Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a 1,200-acre (490 ha) complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

History

Following the closure of Stardust International Raceway at the end of 1970, plans were developed for a new racing facility in Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Speedrome. It consisted of a road course and drag strip. Through changes of ownership, a 3/8-mile short track would become part of the complex by the end of the 1970s. A new $72 million superspeedway opened on the site in September 1996. The first race at the speedway was on September 15, 1996 with an Indy Racing League event which was won by Richie Hearn. The first NASCAR Sprint Cup (then Winston Cup) event was held March 1, 1998 with Mark Martin winning the inaugural event. In December 1998, Speedway Motorsports, Inc. purchased Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Veteran motorsports publicist Chris Powell was named the speedway's president and general manager and still holds that position today.

The Winston No Bull 5 Million Dollar Bonus was held at the track from 1999 to 2002. Jeff Burton won a million dollars in 2000 and Jeff Gordon won the bonus in 2001. Burton in 1999 and Sterling Marlin in 2002 were not eligible. The drag strip was rebuilt and relocated into the current The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The 3/8 mile oval was rebuilt with a new pit lane and start-finish changed to the opposite side. In 1998, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway was sold by Richie Clyne and Ralph Englestad to Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which was owned by Bruton Smith, for $215 million in December. During the 2004 and 2005 race seasons, Champ Car also held races at the speedway, which were both won by Sébastien Bourdais.

In 2006, plans were announced to reconfigure the track after the March 2006 Sprint Cup Series race, increasing the banking from 12° to 20°.^[1] This reconfiguration entailed "progressive banking" which increases the degree of banking on a gradient towards the outside of the track. This increased side-by-side racing. The speedway also constructed a fan zone called The Neon Garage. This area has live entertainment, unprecedented access to the drivers and teams, such as viewing areas for fans to watch their favorite driver's car get worked on and talk to the drivers, and is home to the Winner's Circle. The speedway moved pit road 275 feet (84 m) closer to the grandstands, built a new media center and added a quarter-mile oval for Legends Cars, Bandoleros, and Thunder Roadsters, in the tri-oval area.

On August 8, 2006, the newly reconfigured track reopened to stock cars. Kurt Busch, the 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion and Las Vegas native, became the first Sprint Cup driver to test a stock car on the newly reconfigured track in his #2 Miller Lite Penske Dodge. Jeff Burton won the first Nationwide Series race on the new surface, taking a Monte Carlo SS to Victory Lane. The following day Jimmie Johnson drove a Chevrolet to Victory Lane, capturing the first Sprint Cup Series win on the new pavement.

In March 2011, Insomniac Events announced that their largest rave festival in North America, Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC), would take place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the first time on June 24–26. More than 235,000 people attended the three-day event. The 2012 event was held June 8–10 with an attendance of 315,000 people. The 2013 event was held June 21–23 with an attendance of approximately 345,000 people. The 2014 event was held on 20-22 June, and the 2015 event is scheduled for 19-21 June. Insomniac has signed a ten-year contract with LVMS to host EDC through 2022.^[2]

A road course designed by Romain Thievin was added in 2012. The course is 1.4 miles (2.3 km) long with 11 turns and an 1,800-foot (550 m) straight.^[3]

2011 IndyCar accident

At the IZOD IndyCar World Championship on October 16, 2011, the final race of the 2011 IndyCar season was held at Las Vegas. However, the race was marred by a horrific crash during the 11th lap that involved 15 cars, some of which burst into flames. The crash resulted in a red flag being shown very soon after, due to the remains of the cars and the amount of debris left on the track.^[4] The crash began when Wade Cunningham made light contact with James Hinchcliffe, but the incident soon turned into a huge pile-up of cars.

4 drivers were taken to the nearby University Medical Center for treatment, one of whom was two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon, who suffered severe blunt force trauma to his head after his car flew into the perimeter fence of the track and burst into flames. He was pronounced dead by the hospital 2 hours after the crash and the race was formally abandoned by IndyCar's officials.^[5] Instead of completing the race with 188 laps to go, the unaffected 19 drivers drove back on the track and did a 5-lap tribute salute in Wheldon's honor.^[6]

In December 2011, IndyCar and its officials confirmed that they wouldn't be coming back to Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the 2012 season and beyond and that the future of IndyCar at the track depended on what they learn from the ongoing investigation into the accident that killed Wheldon.^[7]

Records

Track reconfiguration in 2006 increased the banking in the turns. Subsequent testing before the 2007 season showed significantly higher speeds, with Sprint Cup Series drivers recording unofficial laps at better than 185 mph (298 km/h).

• NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying: Jeff Gordon, 27.738 sec. (194.679 mph), March 6, 2015
• NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race: Brad Keselowski, 2 hrs. 35 min. 24 sec. (154.633 mph), 2014 Kobalt 400
• NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying: Brad Keselowski, 29.112 sec. (185.427 mph), 2010
• NASCAR Xfinity Series Race: Jeff Burton, 2 hrs. 13 min. 13 sec. (135.118 mph), 2000
• NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Qualifying: Mike Skinner, 30.326 sec. (178.065 mph), 2006
• NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race: David Starr, 1 hr. 37 min. 3 sec. (135.394 mph), 2002

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Records

(As of March 8, 2015)

* from minimum 5 starts.

Tracks

• Inside Road Course: 1.1 miles (1.8 km), with a 0.76 miles (1.22 km) road configuration and a 0.33 miles (530 m) oval configuration
• Outside Road Course: 2.4 miles (3.9 km)
• The Bullring: 0.375 miles (604 m) paved oval
• Dirt Track: 0.5 miles (800 m) clay oval
• The Strip: 0.25 miles (1,320 ft) drag strip
• Superspeedway: 1.5 miles (2.4 km) oval
• Exotics Racing Course: 1.4 miles (2.25 km) road course, with a 1.2 miles (1.9 km) configuration
• Off-road Course: an 850 by 750 ft (260 by 230 m) area which may accommodate multiple configurations

Other events

• The RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship was held here in December 2013. Tim Burke won the event.
• The track is the finish line for the 24th season of The Amazing Race broadcast on May 18, 2014. Dave and Connor O'Leary won the race.
• Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC), an electronic music festival hosted by Insomniac Events is held at the speedway each year.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

• Las Vegas Motor Speedway Official Site
• Map and full circuit history at RacingCircuits.info
• Las Vegas Motor Speedway race results at Racing-Reference
• The Bullring race results at Racing-Reference
• Las Vegas Motor Speedway Page on NASCAR.com
• Jayski's Las Vegas Speedway Page – Current and Past Las Vegas Motor Speedway News
• High Resolution image from Google Maps
• Dream Racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
• Richard Petty Driving Experience at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
• Las Vegas Motor Speedway Tickets
• Exotics Racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Coordinates: 36°16′17″N 115°00′40″W / 36.27134°N 115.01112°W / 36.27134; -115.01112