Las Vegas Motor Speedway From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Las Vegas Motor Speedway The Diamond in the Desert Superspeedway at LVMS Location Clark County, Nevada Capacity 142,000 Owner Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Address 7000 Las Vegas Blvd. North, Las Vegas, Nevada 89115 Opened 1996 Major Events NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Shelby 427 NASCAR Nationwide Series Sam's Town 300 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals Las Vegas NHRA Nationals D-shaped Oval Superspeedway Surface Asphalt Circuit Length 1.5 mi (2.41 km) Banking Turns - 20° Lap Record 0:29.212 (Kasey Kahne, Gillett Evernham Motorsports, 2007, Sprint Cup Series) The Bullring Oval Surface Asphalt Circuit Length 0.5 mi (0.8 km) Dirt Track Surface Clay Circuit Length 0.5 mi (0.8 km) Drag Strip Surface Asphalt Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada, just outside Las Vegas, is a 1,200 acre (4.9 km²) complex of multiple tracks for automobile racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The drag strip, known as The Strip, is open every other Friday night for locals to drag race in what is called the Midnight Mayhem program. This is an effort to get street racing off of local streets and into a safer environment. The track is used by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department as their driver training facility. Contents [hide] 1 History 2 Records 3 Tracks 4 Racing Schools 5 External links [edit] History The Indy Racing League ran at the track from 1996 and 2000. The speedway has often been referred to as "The Diamond in the Desert." The speedway has also been known as "The House Of Roush" because nearly all of his drivers have had success at the track including Matt Kenseth (2), Mark Martin (1), and Jeff Burton (2). Burton and Martin also won NASCAR Nationwide (formerly Busch) events at LVMS, although Burton (Richard Childress Racing) and Martin (JR Motorsports) have won their most recent Nationwide Series races with different teams. The Winston No Bull 5 Million Dollar Bonus was held at the track from 1999 to 2002. Jeff Burton won a million dollars in 2000 and Jeff Gordon won the bonus in 2001. Burton in 1999 and Sterling Marlin in 2002 were not eligible. Champ Car held two races at the speedway in 2004 and 2005, both were won by Sébastien Bourdais. In 2006, plans were announced to reconfigure the track after the March 2006 NEXTEL Cup Series (now Sprint Cup Series) race. This reconfiguration entailed "progressive banking" which increases the degree of banking the further up the track you are located. This increased side-by-side racing. The speedway also constructed a fan zone nicknamed "The Neon Garage". This area has live entertainment, unprecedented access to the drivers and teams and is home to the Winner's Circle. The speedway moved pit road 275 feet closer to the grandstands, built a new media center and added a quarter-mile Legends oval in the tri-oval area. As of August 8, 2006 the newly reconfigured track reopened to stock cars. 2004 NASCAR Cup Champion and Las Vegas native Kurt Busch, who drives the #2 Miller Lite Penske Dodge, became the first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup (Now Sprint Cup Series) driver to test a stock car on the newly reconfigured track. Jeff Burton became the first driver to win on the newly paved LVMS in a Busch Series (Now Nationwide Series) Monte Carlo SS. Jimmie Johnson won the first NEXTEL Cup Series race after its reconfiguration. He also drove a Chevrolet to Victory Lane. [edit] Records Track reconfiguration in 2006 increased the bank angles in the turns. Subsequent testing before the 2007 season showed significantly higher speeds, with Sprint Cup Series drivers recording unofficial laps at better than 185 mph. