NASCAR truck race, kangaroos and armadillos highlight ‘350 Fest’ at LVMS

For the first time in NASCAR truck series history, there’s a Sprint Cup-style Chase for the Championship this season — eight drivers will be racing to advance to the second round during Saturday’s DC Solar 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

They will share top billing with a kangaroo, sloth and armadillo.

It’s all part of “350 Fest,” a one-day carnival of speed and just plain carnival at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. LVMS officials are calling it the “ultimate family fun day” at the track.

The kangaroo, sloth and armadillo, and other exotic animals, will compete for attention from young race fans (and perhaps a few older ones) in a petting zoo. An inflatable bounce house, face painters and balloon artists also will be featured in the kids zone.

Hundreds of hot rods will be on display at Show and Shine, benefiting Speedway Children’s Charities. Other activities include a beer garden, food trucks, pet adoptions by The Animal Foundation, poker run, raffles, vendor booths and live entertainment.

The 350 Fest begins at 10 a.m., leading up to the DC Solar 350, Round 2 in the Chase for the Championship. The Neon Garage opens at 8:30 a.m., with truck series practice sessions set for 8:30 and 10 a.m and qualifying at 3 p.m.

The green flag will drop at 5:30 p.m., by decree of the TV people.

There also will be a driver autograph session in what is being called the Fan Engagement Area — somewhere near the kangaroo, sloth and armadillo — from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

Children 12 and under will receive free admission to the truck series race with a paying adult.

The 350 Fest and DC Solar 350 is the start of a busy October at the track that has been dubbed “Furious Fast Fall” by the LVMS marketing types.

“We are kicking off our Furiously Fast Fall in a big way on Oct. 1,” LVMS president Chris Powell said, and perhaps this is why the kangaroo, sloth and armadillo were brought in to support truck series points leader and Kyle Busch Motorsports driver William Byron, and his seven-closest pursuers.

Furiously Fast Fall includes the Red Bull Air Race World Championship on Oct. 15 and 16, followed by the NHRA Toyota Nationals from Oct. 27 to 30.

NASCAR

• Of the 14 drivers yet to nail down a spot in the Round of 12 in the Sprint Cup Chase, Kyle Busch is in the second-best spot heading into the final stop of the first three-race segment in Dover, Delaware. Kyle moves on if he collects 14 points (from a maximum of 45) and there is a new segment winner. Kurt Busch is closer to the bubble — he needs 32 points if a new winner joins Martin Truex and Kevin Harvick, who already have clinched berths in the second round with victories at Chicago and New Hampshire. If Truex or Harvick repeats, the Busch brothers would need fewer points at the Monster Mile.

• Las Vegas’ Brendan Gaughan started seventh and finished sixth in the Xfinity Series’ Chase for the Championship opener at Kentucky Speedway, improving four spots to third place in the championship. “I felt like it (Chase format) has prolonged my career. Now the goal is to exceed expectations and get all the way to Miami,” for the final round, Gaughan said after leading 19 laps at Kentucky.

ELSEWHERE

• Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel), Jack Beckman (Funny Car) and Alex Laughlin (Pro Stock) were NHRA winners at the Midwest Nationals, the second race of six in the Countdown to the Championship. (Round 5 is at Las Vegas Motor Speedway from Oct. 27 to 30.) Antron Brown, Ron Capps and Jason Line continue to lead the points.

• In an interview on the official Formula 1 website, new chairman Chase Carey named New York, Los Angeles and Miami as possible future race sites, but did not mention Las Vegas. Previous reports stated Chinese investors were interested in backing a F1 race on a circuit that would encompass part of the Las Vegas Strip, a proposal that was said to require financial assistance from state government.

Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. His motor sports notebook runs on Friday. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski