Monday, March 17, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
AFTER proving to NASCAR it deserves a coveted Winston Cup date by staging a successful Busch Series race, it still can be argued that Las Vegas Motor Speedway is too big for its own good.
The Speedway apparently has become sensitive about the number of race fans passing through its turnstiles, as the attendance for Sunday's Las Vegas 300 was listed only as an estimated 81,300 for the three-day weekend. LVMS prior to Sunday had released an actual head count for its two previous major events, 67,132 for last September's Indy Racing League inaugural and 51,437 for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in November.
The cryptic way LVMS and/or NASCAR handled attendance queries suggested that one or both was disappointed by Sunday's crowd. Neither had reason to be.
While it was apparent that roughly half of the massive grandstands were empty, that means the other half was full. When there is room for 107,000 spectators it means there still are 53,500 in the house.
That would make Sunday's race the second-most attended sporting event in Nevada history, and give LVMS the distinction of hosting the first-, second- and third-most witnessed sporting events since the Silver State became one.
While NASCAR and LVMS media room officials skirted the attendance issue, Speedway projects coordinator Hugh McDonough, one of the few executives left from the original cast of characters assembled by track president Richie Clyne, was more obliging.
According to McDonough, NHP rounded off Sunday's vehicle count to 22,900. Using a low-end estimate of 2.3 fans per car would mean that roughly 52,000 were on hand. That seemed about right.
Still, every time the TNN cameras picked up the field in turns 3 and 4, where the auxiliary grandstand was closed, the place looked as empty as Dave Marcis' trophy case.
It's all a matter of perception. Put 52,000 spectators in grandstands that hold 70,000 (big enough to host anything on four wheels, including Winston Cup) and the place would have looked full. When the place looks full, you succeed in creating a hot ticket.
While strategy off the track may open LVMS to skepticism, what happened on it Sunday only enhanced the glittering speed plant's viability as a major-league stock car racing circuit.
The drivers were effusive in their praise for the wide and smooth 1.5-mile superspeedway and the racing was spectacular. The Busch cars ran two-, three- and sometimes even four-wide. There was drafting, but that tactic wasn't required to pass, as evidenced by the whopping 25 lead changes among 12 drivers.
He left without speaking to reporters, but NASCAR president Bill France Jr. had to be impressed.
There were other signs -- some even literal -- that Winston Cup is coming. On the inside of turn 4, a sign above a parking space said "Reserved for Bill France Jr."
So somebody thinks he's coming back.
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