The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway takes on a different feel this weekend. Our Jerry's Nugget Championship Drag Racing Series is behind us and now we're preparing for the 'special events season,' when the various racing groups make their way into town for season-ending championship events. Over the course of the next two months The Strip will host more than 2,500 racers from all areas of the country. This Friday night we continue with our popular test 'n' tune and Midnight Mayhem program.  The 2008 Mayhem season is winding down and we expect to see a great turnout of participants. 

Saturday, we will wrap up the final Short Line Express Market Junior Dragster Championship Series event of 2008. We've had a great season of junior drag racing with lots of new participants, a variety of winners and an overall fun racing atmosphere.  Several of our racers will be racing with us for the final time as they have reached the age limit and are now moving onto bracket racing, super categories and other adventures.  We've watched some of these kids from the first time they ever strapped on a helmet and now they are young adults who are graduating on to bigger and better things.  In some ways it's sad to see them move on but, at the same time, it's fun seeing them tackle a new challenge. 

As I said earlier, our junior program was great this season and we expect it to be even bigger and better in 2009.  We're expanding the schedule to 12 Short Line Series events, an NHRA Jr. Divisional race, a special event that will be co-produced with Lucas Oil, our first ever junior night race and a season-ending special event.  We know that some people are dreading having their cars in the garage for the four-month off season, but they will need that time to prepare for all the racing in 2009.

On Saturday night we have a really interesting show in store: Super Tuner Saturday Night.  This is the eighth season for this popular event that combines the "Supras Invade Las Vegas Show" with a variety of other local car clubs for an interesting night of racing. This year, the Supras will be joined by the Las Vegas Corvette Association, the Buick Grand National club, the Las Vegas GTO owners group, and local bracket racers. You'll be able to see everything from a street legal 13-second GTO, to a nitrous snortin' pro stock style Supra that will run close to 200 miles per hour, all in one night.

Then, on Sunday, we wrap up our weekend with the longest running touring show in Las Vegas drag racing, Bug 'o' Rama.  Steve Hole and the guys from Sacramento, Calif. have been pulling into Las Vegas with this show well before we had The Strip. They do an amazing job with hundreds of show cars, a unique midway and an interesting racing program.  Even if you aren't a fan of Volkswagens, this is one show that's just fun to see.

I plan on posting several blogs in the weeks to come. We have lots of great events coming up at The Strip, the Bullring and the Dirt Track. Every show is different from the next and there's some interesting stories behind each. 

Thanks again to all of the local racers who supported the Bullring and the Strip in 2008.  In spite of the current economy, these folks proved that racing comes first and they made a tremendous amount of sacrifices to keep the cars on the track this season. Our 2009 schedules are about 80 percent complete and we think everyone will be happy with what we have in store.

10:05 p.m. -- Post-race comments from race winner Mike Skinner: “Wow. It’s just amazing. I’ve been beaten many, many times when I’ve had the fastest truck. Erik Darnell is going to be sitting up here one day saying the same thing because he had the fastest truck tonight. We were just able to really work him hard on the restarts and he was trying to stop and go on the restarts. 

He was doing everything he was supposed to do – he’s supposed to try to win the race. That’s all the kid was doing and he’s a good guy and a good driver. I knew I had to do something different from what I had been doing. I thought they were going to line up and freight-train me. I said, ‘Well, if they all think I’m going to the bottom, I’ve got to go to the top.’ I went to the top and (Darnell’s) truck was so strong, he came back and passed me on the outside. 

“We had what you call ‘something and elbows’ going off (Turn) four there. We just bounced off of him and killed his momentum a little bit. I wasn’t going to wreck him to win the race. I had plenty of opportunities to do that and I didn’t and I don’t think he’d wreck me to win a race, either. But ricocheting off each other, trying to slow the momentum down, I think that’s fair." (On the event-record 12 caution periods in the race:) “I didn’t like the cautions. I thought it was ridiculous how some of the folks were driving back there in the back. I sure wasn’t liking it and I knew that if it just stayed green, we were going to finish second so what I didn’t like about the race turned around and won the race for me so what can you say?”

