Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins says executives with Speedway Motorsports Inc. have talked with him about building condominium towers at the Las Vegas Speedway overlooking Turn 2, which is shown in the upper left corner of this photo. REVIEW-JOURNAL

Auto racing fans might have a chance to live track-side at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the next two years.

Speedway Motorsports Inc., which owns the racing complex on Las Vegas Boulevard North across from Nellis Air Force Base, is expected to announce March 10 that it plans to build two 10-story condominium towers that will overlook the second turn of the 1.5-mile tri-oval track.

The announcement is scheduled for the opening day of the NASCAR weekend that features the Nextel Cup and Busch series stock-car races.

But, according to the Clark County Planning Department, the speedway has not submitted a request for a zoning variance. Without it and approval from the Air Force, there will be no towers, county Commissioner Tom Collins said Wednesday.

Collins said he had a meeting planned for today with speedway general manager Chris Powell.

If the towers are similar to condo structures that Speedway Motorsports has built at other tracks, they will be opulent, with full views of the track. One source said the rear view will be of the Las Vegas Strip.

Bruton Smith, founder and chairman of the publicly-held corporation based near Charlotte, N.C., said earlier this week that he couldn't provide any details about the coming announcement.

He said, however, that what is being planned will be a good fit for the valley.

"Las Vegas being what it is, is the entertainment capital of the world," Smith said. "The city loves us, and we're very proud of that. Why shouldn't Vegas have the best speedway (complex) in the world?"

Powell, the speedway's general manager since it was purchased by Speedway Motorsports in late 1998, would not comment on the purpose of the announcement.

"We're going to have an announcement on Friday of our NASCAR weekend, and we'll get the info out at that time," he said.

The speedway has distributed invitations for the announcement that refer to a "towering development."

Collins, who represents the area that includes the speedway, said he has been approached by its executives about building a time-share condominium project. There appear to be at least a couple of obstacles to the plan, Collins said. One is that the zoning for the 1,600-acre speedway complex in an unincorporated part of the county doesn't allow for residences, Collins said.

Collins said Speedway Motorsports would need to convince county commissioners to approve a nonconforming zone change. He also said he will not consider an application from the speedway unless safety issues regarding Nellis' flight paths are resolved.

"I have told them that whatever they and Nellis can agree upon, I will consider," Collins said. "Nellis has expressed to me they're not favorable about it right now."

Collins said he thinks the original speedway developers -- Richie Clyne and Ralph Engelstad -- forged an agreement with Nellis that said permanent residences never would be built on the track site.

"They agreed they'd have large populations there for these races, but that is the only time they would have crowds there," Collins said. "Nellis cuts back its flights on those days."

The speedway has a cooperative relationship with Nellis that allows it to use the base for bus routes during the NASCAR weekend. The Saturday Busch race attracts about 105,000, and the Sunday Nextel Cup race draws about 156,000. The speedway, in turn, allows part of its facility to be used for parking during the base's annual air show.

Powell said the public can count on the fact that "Bruton is very bullish on Vegas, and he's always looking to make improvements to the speedway. He's always had a vision to make this the greatest speedway (complex) in the world."

Speedway Motorsports has built track-side condominiums near Atlanta, Charlotte and Fort Worth, Texas. Many scoffed when Smith introduced the concept in 1984 at Lowe's Motor Speedway (then Charlotte Motor Speedway).

The Texas Motor Speedway's 10-story building called LoneStar Tower includes 76 luxury condominiums that are used as residences and remote office locations. Units range from 1,086 to 3,100 square feet, and prices currently begin at $375,000, with an additional monthly fee of $324. Twenty-five admission tickets to each major race are included for the first three years of ownership, a spokesman said.

If condo towers are to be built at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, they would be yet another piece of what Smith said Monday will be a $300 million investment in the facility during the next 18 months.

A month ago, the speedway detailed plans to spend about $25 million in the next year to raze four of the five largest buildings in the infield of the oval track and replace them with structures located closer to the grandstands. Those improvements would make the infield the best in the country, officials said.

Also, nearly all of the 1.5-mile tri-oval track will be replaced with higher banking turns that also will be narrowed to produce more exciting racing.