NHRA drivers to give oval racing a spin at Bullring
Some top professional drag racers will try to show they also can race in circles Saturday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway's Bullring.
Jeg Coughlin Jr., J.R. Todd, Gary Scelzi, Morgan Lucas, Doug Kalitta and Allan Johnson will compete in a special Thunder Roadsters race after their day's work is done in the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals at the dragstrip.
Kalitta won a national USAC Sprint Car championship before switching to drag racing 10 years ago.
Scelzi, a four-time nitro season champion, tuned up for the Bullring by finishing second in an amateur race Saturday on the Madera Speedway oval near Fresno, Calif.
The special race in the open-wheel roadsters is part of the weekly NASCAR All-American Series on the speedway's three-eighths-of-a-mile oval. ...
Don Schumacher Racing drivers Tony Schumacher, Cory McClenathan and Jack Beckman will sign autographs from 7 to 8 p.m. Saturday at The Orleans.
• INJURY UPDATE -- Scott Swinford fractured his left femur in a crash during a Legends Car race Saturday night at the Bullring. He is expected to released by today from University Medical Center.
The 18-year-old underwent surgery Saturday night to repair his left leg.
• DIRT TRACK -- Las Vegan Ryan Cotrell won his first IMCA Modified race after starting in the third row Saturday night at Death Valley Raceway in Amargosa Valley.
Other feature race winners on the one-third-of-a-mile track were Mark Dillie (Dwarf Car), Donny Berger (Coupe), Jim Wulfenstein (Super Stock), Chad Broadhead (Mini Stock) and Austin Black (Modified Mini).
The next event is the three-day Dwarf Car Nationals, which begin Thursday. The IMCA Modifieds will join the Dwarfs the next two nights.
For more information, call (775) 209-5291 or visit DeathValleyRaceway.homestead.com.
Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0247.
