New racing series rolls into LV

Wednesday, April 24, 2002 | 9:24 a.m.

Copyright 2002 Las Vegas Sun

Team Racing Auto Circuit, the upstart stock-car racing series set to debut next spring, will stage three races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway's 1.5-mile oval during its inaugural season, officials from TRAC and LVMS confirmed today.

In a press conference in Concord, N.C., TRAC was to announce that it would hold 11 of its races next year at tracks owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc., the company that owns LVMS.

Other SMI tracks in Concord, Atlanta, Dallas/Ft. Worth, and Bristol, Tenn., each will host two TRAC races next year. Specific dates of the races, including those at LVMS, were not announced but it is believed the new series will hold the majority of its races on Saturday nights to avoid a conflict with NASCAR's hugely popular Winston Cup Series.

"We are currently scheduled to have three TRAC races next year," LVMS general manager Chris Powell said. "I think the big winner in this is the local motor sports enthusiast because it's going to bring a lot more racing here.

"It's also going to bring jobs to the area because I'm told that the teams are going to be based out of the cities they represent. If that's the case, I'm sure they'll be hiring people from the local community."

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

Each team will be locally owned, according to TRAC president and chief operating officer Jon Pritchett. An owner for the Las Vegas team has not been determined.

Pritchett said that being able to stage races at SMI tracks was a crucial ingredient to getting the series off the ground.

"Obviously, one of the first priorities for executing our plan was developing relationships with key venues," Pritchett said. "Speedway Motorsports has five extraordinary oval tracks in five strong markets.

"What's more, they have two of the greatest innovators in motor sports history (in owner Bruton Smith and president H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler) and ... strong general managers at each venue who know how to operate major made-for-television events."

Pritchett said TRAC is negotiating with several television networks to televise the series' races live in prime time.

TRAC also today was to unveil the cars that will race in the inaugural season. Riley & Scott Race Car Engineering designed and developed the cars, which are based on three popular American-made sports cars.

Chairman of the board Robert Wussler, a former network president for CBS television, heads TRAC. Investors and consultants include three-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion Cale Yarborough and former Ford Motor Company executive and NASCAR team owner Michael Kranefuss.

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