NASCAR won't add 2nd race at LVMS

It will be up to new owner Bruton Smith to move one of his existing Winston Cup races if Las Vegas Motor Speedway intends to host a second race, according to NASCAR president Bill France.

France, in Las Vegas on Tuesday to speak at the Gaming, Lodging & Leisure Summit at the Bellagio hotel-casino, said NASCAR has no immediate plans to award a second Winston Cup date to LVMS.

"There are other (tracks) that have one race and would like to have a second one," France said. "Los Angeles is a lot bigger market than Vegas is and (California Speedway) would like a second date. Phoenix (International Raceway) has been sitting there for 10 years waiting for a second race.

"There are a whole lot of places that would like to have another event. We do our events on a year-to-year basis and there's nothing on the scrabble sheet that I see (Las Vegas getting a second Cup race)."

LVMS hosted its first Winston Cup race last March and drew a sellout crowd of 135,000. The Speedway will host stock car racing's premier series again on March 7.

Unlike the National Football League, which started out in larger markets and has expanded into "second-tier" markets, NASCAR began in smaller markets in the Southeast before expanding into larger markets such as Los Angeles and Dallas.

France said he expected that trend to continue, with new speedways under construction or in the planning stages in Kansas City, Chicago and Denver.

"If we could add a couple (races), we're selective on where we go versus going back to places a second time," France said.

Smith, whose Speedway Motorsports, Inc., purchased LVMS and surrounding property in December for $215 million, said he would bring a second Winston Cup race to Las Vegas "in the future." It now appears that in order to do that, Smith would have to move one of his other eight Winston Cup dates from his five other tracks.

SMI owns and operates three tracks which each host two Winston Cup points races: Charlotte Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee and Atlanta Motor Speedway. SMI also owns Texas Motor Speedway and Sears Point Raceway, both of which host one Cup race.

France also ruled out the widely rumored notion that NASCAR would split its popular Winston Cup Series into two divisions to hold more races at more tracks. The 1999 schedule will feature 34 races from mid-February to late November, with only six off-weekends.

"I'm not saying that someday it might not happen, but not in the near term -- not in the immediate future," France said. "We don't think that the two parts would be worth as much as the whole."

Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) president Andrew Craig, on the other hand, reiterated his desire to expand the open-wheel FedEx Championship Series into the Las Vegas market.

"It's a wonderful race track and this is a great marketplace and we would certainly like to at least consider (racing here) further down the road," Craig said.

Craig, also in town to speak at the Summit, had been holding talks with former LVMS president Richie Clyne about holding a CART race here. Craig said that Smith's purchase of the Speedway would not hinder his attempt to bring his series to Las Vegas.

"I don't think the change of ownership makes any difference in our interest in this marketplace," Craig said. "It's a great market and somewhere we would like to race at some point in the future."

Smith said last month that he would be open to holding a CART race at LVMS, which also hosts a rival Indy Racing League event.

"If opportunity knocks, we'll answer the door," Smith said when asked if he would consider bringing a CART race to LVMS.

Craig said that he has not talked with Smith or anyone from SMI since the Speedway changed hands last month.

Craig also said that the 'CART 101' driving experience, patterned after the highly successful Richard Petty Driving Experience will open, as planned, at LVMS in June.

"The interest in that program is phenomenal," Craig said of CART 101, which will allow fans to drive actual CART Champ cars on the 1.5-mile superspeedway.

"They're taking advance booking now for when they open in June and there has just been huge interest."

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