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| April 18-24, 2002 | ARCHIVES |
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| "It's The Norm" - Recent Entertainment Events in Las Vegas | |
Well, gang, another great weekend of auto racing has come and gone at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Our local racer, George Marnell (he of the masonry business) who competes in the Pro Stock Division of the National Hot Rod Association was leading in points after three races coming to The Strip and the SummitRacing.com event. When it was all over he was still leading and that is great! Marnell, who started competing professionally in 1991 in Super Gas, Super Comp, is 51 years of age. That's an age when most of us are thinking of getting a bass boat and some good fishing gear and heading for the retirement lake (I think you know what I am saying). I would say that 98 percent of those he is competing against are at least 10 years or more younger. But there is not a hint of retirement when you talk to this very unassuming man. What has kept him in the points lead is his quickness off the line. Believe me this 51 year old driver has the quickness of a teenager. George went through two days of qualifications on Friday and Saturday and ended up second fastest behind eventual winner Ron Krisher. Guess what did our local lad in? Quickness off the line! Marnell lost in the semifinals to Darrell Alderman who turned the tables at the starting line. Alderman's reaction time (off the line when the green light blinks) was 0.33 of a second quicker, which allowed his slower 7.030-second run at 197.33 mph to beat Marnell's 7.028-second run at 197.33. In other words he crossed the finish line by a nose. Was Marnell disappointed? "Sure we are," the soft-spoken racer answered. "We want to win them all, but that's not reality either. The big thing is that we are still the points leader going into Houston (the next event)." Marnell won the first NHRA event this year in Pomona and has been very consistent in climbing the qualifying ladder thus far this year. |
"Overall I would say it was a good weekend," he smiled. "I can't complain about the weekend at all. We made a hard charge for it and came up just a bit short. The track was so hot and slick that I spun the tire pretty hard. He simply had a little bit more at the starting line than I did." The one thing on his mind, and of course every competitor, is winning the championship at the end of the season. "I'm going to concentrate more on winning rounds (they earn points for every round they advance). Round after another, after another should do it. If I can do that consistently we should be in the thick of the battle for the championship. That will be great. That's what I want!" With his grittiness, determination and quickness anything is possible. Kenny Bernstein drives the Budweiser King Top Fuel dragster will be retiring after this season. He wanted so much to take home another trophy from The Strip, but was unable to continue his dominance at the spring event. He ran some very quick times to get to the semifinals but lost to runner-up Cory McClenathan. It was the first time Kenny did not make it all the way to the finals, where he has only lost once in the fall event last year. His record at the Strip is two wins, a loss to Darrell Russell in a final and now Cory. Just a little note about Brendan Gaughan. The
Las Vegas resident is currently sitting 12th in points and second in the
Rookie-of-the-Year standings in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series after two
events. Plans call for him to also compete in a few NASCAR Winston Cup events
when possible. The first of these planned excursions into a Cup race will take
place at the California Speedway on April
28. "We tested our new Cup car at Fontana last week," Gaughan (he races the No.
62 NAPA / Orleans Dodge truck) said. "We were really happy with the test results
and it showed us that we could be very competitive. We didn't want to go there
just to run in the back of the field. The test showed that we are right in the
Ball Park!"
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