Winston Cup race tickets selling quickly

Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2000 | 10:28 a.m.

Tickets for the March 4, 2001, NASCAR Winston Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway sold at a brisk pace Monday, the first day of sales to the general public, but the fourth annual race is not yet sold out.

Ticket sales Monday did not match those for the inaugural race in 1998, when approximately 100,000 tickets were sold in about 30 hours. With additional permanent seats and temporary grandstands, seating capacity at LVMS has been increased to nearly 130,000 since 1998.

This year's Winston Cup race, which was plagued by rain and won by Jeff Burton, attracted a crowd estimated at 130,000.

LVMS general manager Chris Powell said he was pleased with Monday's sales.

"We have been waiting for this day for a long time," Powell said, "and I'm very pleased with the way things went.

"Most all of the race fans who bought tickets (Monday) are new ticket holders to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Unlike previous years, our renewal notices for this past year's fans already have been processed; it was the remaining tickets that went on sale Monday and our ticket office was quite busy."

Although Powell would not disclose how many tickets have been sold, he said the race is not a sellout but "if we continue this current pace of selling tickets, the remaining tickets will go fast."

Prior to Monday, only ticket holders to previous Winston Cup races and corporate entities were able to purchase tickets. Also, the Internet site tickets.com began selling tickets last week.

The fourth annual NASCAR Winston Cup event will be preceded on Saturday, March 3, by the Sam's Town 300 NASCAR Busch Series race. Tickets for that race, which drew an estimated crowd of 80,000 this year, also went on sale Monday.