Good night from Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

- - - - - - - - - -

9:45 p.m. -- Post-race comments from third-place finisher Matt Crafton: "It was very eventful. I started 14th and drove to third right off. We had a little bit of an issue on the (first) pit stop and lost some spots. And then on the second pit stop, when I was coming out on the racetrack, I hit a huge piece of debris with the right front and we were about 10th at that point.

We had to come back in and take on right sides (tires) because I ran over something and I went back to 28th at that point and drove it back to third. The truck was awesome - we rolled off the trailer tonight and it was awesome.

"That last run, that was by far the fastest we had been all race but we never did really show it because we'd run two laps and then a yellow, two laps and then a yellow. If we would have run 20 green-flag laps right there at the end, we definitely could have had something for them."

- - - - - - - - - -

9:30 p.m. -- Post-race comments from second-place finisher Erik Darnell: "We needed green-flag laps at the end. All those restarts at the end killed us. Mike (Skinner) was better for two or three laps and then I was able to drive away from him. 

He got a good run getting into (Turn) one and kind of got out there on my right-rear and got me just a little loose and he got the momentum he needed to get up on the high side and he got a push down the backstretch and got ahead of me. The last lap, going into (Turn) three, I said ‘I'm going to hold it wide open and I'm either going to pass him or I'm going to wreck it trying.' I got back out there and thought I was going to be able to win the drag race back to the start-finish line but, unfortunately, he got it.

"Mike has always run me clean and I do the same with him. I've probably had some of the best races out there on the track with Mike just because we can run each other like that. I knew he wasn't going to turn me."

- - - - - - - - - -

9:02 p.m. - Mike Skinner grabbed the lead from Erik Darnell on a green-white-checkered restart and beat Darnell to the checkered flag by less than half a truck length and won Saturday night's Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Darnell was second, Matt Crafton was third, John Andretti was fourth and Ron Hornaday Jr. was fifth. Hornaday assumed the points lead in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as Johnny Benson, the previous points leader, crashed out of the race after 64 laps and finished 27th. The race was slowed by an event-record 12 caution periods. There also were a record 15 lead changes in the race.

- - - - - - - - - -

8:45 p.m. - Dennis Setzer and Shane Sieg get together on lap 131 and bring out the 10th caution period of the race - an event record. With 12 laps to go, Erik Darnell leads but Mike Skinner has been stalking in second. Rookie Colin Braun is third, Matt Crafton is fourth and Ron Hornaday is cruising around in fifth place.

- - - - - - - - - -

8:21 p.m. - We've completed 107 of 146 laps, we've had seven caution periods and 24 trucks still are running. Erik Darnell leads and is followed by John Andretti, Mike Skinner, Scott Speed and Dennis Setzer. Johnny Benson is out of the race, as are Jack Sprague, Stacy Compton, Justin Marks, Norm Benning and Chris Jones.

- - - - - - - - - -

8 p.m. - Here are the results for the 600 Racing events that were held on the quarter-mile track in the LVMS tri-oval this afternoon:

Legends Cars

1. Dusty Davis
2. Jeremiah Wagner
3 Dylan Kwasniewski
4. Brecken Snow
5. Bear Rzenoweicky

Bandoleros

1. Kyle Niquette
2. Nicholas Thigpen
3. JairoAvila Jr.
4. Brianna Holley
5. Micheal Morris

Thunder Roadsters

1. Justin Johnson
2. Jared Carpenter
3. Ron Duprau

- - - - - - - - - -

7:36 p.m. – Race leader (and series points leader) Johnny Benson wrecks hard into the Turn-2 outside wall after an apparent right-front tire failure on lap 64. Benson takes his mangled truck behind the wall, where his crew will attempt to make repairs and get him back in the race. Mike Skinner grabs the race lead after pit stops.

- - - - - - - - - -

6:52 p.m. - Sean Murphy spins coming out of Turn 4 on the fourth lap and brings out the first caution of the race. Murphy keeps the No. 07 Chevrolet off the wall but pits to change tires. Brendan Gaughan, who was running ninth, also pits to make adjustments to his No. 10 Ford. Mike Skinner leads.

