'New' Las Vegas track ready for its big debut

They're dropping in ceiling tiles, putting up signs, and applying the final touches of paint. The Neon Garage, the centerpiece of Las Vegas Motor Speedway's multi-million-dollar infield renovation project, is almost completed -- with the track's annual Nextel Cup weekend just days away.

All the work is slated to be finished by Wednesday evening, when the track hosts a VIP reception in its new facility. One day later, the team haulers roll into an infield crewmen will scarcely recognize from the year before, when the speedway's structures were razed and replaced with interactive fan areas that general manager Chris Powell believes will set new standards in the sport.

Smaller fuel cell to be used at LVMS

The new track at LVMS took its toll on tires throughout the two-day testing session. As a result, NASCAR has mandated harder tires and smaller fuel cells to offset the wear on the tires.

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"Anybody who doesn't have the opportunity to give the fans this kind of access is going to be a level below where Las Vegas is," Powell said. "I'm not trying to say that with any conceit, that's just fact. When the first NBA venue put in a big screen and the people in the stands could see the replays, that raised the bar a little bit for everybody. Now, everybody has a replay board. It's the same kind of thing."

From the outside, getting the project finished in time for Sunday's sold-out UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 seemed like the biggest gamble in a city full of them. Media members who attended the Nextel Cup test at the track in late January saw a dusty construction site, and plenty of work still to be done. No pavement had been laid within the diamond-shaped garage courtyard, the interior of the media center was far from completed, and concession stands and a sports bar were visible only in skeleton form.

Five weeks later, it's down to the details. Although the project was delayed for more than a month when a steel supplier went out of business in the fall, all of the contractors and subcontractors involved in the build promised Powell that it would be completed in time.

"I was assured when this thing began that everything would be ready in time for the NASCAR weekend. In a perfect world, we would have had access to the whole new garage complex back in January in time for the test. That just didn't work because of the issue with the steel vendor that went out of business," he said.

"But I worry. I'm always anxious. I worry about the weather, I worry about people doing what they tell me they're going to do. But that's just my nature. Because eventually, I'll be the person who gets blamed if anything is lacking. But did I lie awake at night wondering if this project would get finished? I'd say no. I was told all along we were in good shape, and we've been in good shape, and we're in great shape right now."

Construction crews worked 12-hour days to get the work done. Powell's project managers told him that if he ever saw crews working around the clock -- which they had the capacity to do -- then it was time to really worry. But it never got to that point.

"These people are professionals," Powell said. "They can get a lot of things done in five or six weeks."

What they've done over the last year is increase the 1.5-mile track's banking from 12 to 20 degrees, move pit road 150 feet closer to the frontstretch grandstand, and build a multi-tiered garage viewing area that will draw immediate comparisons to the Nextel Fan Zone at Daytona International Speedway. One difference is that fans at Las Vegas will be able to look down into the work stalls "similar to the way a surgeon's class looks down on an operation," Powell said.

Now the mystery moves from the infield to the racetrack, where seven different drivers crashed during the two-day Nextel Cup test in January. As a response to that wreck-filled session, Goodyear implemented a harder left-side tire, and NASCAR mandated a smaller, 13-gallon fuel cell. It's a strategy similar to the one employed in the wake of the 2005 tire-blowing debacle at Lowe's Motor Speedway, with the goal of forcing more pit stops and extending tire wear.

"Is it the right thing to do? I hope it is," said former Las Vegas resident Kurt Busch. "I definitely know that bringing a small fuel cell will help ease the pain Goodyear officials think is coming our way. Through the harder tire and the smaller cell, we should have the right balance for the most racing action we can possibly find."

Now, despite a test session and nine previous years of racing at Las Vegas, the track is suddenly very much an unknown. The top speed in testing was Elliott Sadler's lap of 188.772 mph, markedly faster than Kasey Kahne's track record of 174.904 set in 2004. Some drivers will approach practice as if they're racing on a facility they've never seen before.

"I can promise you one thing, I'll make more laps in my first run of the day than I would if I were in a sprint or a midget car practicing at a new track," said Tony Stewart, slated to compete in both the Busch and Nextel Cup events this weekend. "... At Las Vegas, I'll use all of the practice time they'll give us. It's just a matter of going out and using the track time as if you were testing. You go out and sneak up on it, steadily improving yourself with each lap."