Countdown: Nevada

The Silver State, home to Hoover Dam and 314 mountain ranges, has been connected to mining from the very beginning. From the Comstock lode to the silver strike at Tonopah, miners have flocked to Nevada in hopes of finding riches.

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Of course, people also hope to strike it rich in the gambling centers of Las Vegas and Reno.

The first casino to be built on Highway 91 in Las Vegas was the Pair-o-Dice Club in 1931, soon after the state legalized gambling. Ten years later, the El Rancho Vegas opened with 63 rooms on what is now referred to as "The Strip," a four-mile long stretch of highway from the Stratosphere to the Mandalay Bay.

NASCAR's presence in Nevada has boomed along with the state's population.

Best behind the wheel

• Kurt Busch, Las Vegas

Like many drivers, Kurt Busch got his first taste of competition in go-karts, then moved up to Dwarf Cars in 1994, winning the track championship at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and state rookie of the year honors.

	Inside the Numbers Kurt Busch's Cup career Year Starts W T5 T10 2000 7 0 0 0 2001 35 0 3 6 2002 36 4 12 20 2003 36 4 9 14 2004 36 3 10 21 2005 34 3 9 18

The next season, Busch won the state Dwarf Car championship, then advanced to Hobby Stocks in 1996, where he won another track title -- and was named national rookie of the year in Legends cars.

Busch got his toes wet in NASCAR for the first time in 1997, when he started five Southwest Tour races, then jumped in with both feet in '98, taking rookie of the year honors with three top-five finishes in 17 races. He also won 15 of the 18 Legends and Grand American Modified races he entered.

Busch followed that up with a Southwest Tour championship in 1999. That fall, Busch was invited by Roush Racing to audition for an open Craftsman Truck Series ride. He and four other drivers completed a test at Toledo Speedway in October, then returned for a second test at Phoenix a month later.

He won the competition, then proved that it was a good decision by winning four races, the rookie of the year award and finishing second in the standings in 2000. Rather than taking one more step up the ladder, Jack Roush moved Busch to the Cup Series in 2001, where he responded by finishing second in the rookie of the year race.

Five years and 14 wins later, the 2004 Nextel Cup champion finds himself in a new situation in '06, hired to replace Rusty Wallace in the No. 2 Dodge for Roger Penske. In addition to racing, Busch is an avid golfer and Chicago Cubs fan.

Other noteworthy drivers from Nevada

• Kyle Busch, Las Vegas: 2005 Nextel Cup rookie of the year won at California and Phoenix

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• Doc Faustina, Las Vegas: Best finish in 10 races was 18th in the 1971 Winston 500

• Brendan Gaughan, Las Vegas: 36 starts in 2004, with four top-10s, including a best of fourth at Talladega

• Eddie Skinner, Yerington: All four of his top-five finishes came in 1955, when he was seventh in the final standings

We wish ...

Tennis star Andre Agassi had become a NASCAR driver.

The Las Vegas native is one of five men to win all four Grand Slam singles events. In addition, anyone married to Brooke Shields and Steffi Graf knows what it's like to be constantly in the spotlight.

Keeping it on track

• Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Construction on the $200 million, 1.5-mile track began in 1995, and required crews to move a total of four million cubic yards of dirt. A custom-designed lighting system features 2,600 lighting fixtures on 200 light poles.

In addition, LVMS has 8,000 mirrors, 175 miles of wire, 600 tons of steel and 1,975 tons of concrete. A total of 42,000 tons of asphalt was added just on the racing surface, equal to 17 miles of residential roadways.

Roush Racing has won half of the 10 races held at Las Vegas, although Jimmie Johnson won in the series' most recent visit.

Gone but not forgotten

• Las Vegas Park Speedway, Las Vegas

Originally scheduled as a 200-lap event on the one-mile former Jockey Club horse track, the 1955 race saw Wisconsin's Norm Nelson pick up his only NASCAR victory when the race was halted after 111 laps because of darkness. Nelson had a two-lap lead over Bill Hyde as less than half of the 27 starters were running at the finish.

The track is now the site of the Las Vegas Hilton.

Other tracks which have hosted NASCAR races

• Bullring at LVMS, Las Vegas: 3/8-mile paved oval hosts the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series. Former NFL kicker Mike Cofer won the Super Late Model track championship with 14 top-10 finishes in 17 starts.

A word from our sponsor

• Levi Strauss, Las Vegas

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