Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: BLM extends Primm course by 70 miles

Thursday, Sept. 12, 2002 | 11:01 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.

Saturday's seventh annual SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300 off-road race underwent yet another significant change this week when the Bureau of Land Management altered the course.

At the request of the Clark County Department of Air Quality Management, the BLM eliminated eight miles of the northern portion of the course that stretched into the Las Vegas Valley near Sloan and added approximately 13 miles to the southern portion near the Nevada/California border. The length of the course was extended to a little more than 70 miles.

Earlier, SCORE announced the race would be split into two parts due to safety concerns, with nine of the vehicle classes starting the race at 6 a.m. and the remainder beginning at 2 p.m. The morning group will have an eight-hour time limit while the afternoon group will have a seven-hour time limit -- but the fastest vehicles in both groups are expected to finish the race in less than five hours.

Admission is free for spectators to grandstands at the start/finish line area behind Buffalo Bill's hotel-casino. The grandstand area is the only designated spectator area by the Bureau of Land Management, which issues the race permit.

The 2 p.m. portion of the race will feature Trophy Truck, Class 1, Protruck, Class 8, Class 3, Class 3I, Class 7, Class 7S, Stock Full and Stock Mini.

"I'm really excited about running with Collins Motorsports in these two events," Stewart said. "The upcoming races are two of my favorites and I know the terrain for both really well."

Collins is fourth in Trophy Truck points going into Saturday's race.

Collins, whose grandfather Mart also was an off-road racer, has been racing karts for the past year.

"I'm really excited about this race," the younger Collins said. "I've been after my dad for a long time to let me run with him. People have often told me that racing is in the blood and I believe this is true -- for sure, it is in mine."