Weather slows team transporters

Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2003 | 9:12 a.m.

Several NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Series transporters carrying cars that will compete in this weekend's races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway were stranded Tuesday evening in Texas after a winter storm coated the Dallas region with up to three inches of snow and sleet.

According to LVMS president and general manager Chris Powell, several transporters headed to Las Vegas for Saturday's Sam's Town 300 NASCAR Busch Series and Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 NASCAR Winston Cup Series races were forced to pull off Interstate 20 near Dallas and Interstate 40 in the northern part of Texas because of hazardous driving conditions.

Powell was confident, however, that the delay would not affect this weekend's races in Las Vegas.

"From what I understand, we should be fine," Powell said. "It's supposed to thaw out by (this afternoon), which should give them time to get here."

Busch Series transporters are not scheduled to enter the LVMS grounds until 11 a.m. Thursday. Winston Cup transporters cannot enter the grounds until 5:45 a.m. Friday. The first scheduled on-track activity is a Busch Series practice from 9 to 11:15 a.m. Friday and the first Winston Cup practice is slated for 11:20 a.m. to 1:20 p.m. Friday.

The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for much of the Dallas region late Tuesday and continuing through noon today. The agency said travel during that period was "strongly discouraged" because of icy roadways.

Many transporter drivers had anticipated bad weather on I-40 and took I-20 through Dallas in an attempt to miss the weather.

The delay of Saturday's Busch Series race to Monday already had caused logistical nightmares for drivers of the haulers. Gary Clem, who drives the transporter for the No. 38 car driven by Kasey Kahne, said the postponement put him on a tight schedule for the 2,300-mile trip from North Carolina to Las Vegas.

Clem had planned to make the trip in about 36 hours. With a check-in time of 11 a.m. Thursday, he had about 54 hours to make it to Las Vegas when the garage area opened.

"Normally, we would like to have left the shop in Mooresville at around noon Monday," Clem said. "But I didn't get back from Rockingham until late afternoon Monday. The guys unloaded and loaded the truck while I slept and I was able to get on the road at 8 o'clock Tuesday morning.

"We can certainly make it but I like a little more time built in. If we have a flat tire in the middle of nowhere or run into some bad weather, then things get a little tight for us."

Other Cup drivers attempting to make the 43-car field on Saturday are Steve Park, Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Tony Raines, Joe Nemechek, Todd Bodine and Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip.

McLaughlin, a 10-year Busch Series veteran who is without a full-time ride on the series, is racing on individual event sponsorships and donations from fans. McLaughlin, who finished 29th in the season opener in Daytona, has received more than $80,000 in donations from fans and corporations in 49 states and two foreign countries to continue his racing career.

Sterling Marlin earned an event-record $412,842 for his victory in last year's Las Vegas Winston Cup race.