Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: No date change in the works for LVMS race

Tuesday, June 26, 2001 | 9:35 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. Reach him at bh@lasvegassun.com or 259-4089.

Despite speculation to the contrary, Las Vegas Motor Speedway will continue to hold its NASCAR Winston Cup race on the first Sunday of March.

It has been reported in several Southeastern newspapers that Fox was not interested in kicking off its half of the Winston Cup schedule next year (NBC has the 2002 Daytona 500) with the race at Rockingham, and was lobbying NASCAR to move the Las Vegas race to the weekend after Daytona.

According to industry sources, NASCAR toyed with the idea of moving the Las Vegas race to the second event of the season until the sanctioning body learned that a large convention that weekend (the MAGIC clothing convention) would create nightmares for those trying to book hotel rooms.

Over the weekend, however, Fox Sports president Ed Goren told the Charlotte Observer that his network had no qualms about starting its season at Rockingham.

"We would be very happy to start with Rockingham," Goren said. "There are some scheduling issues NASCAR is dealing with. At one point, because it was our first race, they were looking at the possibility of going to Vegas but there were some conflicts with hotel space.

"We will just sit down with the folks at NASCAR over the next week or so to take a look at next year's schedule and hopefully try to put together a schedule that works for NASCAR but also produces the best opportunity to continue to increase ratings."

Although LVMS can't make an announcement on next year's Winston Cup date until it gets clearance from NASCAR, it appears to be a safe bet that the speedway will host its fifth annual race on March 3.

"The talent both in front of and behind the cameras that (Fox Sports chairman) David Hill put together, the great camera angles and several other unique and innovative elements all combined to really make for good television," Wheeler said.

"And the other important factor was that for the first time fans didn't have to be psychic to know who was going to televise the race each week."

NBC and TBS will televise the second half of the season, beginning with the July 7 Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

Fitzgerald scored his third win of the season in the 25-lap Grand American Modified feature at The Bullring on June 16 and has seven top-five finishes in seven starts.

"I think when you're a racecar driver and you can put a lapped car between you and second place, you do it."

Harvick, on Gordon's tactics:

"If that had been anybody with any sense, they would have known I had fresh tires on. You're leading the race, you got a guy a lap down, you let him go. I don't feel sorry for him a bit."