Friday, March 7, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
If there is a tool that best describes the relationship between NASCAR and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it wouldn't be a jack, socket wrench, air gun or any piece of hardware found along pit road.
To hear superstar driver Dale Jarrett tell it, a back scratcher might be the better instrument. As in "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours."
"We're anxious to show everybody in Las Vegas who has been watching on TV what NASCAR racing is all about," said Jarrett, one of several Winston Cup veterans who will race in next Sunday's Las Vegas 300 Busch Grand National race at LVMS.
At the same time, Jarrett said if NASCAR is to become a true national sport, it needs to break from its Southeast stomping grounds and establish roots in new, progressive markets such as Las Vegas.
Next week's event will mark the first time the Busch drivers will venture west of the Mississippi River. They'll be joined by NASCAR luminaries such as Terry and Bobby Labonte, Michael Waltrip Jimmy Spencer and Jarrett, who will use the off week in the Winston Cup schedule to cherry pick the Las Vegas Busch race.
"I've felt we need to be in that part of the country for a while now," said Jarrett, who is coming off a monster year in which he won both the Daytona 500 (for a second time) and the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis. "Now we have a tremendous facility at which to do it."
Jarrett, who stands third in Winston Cup points heading into Sunday's Primestar 500 at Atlanta, said Las Vegas was ready for NASCAR long before the pristine 1.5-mile superspeedway was available to NASCAR.
"Three years ago, I did an autograph session at a Las Vegas Goodyear tire store for Interstate Batteries, one of my old sponsors," Jarrett recalled. "I figured there might be some fans by but ... this was Las Vegas, so I didn't expect a lot of people."
What happened that afternoon surprised Jarrett more than ... well, say Dave Marcis were to win a race.
"It was supposed to be a two-hour session and I signed autographs for three hours and 20 minutes. That showed how popular our sport is and that this is a place we need to be," Jarrett said.
"I know my (Busch) sponsors, White Rain and Gillette, are excited to get in a different market with their product (name) on the side of the race car. And I think the reason you're seeing a lot of Winston Cup drivers come there is that I think there's a good chance Las Vegas will be on the (Winston Cup) schedule."
That's one of the themes of next week's Busch race. With a big turnout, Las Vegas will show NASCAR it deserves a coveted Winston Cup date, which probably is crucial to the long-term success of the massive motor speedway.
At the same time, NASCAR may learn if the Busch series, considered a triple-A circuit to Winston Cup, has grown to where it can thrive on its own.
"This may be the first race in the Busch series west of the Mississippi, but it's No. 302 for me," said Jarrett, who made his Grand National debut in 1982 and still runs about 16-18 Busch events per year.
"It's definitely come a long way since 1982. What we had then were pretty much late model sportsman cars. What we see today is a very professional division where there's a tremendous amount of time and effort put into the cars."
And Jarrett said the Busch drivers are as good as those cars.
"There is a great pool of talent," he said. "This series is just tremendous. Really, it's nothing less than Winston Cup racing."
Trickle benefits
Tickets are on sale for an unplugged concert Thursday benefitting hospitalized Las Vegas racer Chris Trickle. Tickets for the 8 p.m. affair at Texas Station, featuring country-western stars Richard Sterben (Oak Ridge Boys) and Mark Collie; popular music stars Peter Cetera, Vince Neil and Matt and Gunnar Nelson; TV stars Richard Dean Anderson, John Amos and Jeannie Cooper; Apollo astronaut Pete Conrad and Winston Cup regular Dick Trickle (Chris' uncle), are $15 and $100 (VIP). Tickets may be purchased at Texas Station or by calling 631-8370.
In another benefit, Chris Trickle's NASCAR Southwest Tour car and crew will appear at the Fast Eddie's Mini-Mart (6720 West Flamingo Road) from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. All three Las Vegas Fast Eddie's locations, in conjunction with the Las Vegas Jr. Dragsters, will be taking part in a weekend fund raiser for Trickle. Call 364-2009 for details.
Chris Trickle remains hospitalized in serious condition at University Medical Center after being shot in the head in a Las Vegas highway incident Feb. 9. He has yet to regain consciousness.
Backmarkers
After starting a disappointing 21st in a 28-car field, Henderson resident Richie Hearn worked his way up to a respectable 11th-place finish at last weekend's CART PPG World Series season opener at Homestead, Fla. "We said we wanted to finish this race and work toward the entire season and we did that," said Hearn, whose Ralph's/Food 4 Less Lola-Ford was among the fastest cars in winter testing at the 1.5-mile Homestead oval but broke an axle during qualifying. ... Reigning CART champion Jimmy Vasser of Las Vegas and Target/Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Alex Zanardi will fly with the Navy Blue Angels today at El Centro, Calif. "I'm not even sure I can say how excited I am," said Vasser, who finished third in last week's CART season opener at Homestead. ... Next weekend's Busch Grand National race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will feature a purse of $885,275, the second-largest in Busch GN history. "That's the kind of purse that gets your attention," said Busch champion Randy LaJoie during a Las Vegas visit last week.
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