LVMS could be shut out of CART race

Friday, Jan. 19, 2001 | 9:28 a.m.

FONTANA, Calif. -- Las Vegas Motor Speedway's window of opportunity for landing a CART race in 2002 may be closing.

CART and the Molson Brewing Company of Canada announced Thursday that the open-wheel series will add a race at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on Ile Notre-Dame in Montreal in August, 2002.

Although it had been speculated that the new Montreal CART race would replace the one presently held on the streets of Vancouver, British Columbia, CART president and CEO Joe Heitzler did not rule out the possibility of the series returning to Vancouver in 2002.

If CART elects to keep the Vancouver event, the possibility exists that there would be only one date open for a new race in 2002. CART already has announced that it will not return to Nazareth Speedway after this season and it is believed the sanctioning body will drop at least one other venue from its schedule after this year.

Heitzler, who has been on the job for less than three weeks, declined to comment on the addition of any other races until he gets settled into his job.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway general manager Chris Powell said earlier this week that he has not talked to Heitzler since the former television executive took the CART position on Dec. 4. Powell, who had been in close contact with interim CART president Bobby Rahal, added that there was "nothing imminent" regarding a CART race here in 2002.

CART team owner Chip Ganassi may be under a different impression.

When asked why he had scheduled a test for drivers Bruno Junqueira and Nicholas Minassian next week at LVMS, Ganassi replied, "I can't tell you everything. Let's just say we're gamblers."