Sunday, March 13, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Las Vegas speedway to expand grandstand again

New seating addition will be similar to 22,000-seat Dale Earnhardt Terrace, source says

By JEFF WOLF
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Las Vegas Motor Speedway is expected today to announce it will make its second major grandstand expansion in two years.

The speedway will expand the grandstand near Turn 1 of its 1.5-mile tri-oval, a track source said, to include a structure similar to the 22,000-seat Dale Earnhardt Terrace in Turn 4 that opened in time for last year's Nextel Cup race.

It's likely the plans had been discussed for at least a year, but any doubts about the costly venture were dashed when the speedway sold out its 144,000 permanent seats for today's eighth annual UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup race more than a month ago.

Once those seats sold, the speedway began erecting temporary grandstands in the third turn, and those estimated 12,000 seats had sold out by Saturday afternoon.

The attendance today should be around 156,000, which would shatter the record of 145,275 set in 2003.

The only admission available for the speedway today are $99 standing room-only tickets in the infield.

• HAPPY WITH ODDS -- Rookie Eric McClure of Abingdon, Va., qualified Friday for his first Cup race in the No. 73 ARC Dehooker Chevrolet.

He was nearly as happy to see his name on a sports-book betting board.

"Making the Cup race was big, obviously," he said Saturday after Cup practice.

"The biggest thing? I walked into the sports book at the Stratosphere to see how the basketball games were going, and they had my name up on the odds board.

But McClure wasn't planning to gamble on the 300-1 odds.

"Probably not for the win," he laughed. "Not yet, anyway."

• SWEET WIN -- One of the biggest winners at the speedway Saturday has never driven a race car.

Naomi Locklear of Carlsbad, N.M., won a contest put on by Sue Bee Honey, a sponsor for driver Kyle Petty. She won a new Dodge that resembles Petty's No. 45 Cup car.

At the presentation, Petty had the best quip of the day.

"When I asked Naomi what the first thing she was going to do with the car, she said have Dale Earnhardt Jr. sign it," he said.