Brian Hilderbrand

Story Archive

Las Vegas racer escapes burning car: Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Desert race’s resurrection deemed by all a success: Amateur group stages trouble-free Mint 400; Wednesday, April 2, 2008; Despite almost four decades of experience putting on desert races and over a year of planning by Southern Nevada Off-Road Enthusiasts, there were some in the desert racing ranks who doubted the all-volunteer group could pull off a resurrection of the Mint 400.
Vasser to race in final Champ Car event: Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Las Vegas team wins overall title in Mint 400 (UPDATED): Monday, March 31, 2008
With the right promotion, everyone wins: Monday, March 31, 2008; Fireworks displays and bobblehead doll giveaways will come and go, but the Great Easter Egg Hunt of 1993 will go down in the annals of memorable local sports promotions.
Observations from Sunday’s Goody’s Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway: Sunday, March 30, 2008
The Las Vegas 51s owner and his lifelong love for baseball: Saturday, March 29, 2008; Despite stories to the contrary, Derek Stevens did not buy a ticket to a Las Vegas 51s game last season, watch a few innings at Cashman Field and then — on the spur of the moment — decide to buy the team.
Take Five: The Bullring: Friday, March 28, 2008; Attending races at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway used to be about as pleasant as a trip to the dentist. Not anymore.
Freshly minted desert race: Organizers hope to restore luster to a classic of yesteryear, the Mint 400 off-road race; Tuesday, March 25, 2008; With apologies to the Baja 1000, now considered the granddaddy of off-road races, the Mint 400 quite possibly is the most famous desert race in the world. At least it was, during its run from 1968 to 1988.
Baseball rival is also model for UNLV team: Thursday, March 20, 2008; Buddy Gouldsmith makes no bones about the fact that he would like to mold his UNLV baseball program after one established 33 years ago at a little state university carved out of a Southern California orange grove.
Observations from Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway: Sunday, March 16, 2008
His make-or-break season: UNLV football coach Mike Sanford finally has his own team — and one last chance; Friday, March 14, 2008; OK, no more excuses.
After inheriting a team with little talent and charged with rebuilding a moribund football program virtually from the ground up for the past three years, Mike Sanford enters his fourth season as UNLV’s head coach knowing his job is on the line.
Roush will not appeal: Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Burton: Expect different Bristol race: Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Observations from Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway: Sunday, March 9, 2008
Comeback trail beckons: Despite having less support than men’s team, women’s golf coach is optimistic; Saturday, March 8, 2008; For all the success UNLV women’s golf has enjoyed since Missy Ringler took over as head coach, it is sometimes easy to forget that the program still is in its infancy.
Southern Highlands Collegiate Championship: Friday, March 7, 2008; If you can’t make it to Indiana in May to see the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship, make sure you check out the Southern Highlands Collegiate Championship this weekend at Southern Highlands Golf Club.
Hey AOL: Get a clue: Thursday, March 6, 2008
What a way to go: Wednesday, March 5, 2008
LVMS retaining wall passed NASCAR's muster: Monday, March 3, 2008
It’s safety first at speedway: A couple of close calls, a record number of cautions, but no one’s hurt; Monday, March 3, 2008; Owner Bruton Smith spent about $10 million increasing the banking in the corners and repaving his 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway. His money would have been better spent adding even more padding to the inside retaining walls. Just ask Jeff Gordon. Carl Edwards held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win Sunday’s UAW-Dodge 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.
A hero's value: Dale Earnhardt Jr., rock star of racing, means big bucks for speedway; Friday, Feb. 29, 2008; When the green flag dropped to start the Daytona 500 two weeks ago, nobody was cheering harder for Dale Earnhardt Jr. than May, the vice president of marketing and sales at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
UAW-Dodge 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup series race: Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008; See that driver sitting on the pole for Sunday’s UAW-Dodge 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race? Forget him, he probably won’t win; no pole sitter ever has won the Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
NASCAR drivers to make appearances (UPDATED): Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008; Many of the drivers who will be competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Feb. 29-March 2 will be popping up around town during the week and available for autographs.
Transporter carries the team’s dreams: Schedule, weather conspire to give Jeff Gordon’s race team an especially heavy burden on the interstate; Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008; The most valuable members of Jeff Gordon’s race team this weekend might not be the ones who service his No. 24 Chevrolet Impala during the UAW-Dodge 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but the ones who deliver his race cars to the track.