- - - - - - - - - -

6:50 p.m. – Ron Hornaday Jr. leads the field of 31 trucks to the green flag to start the Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350. Hornaday is in search of his sixth victory of the season and his first at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The trucks of Chris Jones (No. 0) and Stacy Compton (No. 59) drop to the rear of the field because of adjustments made following qualifying.

- - - - - - - - - -

6:40 p.m. – Drivers are given the command to “start your engines” and begin three parade laps around the 1.5-mile speedway.

- - - - - - - - - -

4:35 p.m. – Ron Hornaday Jr., who trails NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points leader Johnny Benson by 74 points, captured the pole for tonight’s Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Hornaday’s lap of 170.428 mph late in the session bumped rookie Colin Braun from the top spot. Braun will start second after posting a qualifying lap at 170.304 mph. Mike Skinner, Chad McCumbee and Benson round out the top five for tonight’s race, which will take the green flag at 6:30 p.m. (PDT).

Jack Sprague, Erik Darnell, Todd Bodine, Dennis Setzer and Rick Crawford will start sixth through 10th. Local favorite Brendan Gaughan will start 12th.

- - - - - - - - - -

2:30 p.m. - Brendan Gaughan is looking forward to tonight's Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350 for more than the obvious reasons.

Yes, he's a Las Vegas native and, yes, LVMS was the site of his most memorable victory in racing, but there is another reason Gaughan is eagerly anticipating tonight's 146-lap race.

"I think we're going to be really good," Gaughan said. "I like the new surface because I like that progressive banking. For my style of racing, that progressive banking really works well for me.

"Everybody's afraid to go high. Everybody's way nervous to go out there and I'm not. Last year, I was three-wide right off the start. Based on how high I went a few times today-- even with the dust and everything up there -- I think I can go four-wide this year. I think it's that good."

Gaughan often has called his victory in the 2003 truck race at LVMS his most memorable victory. He's hoping he can duplicate that feat tonight because he said his Circle Bar Racing team could use the lift.

"There's nothing wrong with our team, there's nothing wrong with our guys," Gaughan said, "we've just hit a streak where everybody got down and when you get down, it compounds and compounds and this is the track to pull us all out. So a top-10 start (and a good finish) would do won ders for the mentality of this team."

- - - - - - - - - -

Mike Skinner apparently didn't get the memo that the Toyota Tundras are supposed to be down on horsepower following engine rules changes implemented recently by NASCAR.

Skinner led both of today's practice sessions for tonight's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Skinner, whose lap at 170.881 mph put him on top of the speed charts in the first practice, turned a lap at 170.455 mph in the No. 5 Toyota Tundra to lead the final practice.

Skinner clearly knows how to get around the 1.50-mile Las Vegas oval. In addition to winning this race in 2006, he sat on the pole here for three consecutive races from 2004 to 2006.

"It kind of felt like old times," Skinner said of the two practice sessions. "I love Vegas, man, and I love this place. I wish we raced four times a year out here. I loved it before they reconfigured it and I love it now.

"Our truck was pretty good - not perfect, but it's not bad. It'd be nice to start in the top five and get a good pit selection. We're definitely going to hold it wide open and see what happens."

Chad McCumbee was second fastest in the final practice at 169.769 in the No. 8 Malcolmson Construction Chevrolet and Bobby East was third (169.715) in the No. 09 Zaxby's Ford. Rick Crawford (169.252) was fourth in the No. 14 C ircle Bar/Powerstroke Diesel Ford and Jack Sprague (169.242) was fifth fastest in the No. 2 Camping World Chevrolet.

Qualifying for the Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350 begins at 3:30 p.m. (PDT).

- - - - - - - - - -

11:25 a.m. - Stacy Compton has replaced Ted Musgrave as driver of the No. 59 Team ASE/Harris Trucking Toyota and will pilot the truck in tonight's Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the team announced this morning.

