Tuesday, June 19, 2007 | 6:57 a.m.
The sight can be an enticing lure or a cruel tease, depending on a person's perspective.
On any Saturday night at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a racer pulling onto the three-eighths-mile paved short track can't help but see the "big track" - the 130,000-seat speedway that hosts an annual NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race - looming less than half a mile beyond the backstretch.
For many of the 130 or so drivers competing on this particular Saturday night, that's as close as they'll ever get to the "big track" without buying a ticket. For every driver such as Justin Johnson, a promising 21-year-old who won five of the first seven Super Late Models races of the season and aspires to climb the NASCAR ladder, there are dozens of weekend warriors whose only big-time NASCAR fix will come in front of their television sets on Sunday mornings.
Johnson wants to advance to a bigger stock-car series after this season, but acknowledges that talent alone won't get him to that next level.
"Basically, it's all who you know nowadays," he said. "When you're out on the West Coast, it's hard to get noticed."
Seeing Kurt Busch, and then his younger brother Kyle, make it from The Bullring to the top level of NASCAR gives Johnson hope.
"It's a good thing that that happened to the West Coast, but there's so much talent out there that it's hard for the teams back East to pick out good drivers," Johnson said. "It's probably going to have to work out where someone else talks about me, not just me talking about myself."
Steve Anderson, 53, is at the other end of the spectrum. An accomplished sports car driver who won numerous national championships and holds a class victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona, Anderson races stock cars at The Bullring purely for the love of it.
" I'm just trying to have fun and do the best I can do with the resources I have," said Anderson, who last month earned his first Super Late Models victory of the season.
"Every race I get to run, I'm just happy I can muster up the energy to do it. It's a family hobby and it's something I've done for over 30 years , so it's hard not to be doing this every weekend."
Anderson said his primary concern these days is not about making a name for himself, but trying to keep up with the younger drivers.
"I told my wife, 'Make me one promise: If I look like an idiot out there and I'm in the way, you tell me and it'll be time to get out.'
"But it's like a drug, it really is," he said of racing. "I hope I can get it out of my system in the next few years."
Super Late Models
March 31 Tom Lovelady
April 7 Justin Johnson
April 14 Justin Johnson
April 21 Justin Johnson
April 28 Tom Lovelady
May 5 Justin Johnson
May 12 Justin Johnson
May 26 Steve Anderson
June 2 Dustin Ash
June 9 Dustin Ash
June 16 Taylor Barton (first feature); Dustin Ash (second feature)
Late Models
March 31 Doug Hamm
April 7 Doug Hamm
April 21 Doug Hamm
May 5 Jace Meier
May 12 Doug Hamm
May 26 Doug Hamm
June 9 Joe Deguevera
IMCA Modifieds
March 31 Jentry Pisca
April 14 Craig Stewart
April 21 Charlie Wahl
April 28 Craig Stewart
May 12 Charlie Wahl
May 26 Wayne Morris Jr.
June 2 Charlie Wahl
June 16 Tadd Burns
Chargers
March 31 Brian Matzke
April 7 Mike Heck
April 14 Brian Matzke
April 21 Darren Rollins
April 28 Mario Opipari
May 5 Brian Matzke
May 12 Darren Rollins
May 26 Mike Heck
June 2 Phil Goodwin
June 9 Mario Opipari
June 16 Mario Opipari
Legends Cars
March 31 Chris Buescher
April 7 Chris Buescher
April 14 Nick Parmelee
April 28 Chris Buescher
May 5 Chris Buescher
May 26 Scott Anderson
June 2 Nick Parmelee
June 9 Jeremiah Wagner
Thunder Roadsters
April 7 Charlie Wahl
April 14 Roger Hocking
April 28 Matt Lutz
May 5 Charlie Wahl
May 26 Charlie Wahl
June 2 Ed Hohman
June 9 Ed Hohman
Bombers
April 7 Don Sargent
April 21 Don Sargent
May 12 Larry Dittman
June 2 Don Sargent
June 9 Larry Dittman
Bandolero Young Guns
March 31 Jacob Bishop
April 7 Damon Blakeman
April 28 Jacob Bishop
May 5 Kyle Spade
May 26 Cheyanne Schindler
June 2 Jacob Bishop
June 9 Brianna Holley
June 16 Jacob Bishop
Bandolero Bandits
March 31 Dylan Kwasniewski
April 7 Dylan Kwasniewski
April 28 Nicolas Thigpen
May 5 Dylan Kwasniewski
May 26 Jonathan Eakin
June 2 Dylan Kwasniewski
June 9 Dylan Kwasniewski
June 16 Andre Prescott
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