Race fans soak up scene at speedway

Jace Radke

Friday, March 3, 2000 | 11:16 a.m.

While the NASCAR Busch Series drivers Thursday raced to be among the qualifiers for Saturday's Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, vendors, fans and speedway employees were finishing up their preparations for Sunday's main event, the NASCAR CarsDirect.com 400 race.

Miles of recreational vehicles and tractor-trailers poured onto the speedway grounds Thursday and began to take their places for Sunday's big show.

Woody and Brenda Newell were among the hawkers who were setting up shop on souvenir row outside the main entrance to the speedway, with everything from hats and jackets to toy cars and scanners to pick up the radio chatter between the drivers and their crews during the race.

"A lot of times there is a day to set up before the qualifying, but that is all kind of crammed together today," Woody Newell said. "It should be a good crowd and a good weekend for us."

As many as 140,000 race fans are expected to descend on the speedway Sunday, a far cry from the few thousand fans who strolled through the track's grounds and took in qualifying Thursday.

Paul Couch of Henderson was looking to avoid Sunday's big crowds, but he still wanted to give his two sons an up-close look at racing.

"Jacob, who's 4, and Max, who's 2, love watching NASCAR on television," Couch said. "They know all the drivers. We thought about going to the race Sunday, but I think they're still a little young yet. Maybe next year."

Jacob and Max left the speedway with toy cars, and Jacob was quick to point out that his rainbow-colored racer belonged to Jeff Gordon.

Another thing that Couch said he wouldn't miss on Sunday is the traffic jams that the previous two NASCAR races at the speedway caused.

Speedway and Nevada Department of Transportation officials say the traffic snarls that lasted for hours before and after last year's race should be taken care of by a new, wider Las Vegas Boulevard.

If the traffic is taken care of as promised, Carol Joyce of Prime Time Racing collectibles says Las Vegas will be well on its way to becoming a premier racing destination.

"It was a little up and down here the first two years, and there were the problems with not enough bathrooms," Joyce said. "Since then a lot of improvements have been made, and the whole operation seems more stable. It is a beautiful facility."

Joyce's inventory of souvenirs includes a new take on the black and white checkered flag that waves as the winning driver crosses the finish line. For $20 someone can cover a small part of themselves in checkers with a string bikini top, and for another $20 a checkered thong is available.

Another vendor hailing from Virginia said he believes Las Vegas already rivals some of the biggest and best tracks in the country.

"With Las Vegas you get a bonus," he said. "Race fans can come here from all over and not only see a race, but also go on vacation."

If the sampling of fans at the track on Thursday is any indication, fans from all over the country and even the world will be in the stands for Sunday's race.

Damian Noblett of London was amazed by the speedway as he toured it Thursday.

"This is mega," Noblett said. "I was here three years ago when they were just building it, and now I think I'll be back in a couple years to see the races again."

Fans from Ohio, North Carolina and California were also among those who took in the qualifying Thursday.

Gene Wing made the drive down from Rescue, Calif., near Sacramento, with his family in their Winnebago, and found a spot in the huge flattened gravel lot with hundreds of other campers and RV enthusiasts on the north end of the speedway complex.

"We always go this way. It's a lot of fun," Wing said of traveling by RV. "We've been driving to NASCAR races since 1988. We like the Vegas races because it gives us a chance to do a little gambling and go to some buffets."

The RV lot has a view of Sunrise Mountain to the south, and Wing says he enjoys the free air show put on by all the Nellis Air Force Base planes and helicopters that fly overhead.

While Wing was barbecuing Thursday evening, speedway officials were rushing parking attendants and other workers through orientations for Saturday and Sunday.

"I don't want to scare you, but we're going to have a couple hundred thousand people out here and they're going to start getting here at 5 a.m.," a speedway official told a group of about 20 employees as he hustled them into the speedway.

In the pits everything was quiet and nearly deserted after the Busch Series qualifying for Saturday's Sam's Town 300 companion race finished at about 4:30 p.m. The premier Winston Cup cars sat in two double rows of garages under tarps hiding the colorful paint jobs that include wrestlers and cartoon characters.

Two boys and their father stood at the gate to the pits seeking autographs and looking at names like Mark Martin and Bobby Labonte on the marquees over each garage.

Every time someone would walk by the boy asked excitedly, "Who's that, dad?"

Jace Radke is a reporter for the Las Vegas Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-2318 or by e-mail at jace@lasvegassun.com