Musgrave, who wrecked the team's primary truck in this morning's first practice session, and team owner Jim Harris mutually agreed to part ways, according to team manager Donny Vaden.

"Stacy Compton will drive the No. 59 for tonight's race in Las Vegas," Vaden said. "We will evaluate our options once we get back home and make an announcement on our driver or drivers for the rest of the season then."

Compton was HT Motorsports' first driver in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competition, competing in four races in 2001 and three races in 2002. He scored top-10 finishes in his first five starts with the team, including a fourth-place finish after starting from the pole at Phoenix in October 2001.

Compton has started 16 NCTS races in 2008 for the BHR-VA team for which he is a co-owner. His best qualifying effort of the season was a second at Nashville in August and his best finish is a sixth in the season opener at Daytona. Overall, he has four top-10 finishes and stands 21st in the series championship standings despite missing the past two races.

- - - - - - - - - -

10:56 a.m. - Ted Musgrave, driver of the No. 59 Team ASE/Harris Trucking Toyota, on his crash in Turn 4 on the second lap of practice this morning:

"We were really loose. Just no rear grip and it got away from me. It was lap two, so it was out of control from lap one. We were about two seconds off the pace and we were trying to make it a little quicker."

The team is preparing its backup truck as the second (and final) practice session gets under way.

- - - - - - - - - -

10:44 a.m. – The first practice session is in the books and Mike Skinner (Toyota) sits atop the speed chart with a fast lap of 170.881 mph. Skinner won this race in 2006 and is a three-time pole winner (2004-06) at LVMS.

Erik Darnell (Ford) was second fastest at 170.100 mph and Jack Sprague (Chevrolet), a two-time race winner at LVMS, was third at 169.721. Ron Hornaday Jr., who has won the past two races this season, was fourth at 169.582 mph in a Chevy and Shane Sieg (Toyota) rounded out the top five at 169.428 mph.

- - - - - - - - - -

Five minutes into the first practice, Ted Musgrave contacted the outdside wall in turn 4 at LVMS

- - - - - - - - - -

9:07 a.m. - Good morning from Las Vegas Motor Speedway where, by all indications, it should be a spectacular day for the 12th running of the Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350. It's sunny and 81 degrees with a slight breeze (6 mph out of the southeast) as the first trucks take to the track for the initial 75-minute practice session.

Among the first trucks on the 1.5-mile track are Johnny Benson, Mike Skinner and hometown favorite Brendan Gaughan. Matt Crafton has posted the fastest lap so far at 168.130 mph. Skinner holds the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series track record at 178.065 mph, set during qualifying in 2006.

Check back here often, as we'll be updating this blog throughout the day with news, stats and driver interviews.

It's race week here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway! This week the stars of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series are headed to Las Vegas, and after last week's event at New Hampshire, race fans should be prepared for anything.

In case you missed it, Ron Hornaday won the race at New Hampshire on Saturday and has sliced a major chunk off of Johnny Benson's points lead. Considering that neither Benson nor Hornaday has ever won at LVMS, expect to see those two bring their "A" games to the high-banked superspeedway this week.

But the battle between Benson and Hornaday might just be the undercard. Following Saturday's race at New Hampshire, the teams of David Starr and Todd Bodine engaged in quite a dust-up on pit road. Even the mild-mannered Starr himself was ready to go after someone once he got out of his truck. It appeared that Bodine's team was upset over contact on the track that it blamed on Starr. Regardless of the reason, it appears that a feud has started between the two and Bodine may be looking to settle the score with Starr this week.

But before the drivers take to the speedway, many of them will take part in a driver autograph session on Friday night at the Stratosphere. It's the second straight year the speedway has partnered up with the tallest hotel in the west and about 20 of the top drivers will be there. There is no charge for the autograph session either.

Race day at LVMS is always fun. The Neon Garage is going to be open for just ten bucks. That's a great way to see live entertainment, get the drivers' autographs and even get a chance to watch the post-race Winner's Circle activities.

So make no other plans this weekend. Get your friends and family together and make Saturday a day at the races. I'll see you there.

