|
Las Vegas
NHRA Drag Race
While Trixie waited for Sheila and Bettie to arrive in town, she attended the NHRA Drag Race at the brand new Las Vegas Motor Speedway dragstrip.
For all you race fans that have attended races in the past (or would like to) - this review is really for you. We’ll be offering an in-depth look at drag racing in our June 2000 issue.
The new Las Vegas track has really made some progress in the ways of comfort for the fans.
Most importantly: MANY restrooms (real ones - not just port-a-potties) - which were cool and clean. (Of course the track’s new - we’ll see how clean they are next year)
They’re located under the concrete stands - which is also a good place for shade from the desert sun.
Stadium seating. Complete with backs!! The benches themselves were quite deep, and there was more leg room than I’ve ever seen at a track (outside of Chicago).
The stairway aisles were also wider, and divided - making the flow of moving people move smoother and quicker.
If you’ve got mega-bucks (or if you did well at the tables in Vegas, you could also purchase boxed seating. The boxes are located at the top of the stands from the
starting line to about half track, and include a little balcony so you can fully enjoy the ground thumping, nose-hair burning, tire-smoke filled experience that only a drag race can bring you.
Parking was a little spotty - but I think that was because of the people working. However - there are many lanes getting in and out of the track facilities. No waiting in
a line of traffic for hours just to leave the parking lot.
The track surface seemed to be good, and equal for both lanes. Made for really good side-by-side racing. Although you should note: the track is at a pretty high
elevation (Denver on a really good day) so the times for Pro Stock cars, trucks and bikes were a bit slower than you’d expect.
Placement of the return road. It was pretty close to the gates - not in the middle of the pits. You really only had to cross it upon arriving and leaving. (I just hate the
tracks that have the return road in the middle of the pits!! Sometimes you can never get across.)
There’s an access tunnel under the track to cross between the pit side and spectator side. It’s located just past half track. I couldn’t tell if they closed it down
when the fuel cars were running - but it seemed a lot easier then walking behind the tower and getting through the staging lanes.
There were just a couple of pitfalls:
Not enough concession stands. It was probably OK to get something to eat or drink while the Top Fuel and Funny Cars were running, since most people are in the
stands then. But don’t even try getting something during an oil-down or after the Pro Sessions. You’ll be waiting for ages.
Placement of the concession stands. They were close to the stands on the pit side (I never made it to the spectator side), but were never in the shade. So not only did
you have to wait in line for ever - you had to wait in the hot sun. Also - it seemed they had little refrigeration and there were stacks of bottled water and soft drinks sitting in
the baking sun all day. Not real refreshing when your throat is dryer than the desert.
I have this complaint at every event like this: the price of concessions. $4.00 for a bottle of water (but only $5 for a beer) $6.00 for 2 corn dogs. $5.00 for a mini cheese
pizza. You get the point. And very little that a vegetarian (or anyone just semi-health conscience) would eat. I wouldn’t mind if they’d at least let you bring in your own food or drink.
The sound system could have been better - but I have this complaint with NHRA at every race. Unless you were sitting directly in fron of a working speaker - you couldn’t
hear a thing. And why does Bob Frey insist on talking during the burnouts when he’s got to kow you can’t hear a thing?
Overall it was a good race. The team we were there rooting for won yet again in Pro Stock (Jeg Coughlin), Bob Panella showed why he’s the reigning Winston champ as
he won Pro Stock Truck, and Angelle Seeling was a dynamo as she won her first Pro Stock bike race of the year (man she was flying!). Top Fuel driver Kenny Bernstein
beat his good friend Joe Amato in the final round and Jim Epler won his first race since 1993 in the WWF Funny Car. For more results and information, head over to NHRA online.
We’re planning on going to a few more races this year: Chicago, Columbus (our home track) and probably Indy or Memphis. We’ll let you know about those then. And
be sure to check out our June issue for a crash course in drag racing. If you want to be notified when it’s up - send us an e-mail.
send this review to a friend
past misc. reviews
|
|
Looking for a book?
Use this convenient Search Box from Amazon.com
|
|
Printer Friendly Version