Gordon: LVMS still top-notch superspeedway

Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2001 | 10:37 a.m.

When the Las Vegas Motor Speedway hosted its first NASCAR Winston Cup race in 1998, the track received rave reviews from every driver on the circuit.

Three years later, as the 1.5-mile superspeedway is set to hold its fourth Winston Cup race in March, the accolades continue to roll in.

Although some tracks tend to develop certain characteristics -- both good and bad -- as they age, three-time Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon said the racing surface at LVMS is as good today as it was the day it opened.

"You learn more about the track each and every time you come out here (but) I think the characteristics of the track have pretty much stayed the same from the first time," Gordon said Tuesday after wrapping up his two-day test at LVMS.

"It's a great racetrack; I love this track. It's nice and smooth, it's got good grip, it has a lot of challenging areas to it and I think it's a racetrack that can offer some really good racing, so we always look forward to coming out here."

That doesn't mean that Las Vegas always has been kind to Gordon. He qualified fifth for the inaugural race here in 1998 but finished one lap off the pace in 17th.

In 1999, Gordon qualified 11th and finished third behind Jeff and Ward Burton. Last year, Gordon qualified 10th but struggled with an ill-handling car on race day and was running 28th, a lap off the pace, when the race was halted after 148 laps due to rain.

"I just hope it doesn't rain at the wrong time; that's what happened to us last year," Gordon said. "We qualified decent and we went out and missed the setup, had to come in and make the big adjustments on pit road and then the rain came and we never got to see if we could get back to the front.

"It was probably one of the most frustrating races we had of the year 2000 so we're definitely looking to come back out here and redeem ourselves (in March)."

Bodine's lap of 31.908 seconds (169.237 mph) midway through the day was the fastest lap turned by the 35 drivers (Winston Cup and Busch Series) taking part in Tuesday's session.

Due to colder temperatures and stronger winds on Tuesday, Bodine's lap was slower than Elliott Sadler's top speed of 169.833, set on Monday. Ricky Rudd won the pole for last year's Winston Cup race at LVMS with a qualifying lap of 172.563 mph.

Joe Nemechek was second fastest with a lap of 31.933 (169.104 mph) in a Chevy; Mark Martin was third at 168.887 mph; Rusty Wallace was fourth in a Ford at 168.887; and Ron Hornaday was fifth at 167.957 in a Pontiac.

A pair of Las Vegas natives -- Kurt Busch and Brendan Gaughan -- were in the top 10 Tuesday. Busch was seventh fastest (167.416) in a Ford while Gaughan was eighth (167.328) in a Chevy he is leasing from Richard Childress Racing.

"We're within two-tenths (of a second) of everybody -- I wish this was qualifying day," Gaughan said. "I don't think anybody expected us to be that far up on the sheet but I always think I can set the world on fire and conquer it in 15 minutes.

"I'm fired up -- it gives this whole Orleans Racing team a lift. But it doesn't mean (squat), really, to come out here and do this now; you've got to do this on pole day ... that's when it's going to be important."

The seven-time Winston Cup champion had the 23rd-fastest lap on Tuesday at 165.634 mph.

Speedway general manager Chris Powell said Tuesday that "a limited number" of tickets still are available for the Winston Cup race.

Last year's race attracted a crowd estimated at 130,000.