All That Glitters

In a town noted for glitz, grandeur and ostentatiousness, what would you expect from a motorsports complex here?

Glitz, grandeur and ostentatiousness.

Richie Clyne, executive director of the Imperial Palace auto collection, is about to open his Las Vegas Motor Speedway and, he says, in keeping with the city’s tradition, it will be bigger and grander than any other motor racing facility in the world.

Anchored by a 1.5-mile banked trioval track--a smaller replica of Daytona International Speedway--the $200-million complex will have tracks of all sizes and dimensions to accommodate 24 types of racing.

In no particular order, on the 1,500-acre site there will be tracks for Indy cars, Winston Cup stock cars, drag racers, legend cars, modifieds, motocross, sand drags, road-racing sports cars, karts, trucks, junior dragsters, sprint cars, midgets, BMX bicycles and a 2.5-mile road course built to Formula One standards.

Each major track will have its own stadium.

The trioval, which will open Sept. 15 with a 500-kilometer Indy Racing League event, has 107,000 theater-style seats, plus 148 VIP suites. The drag strip will have seating for 20,000 and a half-mile oval will seat 10,000. Another 20,000 portable seats will be available for the other tracks.

“Not many people get to build their own race track, starting with a blank piece of paper,” Clyne said. “That’s what we’ve done. But not without a lot of input from every facet of racing. We never expect to replace the traditions of Indianapolis or Daytona, but we feel we are destined to be the premier speedway in America.”

Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Lazier and other IRL drivers gave the track its first test in a three-day session last month.

“It’s smooth and fast and it’ll be a great race track when we’ve run more on it,” said Tony Stewart, U. S. Auto Club triple crown champion and pole-sitter at the Indy 500. “I think it’s a facility that will be good for anything you bring here. There’s room for multiple grooves.”

Richie Hearn ran 222.359 mph, believed to be the fastest lap ever recorded on a 1 1/2-mile track.

Surprisingly--for Las Vegas--the racing facility will offer neither gambling nor hotels.

Instead, spectators will be shuttled free from hotel-casinos to the speedway. For those who drive, 60,000 parking spots will be available, including a special site overlooking the track for motor homes.

“We don’t want any dice tables or slot machines because we don’t want any of the casino operators to feel like we are competition,” Clyne said. “We want to offer an alternative for people who want a few hours away from the gaming tables. After the races, they can go back to the casinos to lounge around the pool or gamble.

“What we are trying to do is tie the entire community together. All the grandstands will be named after resorts here, and shuttles will run between the resorts and the track.”

It won’t be cheap. A terrace suite goes for $70,000 a year, with a three-year minimum lease. Each suite will accommodate 60 guests, and each will have its glass-enclosed, air-conditioned room with custom catering.

The entire facility will be lighted.

Musco Lighting, Inc., which illuminated the Rose Bowl for four Super Bowl games, has installed 200 light poles from 70 to 110 feet high, 2,600 fixtures, 8,000 mirrors, 175 miles of wire, 600 tons of steel, 1,975 tons of concrete--all of which took 52 tractor-trailers to transport from Oskaloosa, Iowa, to the race site.

The lighting will produce about 3.1 billion candlepower.

Everything is being done on a grand scale. For instance, the 1.5-mile trioval will have 42,000 tons of asphalt--the equivalent of 17 miles of residential streets.

Before any asphalt was laid, the contour of the dirt grading was tested by former Indy car driver A. J. Foyt and former Winston West stock car champion Jimmy Insolo to assure that there were no surprise dips or unusual transitions.

“I like the banking,” Foyt said. “In fact, I like it so much that I’m planning on bringing my truck out here and race it myself. The facility is going to be unbelievable, and I want to tell folks that I raced on it.”

The NASCAR trucks will race on the superspeedway the weekend of Nov. 1-2, along with Winston West stock cars. Also on the 1996 schedule are an American Motorcyclist Assn. Superbike racing weekend Oct. 5-6 and the World of Outlaws season-ending sprint car race Nov. 6.

Ever since Clyne turned the first ceremonial spade of dirt in January, 1995, racing personalities have visited the site to see for themselves his grand plan.

Two-time Daytona 500 winner Sterling Marlin took a look from a helicopter.

“I think it will be a real neat deal,” Marlin said. “There’s a lot to see and do in Las Vegas and this just adds a new twist to things.”

Rusty Wallace said he kept hearing so much about it that he decided to check it out in person.

