder Tony George.

In announcing the expanded schedule, George said that discussions were continuing with both Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway and that additional races could be added to the 2001 schedule before the end of this year.

George and IRNLS senior vice-president Bob Reif expressed their displeasure at the poor attendance for Indy Racing events at LVMS when the series was here in April. This year's Vegas Indy 300, which was run on the Saturday before Easter, drew fewer than 18,000 fans to the 117,000-seat Speedway.

Attendance for Indy Racing events at LVMS has been on the decline since the inaugural race in 1996 attracted an estimated 67,000 spectators, but this year's turnout was by far the lowest of the five IRNLS races in Las Vegas.

The 12 races on the 2001 IRNLS schedule represent a 33 percent increase over the nine races this season and feature events in six new markets: Miami, Richmond, Va., Nashville, Tenn., St. Louis, Kansas City, Kan., and Chicago.

The race on the three-quarter mile Richmond International Raceway is subject to a successful test session next week as the IRNLS has never run a race on a track shorter than one mile.

"We are taking this step of announcing our 2001 races this early because we want to give everyone notice that the Indy Racing Northern Light Series is strengthening its commitment to leadership in providing fans nationwide the best in open-wheel, oval-track racing," George said.

"This schedule will give our teams, our promoters and our sponsors the time and the information they need to prepare for the 2001 season."

In addition to expanding its schedule by three more races, the IRNLS also will shorten its season from 10 months to seven. The 2001 season will open March 18 at Phoenix International Raceway and will conclude Sept. 30 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Each of the 12 races will be televised live by either ABC Sports or ESPN as part of the series' five-year agreement with the networks.