Lightning strike causes change in racing format

Because of technical difficulties as a result of a lighting strike earlier in the week, eighth-mile drag racing replaced the traditional quarter- mile racing Saturday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Eighth-mile winners included Tim Arden's '67 Chevy Camaro in the National Performance Eliminator (6.596 seconds); Randy Holly's '73 Plymouth Barracuda in Pro (7.8 seconds); Bob Coulter's '64 Ford Falcon in Sportsman (8.58); and Terry Ainsworth's '91 Chevy Corvette in Street (9.51).

Dixie Welch of Camarillo, Calif. captured the Outlaw portion of the program while Steve Haight of Upland, Calif., and Mike Boyd of Los Alamitos, Calif., split a pair of rounds in the Fuel Altereds.

Troy Green of Purcell, Okla., bettered Alicia Stirling of Salinas, Calif., in the final round of the Top Fuel competition. A crowd estimated at 3,000 fans attended the Nitro Flashback event.

"We have seen the possibilities that can result in running eighth- mile times," said Larry Horten, operations manager for LVMS. "We ran the shorter distance because of the electrical damage done to the quarter-mile computers.

"What we discovered was that the eighth-mile racing is more conducive to the street-type cars we run on Friday nights for the kids."

Horten explained that the eighth-mile clocks were not damaged by last week's storm, but the traditional quarter-mile computer was unrepairable for Saturday's program. The end result was the creation of another form of local drag racing now being added to the LVMS schedule. Horten added that the latest program was a non-points event for the NHRA/Craftsman ET Series.

Motor sports action resumes at LVMS next Friday and Saturday nights. IMCA, Dwarfs and Street Stocks will run on the new 1/3-mile dirt track Friday night, while the NASCAR Winston Racing Series will be featured Saturday night at the 3/8-mile paved oval.

Included in the Saturday stock car program will be Late Models, Limited Late Models, Grand American Modifieds and Legends. Gates open at 4 p.m. with main events set for 8 p.m.

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