LVMS in talks to bring back Indy Racing League next year

Dario Franchitti and Danica Patrick could be headed to Las Vegas Motor Speedway to race IndyCars next year.

LVMS president Chris Powell has been negotiating with Randy Bernard, chief executive of the Indy Racing League, to return the open-wheel series to the track after a 10-year hiatus.

The IndyCar event would complement the speedway's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, scheduled for Oct. 15, 2011.

"We are in discussions about hosting an IndyCar race the day after next year's truck race," Powell said, adding that the race would be the IndyCar season finale.

Bernard on Thursday characterized his talks with Powell as "preliminary."

Bernard said he eventually wants the season-ending race and banquet to be in Las Vegas, where he built several relationships in the tourism industry during a 15-year tenure as chief executive of Professional Bull Riders.

For the past several years, the truck race has been a one-day event on Saturday with a night race. That will be the format for the Smith's 350k truck race Sept. 25.

Powell said that adding an IndyCar race would allow the event to expand to three days, with practice and qualifying Friday, the truck race Saturday and the IndyCar race Sunday, with both nationally televised races taking place in the afternoon.

Las Vegas hosted Indy Racing League events from 1996 through 2000, a period when the series competed nationally with the Champ Car -- formerly CART -- open-wheel series. Champ Car raced on the 1.5-mile speedway in 2004 and 2005 and returned in 2007 for the Vegas Grand Prix on downtown streets.

Champ Car folded in 2007, making IndyCar the only major open-wheel series in the United States.

Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0247.