Columnist Ron Kantowski: Race fans should thank late LVMS founders

Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2003 | 9:14 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's insider notes column appears Tuesday and his Page One column appears Thursday. He can be reached at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

On race day, they kept a lower profile than an Italian sports car, and there are those who will tell you that Ralph Englestad and Bill Bennett's only reason for building Las Vegas Motor Speedway was for the day they would turn a nice profit by selling it.

Regardless, were it not for their vision/wallets, about all local auto racing fans would have to look forward to is Saturday night street stock racing on the old 3/8-mile bullring that -- like virtually everything else at LVMS -- was finished and/or redone when the pair sold the sprawling facility to NASCAR track magnate Bruton Smith in 1998.

I was reminded of that on a midweek visit to LVMS last week. The hotel-casino giants are both gone now, having succumbed to illness in recent months, but LVMS is just another monument to their business acumen.

In retrospect, you could say the speedway turned out to be the perfect way to make a fast buck.

Speaking of Englestad, the ink was still drying on his death certificate when protesters began a renewed campaign to have the University of North Dakota remove the Fighting Sioux Indian head logos that adorn Ralph Englestad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D., the state of the art hockey palace financed by its namesake, a former UND goalie.

So far, that movement has generated about as much steam as a weak wrist shot. The UND alumni office has been besieged with letters, e-mails and phone calls from those who want the name to stay as it is and the logos to stay where they are.

"Since Ralph's passing, we've been overwhelmed," alumni director Tim O'Keefe told Wall Street Journal online, adding that 90 percent of the school's graduates like the name they associate with "character, excellence and pride."

No mention on what they thought of the bottled water -- it's called H-Sioux-O -- that is sold at North Dakota games.

Englestad's jersey number was retired during a recent game against St. Cloud State which delighted current goalie Marc Ranfranz, who happens to be Sioux.

"I hope ... they don't change it," Ranfranz said. "I think it's a great nickname and logo. It makes me feel proud when I come into the rink and see the Sioux logo all over."

Indian mascots, incidentally, are on the agenda at this week's NCAA Convention in Anaheim, Calif. That may be the next major development for the Boys Named Sioux.

Next week, when NASCAR stages a major preseason test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the roar of the engines will replace ... well, would you believe the flush of the toilets?

I'm not saying it has been a slow couple of weeks out at LVMS. But one of the press releases distributed last week was to announce that two new restroom buildings at the 1.5-mile oval are under construction, and should help alleviate three-wide racing to the stalls Feb. 28-March 2 at the annual UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 NASCAR Winston Cup weekend.

The new facilities, to be located between Turns 3 and 4, will add 104 toilets, 110 urinals and 40 sinks to LVMS' existing facilities. So maybe this will be the year where NASCAR fans finally make the distinction between the first two and the last one.

Barring a collapse of New York Giants proportions, UNLV is headed back to the NCAA Tournament, if this week's Ratings Percentage Index numbers are comparable to the ones the tourney committee will be using to set the bracket in March.

By virtue of its victory at DePaul -- and most likely any number of other hard-drive bogging variables -- the Rebels have climbed to No. 24 in RPI, one of the major criteria used in determining who goes dancing.

BYU and Utah, two of UNLV's Mountain West brothers, are right behind at No. 28 and 29, respectively.

Several years ago, I remember receiving a return phone call from Paul Anka, who spoke at length about his desire to purchase his hometown Ottawa Senators.

Anka was living in Las Vegas at the time, but he thought rescuing the NHL team might have been the perfect way to give a little something back to the Canadian capital that had supported him so well.

The deal never materialized. Given the Senators' impending bankruptcy and although Anka probably would never say it, that had to be the best thing that happened to the singer since Frank Sinatra asked him to write "My Way."

Or maybe even since "Diana" became his babysitter.

Around the horn: Does the squeaky wheel get the grease of is it just coincidence the UNLV Lady Rebels have moved back to Cox Pavilion -- the building that allegedly was built for them -- this season? Last year, Cox officials made no secret they were upset with the Lady Rebels moving the majority of their home games from Cox to the Thomas & Mack Center. ... While I still think our new Arena Football team will be short-lived, the reasonable $8 ticket price combined with the Kurt Warner factor may extend the Gladiators' life expectancy. ... And finally, A 51s source said one of the managerial candidates that interviewed for the Las Vegas field manager job that went to unknown John Shoemaker was a big name from the parent club's past that might have driven ticket sales here. I doubt it, unless the 51s also were willing to let him hand out nickel beers a nd bottle rockets at the turnstiles.