Would two NASCAR races be twice as good for Vegas?: Many would like speedway owner to move another event here; Monday, Feb. 25, 2008; On a sweltering August day in 1997, a host of dignitaries from NASCAR and Las Vegas gathered on Fremont Street to announce that stock-car racing’s top series — then known as the Winston Cup Series — would race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway beginning the following March.
Pro beach volleyball: Friday, Feb. 22, 2008; Ignore the weekend forecast — the weather is going to be perfect for the AVP Hot Winter Nights finale Saturday at the Orleans.
Squeezed season to test Rebels: With lots of midweek games, college schedule will feel more like pros’; Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008; There isn’t a player on UNLV’s baseball team who hasn’t fantasized about what it would be like to play professional ball. This season, they’re going to get a feel for what it’s like.
Daytona 500 ads deliver laughs: Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008
Hope pinned on celebrities to help revive PGA stop: Friday, Feb. 15, 2008; Prior to the start of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic last month, Southern California columnists were pondering whether the celebrity pro-am was a dying breed on the PGA Tour.
Trucks will be out for NASCAR weekend — recycling trucks: Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008; Each day during the annual NASCAR weekend, a veritable army of garbage trucks descends on Las Vegas Motor Speedway and hauls countless tons of trash to the nearby Apex landfill.
Earnhardt Jr. favored to win Daytona 500: Monday, Feb. 11, 2008
Steroids trickling down? Not on his watch: Friday, Feb. 8, 2008; Although UNLV baseball coach Buddy Gouldsmith had no personal stake in Chuck Knoblauch’s private testimony Feb. 1 — or in next week’s House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s public hearing on the issue — the subject of steroids isn’t ever very far from Gouldsmith’s mind.
Rookies? What rookies?: Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008
Rebels coach pits reality against perception on recruiting trail: Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008; Depending on which “expert” you listen to, UNLV’s latest recruiting class ranks either a respectable fourth in the Mountain West Conference or a woeful 110th in the nation.
Betting on the beer wars: Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008
Same attitude, whole new team: Friday, Feb. 1, 2008; Kyle Busch has been called — by friends and detractors alike — one of the most talented drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage.
Gordon optimistic for good race: Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008
Montoya shatters track record: Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008
Edwards sets fast time: Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008
Toyota sets the pace: Monday, Jan. 28, 2008
Busch to carry local sponsor: Monday, Jan. 28, 2008
Hamlin tops first LVMS session: Monday, Jan. 28, 2008
Bandits, booby traps in Baja: More hazards along the famed off-road route concern drivers but won’t keep them away; Monday, Jan. 28, 2008; Racing on a 6-mile, man-made course near the banks of the Colorado River may seem to be a much less hazardous proposition than taking on the unforgiving natural terrain of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, but Rob MacCachren would beg to differ.
MacCachren, a longtime off-road racer from Las Vegas, saw his and co-driver Mark Post’s chances of victory in the Trophy Truck division of the season-opening SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge go up in smoke when their Ford F-150 broke down after six of eight laps Saturday afternoon.
He could go pro, but is staying put: UNLV’s Han decides he wants to be ‘ready’; Saturday, Jan. 26, 2008; Han, a 21-year-old junior, is special — not only because of his talent at working a ball around a golf course, but for his ability to tackle one of the biggest decisions of his young life.
SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge roars to life this weekend: Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008; After a two-month hiatus, the local racing scene will roar to life this weekend when the high-tech off-road race vehicles of the SCORE Desert Series invade the Colorado River resort town of Laughlin for the 14th annual SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge.
NASCAR makes a fine move: Monday, Jan. 21, 2008
Secret’s out about field we can’t talk about: Monday, Jan. 21, 2008; Area 51, the top-secret military installation tucked away in a remote part of the Southern Nevada desert, apparently wasn’t always so top-secret.
Teens skate toward a goal: They come from across the country to hone skills, get noticed; Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008; It’s cold enough inside the Las Vegas Ice Center to see your breath as the Nevada Stars Midget 16 AAA hockey team concludes a series of excruciating wind sprints following an hourlong practice, but that doesn’t stop the sweat from cascading off the heads and faces of the 18 high school-age players as they skate off the ice.
Stay out of Rick's office: Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008