Racing for a finish

Thursday, Jan. 11, 2007 | 7:02 a.m.

Paul Dean points to the spot where a sports bar will serve thirsty race fans in the new fan-friendly "Neon Garage" infield attraction at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which is set to open in 57 days.

It is little more than a pile of dirt.

Dean, owner of Las Vegas-based Behade Builders and the general contractor for the $30 million infield renovation project, points out the location of two other concession stands - neither of which exists beyond the wooden form for its concrete foundation. He scoffs when an observer questions whether the buildings can be completed in less than two months.

"Oh, we can build concession stands," Dean says with a chuckle. "When we were building the (17,000-seat) Petty Terrace, we built a concession stand in 22 days."

Dean's casual demeanor belies the time constraints under which he and his crew of hundreds are laboring. The project has been delayed almost five weeks because the original steel supplier went out of business late last year.

"We've been working seven days a week since Thanksgiving," he said of his crew, which has taken off only Christmas Day since then.

Dean's initial goal was to have the four garage buildings open for use by the teams when they come to Las Vegas for a test session on Jan. 29-30. That would have allowed fans to watch the race teams work on their cars from ground level and from an elevated viewing point on the two-story structures.

The garage structures won't be done by then.

But Dean insists that the entire project - including a three-story media center - will be ready by March 9, when the speedway opens its gates to fans for its 10th annual NASCAR weekend.

The improvements are part of a push to draw a second NASCAR race to Las Vegas. The last thing speedway officials want is a repeat of the track's inaugural race, an Indy Racing League event in September 1996. Because much of the speedway's landscaping wasn't completed in time for the grand opening, blowing dirt, dust and empty cement bags caused several accidents in the nationally televised race.

Chris Powell, who has served as the speedway's general manager since it was purchased by Bruton Smith's Speedway Motorsports Inc. in December 1998, also said he had "no doubt" that the infield project would be done in time for NASCAR weekend.

It had better be.

NASCAR weekend is the biggest sporting event west of Dallas. Last year it drew 154,000 fans and pumped an estimated $197 million into the Nevada economy, according to a Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority study.

And sales of passes for the "Neon Garage," at $99 per day and $199 for the three-day weekend, have exceeded expectations, according to a speedway spokesman.

"Every project that our people do has been completed on time and I don't have any reason to believe that there's anything different in this instance," Powell said. "We've had meetings, and not once have I gotten the impression that we had a problem with getting it ready.

"If they have to work overnight, they'll work overnight; I don't even think it's an issue."

To emphasize his point, Powell pointed to a picture of a packed Las Vegas Motor Speedway during the 2000 NASCAR race weekend. In one corner of the picture is the steel shell of the suite building atop the main grandstand at the drag strip.

"You can see right through it," Powell noted. The photo was taken on the first weekend in March, and the project was finished when the drag strip opened the second week in April. "So, it was done in five weeks."

"They can get it done ... so I'm not even worried at all."

Powell seemed more concerned that the amenities being offered to drivers, team officials and their wives surpass anything being offered at any racetrack in the country.

To that end, the new media center will include a weight room, day spa and hair and nail salons for the teams' use.

"One of the things that has caught our attention is the treatment that wives on the PGA Tour get," Powell said. "Bruton wants to treat the wives of the drivers and the owners and crew members as well as possible and in a first-class way and give them something here in Las Vegas they can't get anywhere else. The spa opportunity and the hair salon is one way."

It also might be one way to coax NASCAR to give the speedway a second NASCAR Nextel Cup race by transforming the speedway into what Smith envisions to be the "finest motor sports facility in the world."

Although Las Vegas Motor Speedway has been one of his most profitable tracks despite the fact it hosts only one NASCAR Nextel Cup race a year, Smith has invested more than $50 million to upgrade the facilities and improve the racing at the 1.5-mile superspeedway. In August, crews completed a project that increased the track's banking from 12 to 20 degrees in the corners and moved the pit road 275 feet closer to the grandstands.

"We've been very successful with our NASCAR weekend," Powell said, "but it's not Bruton's history to sit back and say, 'We've got it done, now we're finished.' He always wants to make it better."