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying: Kasey Kahne, 29.212 sec. (184.856 mph), 2007 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race: Mark Martin, 2 hrs. 43 min. 58 sec. (146.554 mph), 1998 NASCAR Nationwide Series Qualifying: Brian Vickers, 29.718 sec. (181.708 mph), 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series Race: Jeff Burton, 2 hrs. 13 min. 13 sec. (135.118 mph), 2000 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying: Mike Skinner, 30.326 sec. (178.065 mph), 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Race: David Starr, 1 hr. 37 min. 3 sec. (135.394 mph), 2002 [edit] Tracks The Bullring (a 0.375 mile (600 m) paved oval Dirt Track 0.5 mile (800 m) clay oval The Strip (a drag strip) Superspeedway 1.5 mile (2.414 km) oval [edit] Racing Schools 600 Racing Driving Schools Drivers Edge Mario Andretti Racing School Richard Petty Driving Experience Freddie Spencer's High Performance Riding School [edit] External links Las Vegas Motor Speedway Official Site Las Vegas Motor Speedway Page on NASCAR.com Jayski's Las Vegas Speedway Page - Current and Past Las Vegas Motor Speedway News High Resolution image from Google Maps Las Vegas Motor Speedway is at 36°16′17″N 115°00′40″W / 36.27134°N 115.01112°W / 36.27134; -115.01112Coordinates: 36°16′17″N 115°00′40″W / 36.27134°N 115.01112°W / 36.27134; -115.01112 [show]v • d • eCurrent NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racetracks ISC California · Chicagoland · Darlington · Daytona · Homestead · Kansas · Martinsville · Michigan · Phoenix · Richmond · Talladega · Watkins Glen SMI Atlanta · Bristol · New Hampshire · Infineon · Las Vegas · Lowe's · Texas Other Dover · Indianapolis · Pocono [show]v • d • eCurrent NASCAR Nationwide Series racetracks Atlanta, Bristol, Brooklyn, Michigan, Charlotte, Darlington, Daytona, Dover, Fontana, California, Fort Worth, Indianapolis (ORP), Joliet, Illinois, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Loudon, Madison, Illinois, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Montreal, Nashville, Phoenix, Richmond, Sparta, Kentucky, Talladega, Watkins Glen [show]v • d • eCurrent NASCAR Camping World Truck Series racetracks Atlanta, Bristol, Michigan, Charlotte, Daytona, Dover, Fontana, Texas, ORP, Kansas, Las Vegas, Loudon, Madison, Illinois, Mansfield, Martinsville, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Nashville, Phoenix, Talladega,

Kentucky, Chicago [show]v • d • eTracks of the Champ Car World Series (1979-2007) Ovals Atlanta · California · Chicago · Gateway · Homestead · Indianapolis · Las Vegas · Loudon · Michigan · Milwaukee · Nazareth · Ontario · Phoenix · Pocono · Sanair · Texas · Texas World · Trenton Road courses Cleveland · Edmonton · Laguna Seca · Mid-Ohio · Montreal · Mont-Tremblant · Portland · Riverside · Road America · Watkins Glen Street circuits Belle Isle · Caesars Palace · Denver · Detroit · Houston · Las Vegas · Long Beach · Meadowlands · Miami · Reliant Park · San Jose · St. Pete · Tamiami Park · Toronto · Vancouver International Assen · Brands Hatch · EuroSpeedway · Mexico City · Monterrey · Motegi · Rio · Rockingham · Surfers Paradise · Zhuhai · Zolder [show]v • d • eTracks of the Indy Racing League Ovals Chicagoland · Homestead · Indianapolis · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Milwaukee · Motegi · Richmond · Texas Road & Street Courses Edmonton · Long Beach · Mid-Ohio · St. Petersburg · Sonoma · Toronto · Watkins Glen Former Tracks Atlanta · California · Charlotte · Detroit · Dover · Gateway · Las Vegas · Michigan · Nashville · Nazareth · New Hampshire · Phoenix · Pikes Peak · Surfers Paradise · Walt Disney World [show]v • d • eCircuits of the American Le Mans Series Current circuits (2008) Sebring · St. Petersburg · Long Beach · Miller · Lime Rock · Mid-Ohio · Road America · Mosport · Detroit · Road Atlanta · Laguna Seca Former circuits Adelaide · Charlotte · Houston · Infineon (Sears Point) · Las Vegas · Miami · Nürburgring · Portland · Silverstone · Texas · Trois-Rivières · Washington, D.C. Former European Le Mans Series circuits (2001 only) Sebring · Donington · Jarama · Estoril · Most · Vallelunga · Road Atlanta [show]v • d • eD1 Grand Prix courses Current Courses (2008) Autopolis · Ebisu · Fuji · Irwindale Odaiba · Suzuka · Okayama D1SL Courses Bihoku Highland · Nikkō · Sekia Hills Past Courses Fontana, CA · Las Vegas · Englishtown · Silverstone · Sugo · Tsukuba [show]v • d • eCurrent NHRA POWERade series dragstrips Atlanta, Brainerd, Bristol, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Englishtown, Gainesville, Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Madison, Memphis, Norwalk, Phoenix, Pomona, Reading, Richmond, Seattle, Sonoma, Topeka Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas_Motor_Speedway" Categories: Champ Car race tracks | Indy Racing League tracks | Motorsport venues in the United States | NASCAR tracks | NHRA Division 7 drag racing venues | Sports in Las Vegas, Nevada | Sports venues in Las Vegas, Nevada