Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: LVMS to keep on truckin’ in 2001

Friday, Oct. 20, 2000 | 11:29 a.m.

The event will be held Sunday Oct. 14 and will be nationally televised on ESPN2. LVMS also will stage NASCAR Winston West and Southwest Series races on Saturday, Oct. 13.

It will mark the return of the truck series to the 1.5-mile superspeedway after a one-year absence. LVMS and NASCAR could not agree upon a suitable date for this season, so the series skipped Las Vegas this year after competing here each of the previous four seasons.

"From a business standpoint, it was necessary to back away from the truck series (this year), but we're very happy to have them back at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2001," Powell said.

The announcement of the return of the truck series to LVMS comes on the heels of the Speedway losing two events in less than a month. The Indy Racing League decided not to renew its agreement to run at LVMS next season and the American Le Mans Series followed suit last month.

"There was a certain amount of growth the the Speedway had experienced in its first four or five years and some of it was good and some was not," Powell said. "In the same way that you prune a tree that has overgrown, we had to prune the schedule and then fill it back in."

The major-event schedule at LVMS for 2001 will include the NASCAR Winston Cup, Busch Series and World of Outlaws weekend in March; NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Winston West and Southwest Series weekend in October; World of Outlaws in October; and national NHRA events at The Strip in April and October.

Now that he has secured the trucks for 2001, Powell said he will turn his attention to landing an open-wheel race for the 2002 season.

"Most likely, our superspeedway schedule is set for 2001," Powell said. "We will continue to talk to both CART and the IRL about 2002 and see if we can come to an agreement with either or both of them to have an open-wheel race."

CART interim president Bobby Rahal has said repeatedly that he would like to open the 2002 season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but the two sides have not yet finalized an agreement.

The elder Earnhardt, however, said he had no plans to drive the overnight portion of the endurance race.

"I imagine we'll let Junior drive the night shift since he stays up late anyway," Earnhardt said. ...

After a test earlier this week at Phoenix International Raceway, Kurt Busch of Las Vegas will make his fourth Winston Cup start in Sunday's Pop Secret 400 at North Carolina Speedway.

Busch will drive the same car he piloted to an 18th-place finish (after qualifying 10th) in his Winston Cup debut last month at Dover.

"Rockingham is like no other track we race on, with its long backstretch and D-shaped configuration," Busch said. "Utilizing all of the practice time we are given will be important this weekend because this is the type of track where experience pays off.

"It will be important to get a solid qualifying run in, but we need to focus on getting the car dialed in on long runs. Just like every weekend, we want to stay out of trouble and gain as much experience as we can."

Mears tested one of Rahal's Reynard/Fords last month at Fontana and impressed team owner Bobby Rahal.

"He certainly proved he is at home in a Champ Car during the test, and through his own dedication and hard work he has assembled the necessary resources with (sponsor) WorldCom for a ride in our test car at Fontana," Rahal said.

"We are thrilled to help him launch his Champ Car career near his home in California and I am confident that Casey will be a fixture in CART for years to come."

Mears, a native of Bakersfield, Calif., drives for Dorricott Racing in the Indy Lights Series and is third in the point standings -- just five points out of the lead -- entering the final race at Fontana. Mears captured his first Indy Lights victory two weeks ago at the Grand Prix of Houston.

Hornish, 21, finished 21st in the final driver standings and was fourth in the Rookie of the Year standings despite entering only eight of nine races. His best finish was third in the Vegas Indy 300 in April at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"I have learned a lot this season about the cars, competitors and tracks," Hornish said. "I am really looking forward to working with Andy Brown, Kevin Blanch and the rest of the Panther Pack as we begin preparing for 2001.

"Hopefully, it is the beginning of a long, successful relationship."

"The Memphis win was the most hollow victory of my career because of what happened to Tony and Larry over the weekend," Scelzi said. "I definitely feel better knowing that they'll be OK.

"I don't think I've ever been so sick to my stomach in my life watching two guys we've battled with all year getting taken out in accidents like that."

Scelzi leads the NHRA Winston Top Fuel points standings by 126 points over Schumacher and 223 points over third-place Dixon with three events remaining.

Spectator gates open at 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday; qualifying begins at 10:30 a.m. Saturday and eliminations get under way at 12:30 p.m. Sunday. ...

The American Le Mans Series will appear in the United States for the last time of the 2000 season with the Oct. 29 running of the Grand Prix of Las Vegas at LVMS.

The 2-hour, 45-minute race will be held on the 2.25-mile infield road course that incorporates part of the 1.5-mile superspeedway oval.

The Las Vegas ALMS event, which will be the final visit to LVMS by the series, will be televised live on Speedvision.