by Norm Johnson Send Me E-mail

There are four guys living in Las Vegas this week that are extremely happy over an announcement at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) Wednesday morning (July 7). Well, actually, there were a bunch of smiling faces at the speedway as a matter if fact. The reason for all the happiness was that the Open Wheel Racers are returning to Las Vegas.

Yep, gang, the guys from the new Champ Car World Series (formerly known as CART) will be racing on the 1 1/2 mile super speedway, in conjunction with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series on September 24-25. The four local drivers who will be competing are defending world champion Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser, Patrick Carpentier and Alex Tagliani. Joining the four local drivers will be approximately 14 other entries bringing the total to perhaps 18 competitors who will circle the track 200 times.

The trucks are scheduled to begin its Las Vegas 350 at 7 pm., Saturday with the Champ Cars set to follow at around 9 pm. Qualifying and practice for both races will take place Friday with admission free. A special Champ Car ticket package has been put together and includes reserved seating in the Dale Earnhardt Terrace and a paddock pass. This package, available only through the LVMS ticket office, is priced at $61.50. And this is important to consider, when was the last time you got to get up close and personal with the drivers and actually touch the race car? If you put out the extra $22.50 you not only get a great seat but you can stand next to Tracy or Vasser and actually have a conversation. To even get into the NASCAR Nextel Cup car area next year it'll cost you $150.00. I'd say that's a great incentive to spend the extra dollars. Truck tickets will be still be priced at $29.00 for general admission and $39.00 for reserved seating, with passes to the truck garage area costing extra.

Not since 1983 and 1984, when the Indy Champ Cars raced on a very tight makeshift road course constructed next door to Caesars Palace (the sponsor), has the Champ Open Wheel race cars been to Las Vegas. The Indy Racing League raced at the speedway from 1996 through 2000 and were extremely competitive events.

"We, speaking for all the drivers, are really looking forward to racing on a super speedway such as this one here," Tracy said during the announcement. "As for me personally, I'm very excited to be racing at home at last." Tracey went on to explain that he had driven a 101 Car (one of the tracks driving schools now called Mario Andretti Racing School) at the speedway and found the track to his liking. "Our main problem will be with the temperatures. We'll be practicing and qualifying on Friday during the heat of the day and then actually racing during the cool of the evening, which can cause some problems with our aero package. Other than that I don't see any major problem. It should be a lot of fun and a fast track."

Vasser, who was on a speaker phone from Canada where the series is racing this weekend, laughed aloud when asked if racing before a home crowd would heighten the competitive genes among the four local drivers. "You can be sure that all four of us will be up for this race and gunning for hometown bragging rights!"

Bridgsstone Tires is the series sponsor with an actual race sponsor still unnamed. Some of the original plans by the new owners earlier in the year called for Las Vegas to be the final stop for the series with a road race on the Las Vegas strip and the year-end awards banquet. However, since that became impossible, the owners began a series of meetings with LVMS general manager Chris Powell. They agreed to join forces with the truck race and compete on the super speedway in September. A race in Mexico and Australia will follow the Vegas event with the awards banquet possibly being held here following the final race. "We don't have everything quite in place at the moment, but we're working on everything as fast as we can," said Kevin Kalkhoven, one of the new owners of the series along with Champ Car President Dick Eidswick (who was in Canada).

For further information or ticket reservations call (702) 644-4444.

One of the greatest race car drivers ever to crawl behind the wheel of a car and a very close and personal friend passed away July 5th. Rodger Ward, who won the Indy 500 twice and was a champion in just about every series he ever raced in, was also one of the founders of the now classic Open Road Races that are held in Ely, Nevada twice a year. I have been associated with Rodger in various capacities since the mid 60's and it was one of the highlights of my racing career to team with him in an Off-Road Race in Laughlin, Nevada in the early 70's. We didn't win, but we had a lot of fun that weekend. His wife Sherrie has lost her golden-haired racer, but like she said, "He's up there with all his racing buddies and telling those old war stories as only he could."

Rodger once told me a story and I truly believe he was not exaggerating any when he told me, so here it is: He was racing his rookie year at Indy (the 500) and about an hour prior to the race he went to the bathroom to relieve himself, but nothing worked. About 15 minutes before he had to climb into the roadster (they raced them in those early years) he had to go again. He ran towards the public area, where everyone let him get in front of the line. Of course nothing worked. He was dry. It came time to get into the car and after a few warm up laps the green flag waved. He raced hard into turn one, then the short straight which led into turn two. The car slid a little sideways but he controlled the slide and headed down the long back straight. Guess what happened then, he always asked. "That's when I wasn't dry any more" and he grinned that marvelous smile of his. My friend will be missed by those he left behind, but will never be forgotten. How can you ever forget a man who was a champion story teller? He was 83 years young!

That's it for this week. I'm outa here!

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