Decade of change:

Thursday, Sept. 14, 2006 | 7:26 a.m.

1998 - Mark Martin

1999 - Jeff Burton

2000 - Jeff Burton

2001 - Jeff Gordon

2002 - Sterling Marlin

2003 - Matt Kenseth

2004 - Matt Kenseth

2005 - Jimmie Johnson

2006 - Jimmie Johnson

1997 - Jeff Green

1998 - Jimmy Spencer

1999 - Mark Martin

2000 - Jeff Burton

2001 - Todd Bodine

2002 - Jeff Burton

2003 - Joe Nemechek

2004 - Kevin Harvick

2005 - Mark Martin

2006 - Kasey Kahne

Las Vegas Motor Speedway quietly turns 10 on Friday. Although no celebration is planned, it's the anniversary of the date the speedway north of town staged its first major auto race, a 200-lap Indy Racing League event.

The day was unforgettable. Because of the rush to get the facility opened in time for the nationally televised race, some projects - such as the landscaping outside the track - had to be pushed to the back burner. When strong winds kicked up the day of the race, the track was peppered with dust and construction debris that contributed to eight crashes and nine caution periods. Richie Hearn, an IRL rookie, managed to dodge the flying concrete bags and scored his lone victory in a major open-wheel racing series.

There are other memories, of course, from a decade's worth of racing on the 1.5-mile oval. There was the decisive race for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship in 1998, when title contenders and fierce rivals Ron Hornaday and Jack Sprague pulled their trucks onto the infield grass, driver-door-to-driver-door, and shook hands after Sprague won the race but Hornaday captured the title - by three points.

And then there was the side-by-side duel waged by brothers Jeff and Ward Burton during the closing laps of the 1999 NASCAR Cup race, eventually won by Jeff Burton. And underdog Sam Schmidt scoring his lone IRL victory in his hometown race that same year. And Brendan Gaughan also winning his hometown race in the 2003 Truck Series event.

Hearn, who moved to Henderson shortly after winning the inaugural race at the speedway, must shake his head every time he drives past the 1,600-acre complex. If he didn't live here to see the changes the speedway has undergone - and continues to undergo - since it opened in 1996, Hearn probably wouldn't recognize it.

In that sense, not much has changed since Sept. 15, 1996; the facility still is a work in progress. Races no longer are disrupted by dust and debris, but the construction seemingly never ends at Bruton Smith's speedway.

When fans flock to the facility next March for the 10th annual NASCAR weekend, they will be greeted by a new, more steeply banked racing surface, a closer view of pit road and a new fan-friendly garage area. But that is only the beginning of a proposed $300 million in improvements Smith said he plans to make as the speedway lays the foundation for another decade's worth of memories.

History of the speedway

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006