Busch series racing set for LVMS debut

      Years ago, comedian George Carlin quipped that stock-car racing shouldn't be classified as a sport.
      His logic?
      "Driving 500 miles in a circle doesn't impress me."
      At the time, the one-liner drew a hearty chuckle. But today, it's safe to say the joke is on Carlin. He may not be impressed, but millions of fans around the nation are.
      In fact, at a time when sports like baseball are struggling to hold onto fans, NASCAR is enjoying an unprecedented popularity boom.
      NASCAR insiders hope Las Vegans are the next to be affected when the Busch Grand National Series stages the Las Vegas 300 today at 1 p.m. at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
      "Usually, they just have to watch it one time and they're hooked. I've always heard people say that and I believe that," said Bobby Labonte, a veteran driver on the Winston Cup circuit who will participate in today's race. "It's not just people going out driving around in circles, and I think the general public realizes that; how much hard work goes into it."
      How much of the local public will see that hard work today isn't certain. The crowd at LVMS might not top the 67,000 that attended the inaugural Indy Racing League event in September or the 51,000 that turned out for the NASCAR SuperTruck race in November. (Unlike those races, free ticket promotions reportedly have been all but eliminated.)
      Yet, the Las Vegas 300 is considered the biggest and most important event in the sixth-month history of the 107,000-seat venue.
      The reason has everything to do with stock-car racing's surge in popularity.
      Although NASCAR legends such as Richard Petty, Bobby Allison and Cale Yarborough removed their helmets for good in recent years, the sport has not only survived, it has thrived.
      In fact, Forbes magazine credited NASCAR, particularly the Winston Cup Series, with being the fastest growing major league sport this decade in terms of attendance. Last year, more than 10 million people attended 31 Winston Cup races, and in the Busch series, average attendance has increased every year but one since the circuit debuted in 1982.
      "People identify more with what we do than other sports, maybe," said Dale Jarrett, a two-time Daytona 500 winner who will compete today at LVMS. "You know, not everybody can play football, basketball or baseball, but everybody drives a car. And some time or another they've driven it fast, so they think they can do what we do. I think that has a lot to do with (the increased popularity)."
      Television also has helped.
      Winston Cup and Busch races traditionally have been staged in the Midwest, South and East, but live broadcasts have helped build a broader fan base.
      "People can identify with the types of vehicles that are racing," said Eli Gold, a 22-year NASCAR broadcaster who will help handle the telecast today for The Nashville Network. "The only thing that was missing was bringing the events to some of those folks who couldn't get to the track. So live television of every single event, live radio of every single event, has really been a huge shot in the arm for NASCAR.
      "But the ultimate bottom line is the product. You've got to have an enjoyable product. And I think it's fair to say that if you go to a race or watch a telecast, when you turn the dial or when you leave the track, you've had a good time."
      And when the casual fan has a good time, they tend to return to the track and become hooked for life.
      "I think the more you learn about the sport, the more you enjoy it," said Michael Waltrip, another Winston Cup veteran scheduled to race today. "The person who sees it on TV for the first time and gets interested and comes to the track is usually an enthusiast of the automobile anyway. (By attending races) they're able to learn so much more about the sport.
      "It's like knowing baseball, knowing when it's time to hit-and-run or steal a base. There are tons of things in our sport like that, and the more you know about the sport the more you appreciate it when you watch it."
      This year, many new fans will get to watch it in person as Winston Cup has added a race to its schedule while Busch competitors will race in four additional events.
      And it probably won't end there. In addition to Las Vegas, other cities have become involved in racing as evidenced by multimillion dollar superspeedways under construction in California, Texas and Missouri.
      "It's very important to our sport, obviously to help the growth of it, to make it a national sport like we believe that it is and can be," Jarrett said. "It's important for us to get a little diversified in our series, and it's very important to our sponsors to get in these market areas. We're reaching people now that we weren't able to before in person."
      And by doing that, those involved in NASCAR are able to alter the attitude of cynics like Carlin.
      "All I can say is they (non-believers) need to come out here and try it first-hand and then try saying the same thing," Winston Cup and Busch series driver Joe Nemechek said. "I don't think they could."