Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: LVMS on TRAC for stock-car league

Friday, April 19, 2002 | 9:07 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

A new stock-car racing series set to debut next year, TRAC, will have a strong presence in Las Vegas if series president Jon Pritchett has his way.

"(Las Vegas) would be one of the markets we're very interested in," Pritchett said.

Team Racing Auto Circuit and Speedway Motorsports Inc. have called a news conference Wednesday at Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte, N.C., at which the series will unveil its racecars and make "several other major announcements."

SMI owns six tracks, including Lowe's and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, that host NASCAR Winston Cup races. Industry sources told the Sun that SMI's involvement in the upstart series would include staging races at some of its tracks, including LVMS.

Unlike NASCAR, TRAC will feature a team format, with each city fielding two to three cars. Each team's final race results will be determined by the finishing order of its cars. TRAC plans to stage a "playoff" race and a "championship" race to determine the series winner.

On its website, TRAC has identified several major cities -- including Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Miami, Atlanta, Denver and Las Vegas -- as "potential markets."

TRAC is reviewing ownership applications for several teams, including Las Vegas. Pritchett would not say who has applied for ownership of the local team, but said the series is looking for owners "who are from those markets, who want to own a sports team ... and have the financial wherewithal to support the necessary costs of operating a major-league team in a market."

It has been rumored that the Dodge Viper, the Chevrolet Corvette and the Ford Mustang will be the three car makes used in TRAC. Riley & Scott Race Car Engineering is building the cars for TRAC, which completed its first on-track testing this week at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

"The cars will be based off three popular muscle/sports cars from American manufacturers," Pritchett said. "I've heard (them described as) everything from a cross between an open-wheel car with fenders to a cross between a stock car and a sports car. It's really a combination of things."

Pritchett said he has received more than 1,500 applications from drivers "from every level of racing." Once the talent pool is narrowed, the teams will draft drivers.

Although hoping to cash in on the popularity of NASCAR, TRAC will not directly compete against the series. Races most likely would be run on Saturdays when the Winston Cup Series is racing on Sunday.

Pritchett, who said the series is in negotiations for a potential TV contract, said TRAC is not attempting to cut into NASCAR's fan base.

"The goal here is to bring new people to the tracks and new people to stock-car racing who aren't in that niche of avid stock-car fans," he said. "Our goal is to go after traditional sports fans and bring them in -- in addition to people who are fans of motor sports.

"Our job here is to introduce stock-car racing to a new audience. At the same time, we'll hopefully provide people who are fans of all levels of motor sports with something new."

"They talked to me about IROC (a few years ago) but it didn't work out," Force said. "I would like to have that chance, but not just because we want to prove we can win; we want to make NHRA part of something we've never been a part of.

"I could do it. Sure, (drag racers) don't go around curves but I've been on fire (sliding) sideways and we had to do a lot of thinking (behind the wheel). If I wasn't on fire, I think I could drive in IROC -- and if I was on fire, I could do it, too. The point is I want to move us to the next level. Everybody else has been a part of that series so why hasn't NHRA gotten the invitation?"

Salazar, who suffered a torn vertebral artery in his chest Tuesday in a testing accident at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will miss six to nine months recovering from the surgery.

"Richie is a strong competitor and he has experience at this track, so when I evaluated all the drivers who had called me, he was the best choice," Foyt said.

"First, I hope Eliseo gets better quickly," Hearn said. "This is not the way I want to get a ride but I appreciate A.J. letting me fill in for this race and I'll do the best I can."

"Buckshot did a good job for us, and I personally appreciate everything he has done for us," Kyle Petty said.