“People I knew told me it was going to be a pretty nice place,” the 1988 Winston Cup champion said. “But when I drove up and looked down in it, I said, ‘My God, this place is really beautiful.’ You can look at the shape of the track and the way the walls are angled, and see that there’s not a bad seat in the house. I can’t wait to get on the track in my race car.”

The 24 tracks are only part of Clyne’s master plan. Also in progress is a 2.5-million square-foot industrial complex adjacent to the racing venues, which can be used for offices, manufacturing plants or race team headquarters. The first tenant is Carroll Shelby, who plans to move his Cobra sports car works and his Goodyear tire distributorship here.

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Las Vegas has not responded well to motorsports. The Stardust International Raceway--on the other side of town--lasted little more than a year.

Two Formula One races, held on a casino parking lot in 1981 and 1982, were unsuccessful for all but the winners, Alan Jones and Michele Alboreto. So were Indy car races won by Mario Andretti in 1983 and Tom Sneva in 1984.

“The previous promoters didn’t build a permanent facility and, perhaps, the time was not right,” Clyne said. “Las Vegas is in a new era as a family entertainment destination, and we have the climate for good spring and fall race dates. Major motorsports was not represented in Las Vegas. It’s a good business venture for us, and we think we can contribute something of value to the growing community.”

The only successful racing was the discontinued Mint 400 off-road race. Some of those races started and finished on the site of the Las Vegas complex.

Clyne, whose former father-in-law, Ralph Engelstad, owns the Imperial Palace hotel and casino, became involved in motor racing when he bought the Las Vegas International Speedway--a three-eighths mile paved oval, a 1.5-mile paved road course and a quarter-mile drag strip--in 1989.

The old speedway facility has been incorporated into the new multipurpose complex.

“I have been a racing enthusiast for the last 10 years or so, ever since I became involved with the antique and classic car collection for the Imperial Palace,” Clyne said. “After I bought the Las Vegas track, the more I thought about it, the more I thought this area needed a superspeedway.

“Once I decided to build one myself, the whole thing began to snowball. I guess you could say I just got carried away.”

For the last six years, Clyne has toured race tracks around the world, looking for ideas he could use in his dream track.

“From talking with fans and owners and racers and course workers, I found that the three most important elements for a successful track were clean and adequate restrooms, close-by hotels and good access roads. We have all three here.”

The restrooms will have attendants, just as in the Imperial Palace.

“Our customers will be used to being pampered and well taken care of when they’re in their hotels, and we want them to feel the same atmosphere at the track,” Clyne said. “I can assure you that paper napkins and plastic forks will not be allowed in any of our suites. People want a first-class facility and I’m not cutting any corners.”

There are 100,000 resort hotel rooms in Las Vegas and more coming.

Located seven miles north of downtown Las Vegas, the site is easily accessible, sandwiched between Interstate 15 and Las Vegas Boulevard. Across Las Vegas Boulevard from the track entrance is Nellis Air Force Base, home of the Thunderbirds flying team.

That created an unusual situation. Instead of having neighbors calling for decibel counts from the race cars, speedway officials had to conduct an environmental study to make sure the sound emitted from the jet aircraft would not damage the hearing of race spectators.

Clyne has surrounded himself with race-savvy personnel. Ray Wilkings, former operator of Saugus Speedway and 1990 national race promoter of the year, is vice president and general manager. Lex Dudas, former general manager of Indianapolis Raceway Park, is vice president of operations.

To generate income from the tracks when there is no racing, Clyne has created when he calls the University of Motor Racing, a group of specialized racing schools. Among them are the Richard Petty Driving Experience for stock cars, Ivan Stewart’s for off-road racing, Derek Daly’s for open-wheel, Jeff Ward’s for motocross, Roy Hill’s for drag racing and Carroll Shelby’s for legends cars.

You want ostentatiousness?

How about a country club for racing enthusiasts. For those who want to sit around and tell tall tales of their driving prowess--the way golfers replay their shots after a round--the 10,000-square-foot Autopia Country Club is the place. It also is where the rich and famous can store their Ferraris, BMWs and Porsches and have them waiting whenever they want to play.

Woody Smith III, whose family owned and operated Irvine Coast Country Club for many years, is director of operations at Autopia.

“It’s still a country club atmosphere, only we use race cars instead of golf clubs,” Smith said. “We provide the cars--real formula race cars--and maintenance, speedway access, instructional assistance and a relaxing environment.”

Gentlemen--and ladies--start your engines.