Different track but Lynch still wants win in LV

Thursday, April 10, 2003 | 9:50 a.m.

IF YOU GO

Scott Lynch won his first NASCAR Winston West Series race last October at the 1.5-mile oval at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in only his 11th start in the touring series.

Despite his success on the superspeedway, Lynch admitted he will be more comfortable racing at The Bullring at LVMS when the series returns to town Saturday night for the Orleans 222.

"Being so young, I guess I don't know better so when we get to the big tracks," Lynch, 22, said of his victory here last year. "I guess I'm just dumb enough not to be scared of them yet. The short tracks, that's what I grew up racing, so I think I've got both of the spectrums covered."

Lynch, who is from Burley, Idaho, and a senior at the University of Utah, comes into Saturday's race off a second-place finish in the season opener at Phoenix International Raceway in February. Lynch followed NASCAR Winston Cup veteran Ken Schrader to the finish line in Phoenix in a Dodge prepared by Las Vegas-based Orleans Racing.

Because of his association with Orleans Racing, Lynch said he plans to move to Las Vegas once he completes his degree in business communications at Utah this summer.

A victory Saturday night would give Lynch the distinction of being the first driver to win Winston West races on both of the NASCAR-sanctioned tracks at LVMS. Lynch said, however, that winning races at this stage of his career is not his primary objective.

"Our main goal is to get Rookie of the Year," he said, "but if the win is there, we're definitely going to go for it -- that's our job and that's what we're there to do. I think if we come out of there with a first-to-third finish or even a top five, I think you come out of there pretty good."

Having raced on the short tracks of Idaho before moving up to the Winston West Series, Lynch said he knows what to expect from Saturday night's race on the .38-mile Bullring.

"Last year, I went and just watched the race at The Bullring and there were a lot of wrecks," Lynch said. "It's 222 laps and that's a lot of laps for that track so we'll have to be patient and bide our time and not force things.

"But we're looking forward to getting on The Bullring. I think that's what provides a lot of the action for the Winston West, when we get to some of the smaller tracks. There's a lot more bumping and grinding and wrecks and I think it makes it a little bit more exciting for the fans than the big tracks do."

ARCA Trucks and Thunder Roadsters will join the Winston West on the racing card Saturday night at The Bullring.