Just a few miles north of The Strip, Las Vegas Motor Speedway sits like a diamond in the desert. One of the most complete racing complexes in the world, its 1,600 acres include road courses, a three-eighths mile oval, a dirt track and a state-of-the-art drag racing facility.
At its heart, however, is the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway, home of a 400-mile race on the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, as well as Busch and Truck Series events.
Construction of the $200 million complex began in 1995.
Nearly 2,000 tons of concrete were originally used to build more than 100,000 seats. Shortly after Speedway Motorsports Inc. bought the track in 1998, it announced plans to add 22,000 seats in the Dale Earnhardt Tower overlooking the frontstretch.
The first NASCAR race held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was a Truck Series event in 1996. The Busch Series held a race there in 1997, and a year later the Cup series made its first visit with Mark Martin picking up the victory in 1998.
Construction of the Richard Petty Terrace in Turn 1 was completed in 2006, allowing fans a shot at 14,000 additional tickets and pushing the track’s seating capacity to nearly 150,000.
Additionally, the track saw several major changes in 2006, as the entire surface as reconfigured with progressive banking installed, as well as fan-friendly features in the infield and moving pit road closer to the straightaway. Beginning in 2007, officials made grandstand seating during NASCAR weekend smoke-free.
(Courtesy of NASCAR)
The Hendrick Motorsports team is off to a hot start this year, with Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson both running well at Daytona and California to start the season. Johnson has won three straight races at Las Vegas and has to be the favorite this weekend. I also think some lower-tier teams – including Bobby Labonte, Jamie McMurray, Elliot Sadler and Clint Bowyer – could run well. -MR