Columnist Ron Kantowski: Rain makes for gloomy day at track

Monday, March 6, 2000 | 10:21 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's notes column usually appears on Tuesday and Thursday. Reach him at ron@vegas.com or 259-4088.

Regardless of what Karen and Richard Carpenter said, it's rainy days and Sundays that always get the average race fan down.

Especially when they come together.

On Sunday at the CarsDirect.com 400, a heavy sky transformed the annual NASCAR Winston Cup event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway into a gray, chilly, damp and finally all-out wet affair.

Jeff Burton, who seems to thrive in such conditions (of course he's a good driver -- he's the Rain Man) was credited with his second straight victory at LVMS. But the final result was more anticlimactic than watching "Psycho" for the 10th time.

By the time this shower scene got under way in earnest on lap 148 -- the second time the race was red-flagged by rain -- about the only drama that remained was how Joyce Williams of Port Isabel, Texas, was going to spend her money. The critical-care nurse was one of five fans who were eligible to win a million-dollar bonus through Winston's No Bull 5 program, and when Burton (the driver to whom she was assigned) had flashed under the start-finish line 14 laps earlier to make it an official race, she began doing a rain dance.

A few laps later, she was one of the few who still remained in the massive grandstands that -- bless the hearty souls of NASCAR fans -- were virtually jammed to their 140,000 capacity.

It was really too bad, because for once everything seemed to running smoothly out at LVMS, both on and off the track.

Despite reports that traffic was backed up on Interstate 15 as far south as Sahara Avenue at 9 a.m., everybody made it to their seats for the command to start engines. But the real star of the day was the new and improved Las Vegas Boulevard. Forget three-wide racing in turn one. Going six-wide down LV Boulevard from Craig Road to the speedway gates was the most spectacular development at this year's race.

The cars completed just 20 laps before the yellow flag came out the first time for rain, but there were four lead changes during that stint. That's two more than they had during the entire Daytona 500 two weeks ago.

The Ford runners had a distinct aerodynamic edge at Daytona but a Chevy was out front for most of Sunday. Unfortunately, it was the Monte Carlo pace car. The first time the rains hit, it led the field on a 21-lap procession under the yellow before the race was red-flagged and the cars were covered with tarps at the entrance to turn one.

That sent the fans scurrying for the hot chocolate booths, which didn't exist. But 20 minutes later, virtually all were back in their seats for the restart.

Teammates Burton and Mark Martin, driving cars fielded by Jack Roush (who controls everything out at LVMS except the weather), waged a spirited duel for the lead and were joined by Tony Stewart when the rains hit again.

Within 15 minutes, the only ones left in the grandstand were either part mallard or on their way to contracting double-pneumonia. The race fans who came alone huddled under the sprawling grandstands, hoping to wait out the rain. The race fans who came with their wives and/or girlfriends were headed south (eventually) on I-15.

As the disappointed masses trudged toward the parkling lots you could almost hear them thinking out loud.

"Why couldn't the rain have held off until the Indy Racing League comes to town next month?"