The morning got off to a very quick start. When I arrived at the track, a close friend of mine, Scott W., was waiting for me. Scott planned on riding with me for the first one hundred miles or so. As we were preparing to get started, we noticed a news helicopter circling around, so we quickly got on our bikes and started doing laps in case they were filming. As it turns out, they were and that footage made the evening news with channel 13! After the helicopter left, we finished setting up the shade, chairs, tables, food and water and did an interview for channel 3 right on the track.  THEN the riding started. The weather was great!  It was not too warm and the wind was fairly mild and kept changing directions. Scott rode very strongly on his recumbent, stopping occasionally for water, bathroom breaks and a bit of stretching.

We pulled off the first 100 miles in less than five hours which put me way ahead of schedule. At about that time, people started showing up to support the memorial ride.  Some of the firefighters that I work with as well as Scott's wife showed up first, then as the afternoon wore on, others that had seen news footage brought their bicycles with them to ride some laps on the track and keep us company. That was very helpful. When I was alone on the track, I kept up a pretty fast pace, but when there was a visitor, I could ease up quite a bit and we rode socially around the track and talked a lot.  It made the time go by a lot faster.

Late in the afternoon, Scott packed it in with an impressive total of 160 miles, his longest ride ever! I was at 200 miles when my family showed up a short time later.  My wife brought me a hamburger so I sat down to eat it. It was the first break I'd taken the whole ride. As the evening turned to night, more folks started showing up. Some I knew from cycling or work, others I didn't.  My kids all rode a lot of laps and my 13-year-old daughter rode 40 miles during the evening.

We opted to have the track lights remain off at night. There was some ambient light from some of the security lights on the premises and also some light from the flood light shining on the American flag at the track. This only left one dark spot on the track which was half of turn two. It was spooky coming into the black corner, but there was never anything to worry about. Nobody rode with headlights but we did use the little red, blinking tail lights so that you never ran into anyone from behind. At one point at night, we had eight guys flying around the track in the dark. It was a blast! The wind also got pretty stiff during the night and the laps became difficult, but nobody complained and everyone just kept riding.

My wife eventually took the kids home (school night and all) and after that, we packed it in for the night.  It was about midnight and I had ridden 280 miles. Everyone else headed home and I slept on a cot next to the van right there on the track.  Security checked up on me a couple of times and I got a pretty good rest. I woke up at about 5 a.m. and rode the last 50 miles.

We got some more visitors in the morning, some more media attention and three firefighters form the Clark County Fire Department came to ride the last of the 343 miles with me.

We rolled into Firefighter's Memorial Park quietly, shook hands with each other, and the ride was done.  I noticed that someone had placed some flowers already that morning; it was nice to know that other people were also trying hard not to forget.  Again, we did a couple of interviews for the media and headed out.  There were no festivities planned at the park; maybe we'll change that in the future; maybe we won't.  For some reason, it seems correct that the finish is anti-climactic.  The other guys rode home and I took the vehicle option for the ride back to the track.

I would very much like to thank all those that contributed.  I also would like to acknowledge and thank Scott Woodford and his wife for the tremendous amount of hands-on support. The speedway acted like a first class organization and I wholeheartedly encourage everyone to patronize them when possible.

Each September 11th, I ride 343 miles to commemorate the 343 firefighters who died during the attacks in 2001. This year, my ride will be held on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Bullring track. It is 9:15 p.m. and I am about to hit the bed for the night.  I am in for a LOOOOOng day tomorrow and had hoped to be in bed already. But as always, there are a thousand things to take care of and they are all last minute. 

Tommorow it will be be up at about 4:30 a.m., have a quick bowl of twigs and branches, fuel the van, buy lots of ice, and head for the speedway. Once I'm there, i'll set up the shade, fill up the tires and try to get on the bicycle by 7 a.m.   In reality, it doesn't really matter how much sleep I get, you're always tired by midnight. Hopefully the wind will be calm and I can peel off each hundred in less than six hours.  

See everyone in the morning!  And try to remember our fallen firefighters on the 11th!