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The Las Vegas Chapter of Speedway Children's Charities will hold its annual Grant Distribution and Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Tuesday, Nov. 30, at 6 p.m., in Garage No. 4 in the infield of the superspeedway. The Las Vegas chapter will grant $275,000 to 51 local children's charities at the ceremony. Both amounts once again are records for the Las Vegas chapter. This year¿s total surpasses 2003 by $25,000 and 10 more local children¿s causes will receive grant checks. The list of 51 grant recipients includes: Amerindian, Inc., Arthritis Foundation, Camp Ronald McDonald For Good Times, Candlelighters For Childhood Cancer, Greater Las Vegas After-School All Stars, Nellis Air Force Base Youth Program, Opportunity Village, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Nevada, YMCA of Southern Nevada and St. Jude¿s Ranch for Children.

The Las Vegas Chapter of Speedway Children's Charities hosted its inaugural Texas Hold ¿em Poker Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2004, at The Cannery Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The evening of ¿cards for kids¿ raised $6,859 for the children of southern Nevada.

The Las Vegas Chapter of Speedway Children's Charities will host its inaugural Texas Hold ¿em Poker Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2004, at The Cannery Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The day of ¿cards for kids¿ begins with registration from 2:30-5 p.m. The tournament begins at 5:30 p.m. Buy-in is $250 and entrants will receive $1,000 in tournament chips. Each entrant will receive complimentary beverages and hors d¿oeuvres. The awards ceremony will be held inside The Cannery¿s nightclub.

Mike Skinner of Susanville, Calif., won the Bud Pole Award for tonight's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Las Vegas 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Skinner's Toyota Tundra truck toured the 1.5-mile superspeedway at 32.664 sec./165.320 mph. Dennis Setzer was second and Raybestos Rookie contender David Reutimann earned third place on the starting grid.

Please visit our website throughout the day for updates on tonight's Double Down in the Desert doubleheader for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Champ Car World Series.

Rodolfo Lavin, driver of the Corona-Forsythe team entry, was quickest during today's first practice session for the Champ Car World Series with a lap of 26.254 sec./205.683 mph. Lavin made a total of 64 laps and his best pass came on Lap 53. Qualifying for tomorrow's Bridgestone 400 Presented By Corona will begin at 4:30 p.m. PDT. There is no activity for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series today.

He may think he¿s two years shy of being considered a Las Vegas local, but that doesn¿t mean Champ Car World Series driver Jimmy Vasser isn¿t looking forward to some hometown bragging rights if he wins the Bridgestone 400 presented by Corona on Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "My friends have told me you have to live here 10 years to be considered a local," Vasser said, "but I think eight years is a long time. There are hometown bragging rights on the line coming into the race."

In the motorsports industry, women are equal to men in many departments including management, marketing, public relations and sponsorships. However, in the mechanical arena, it is male-dominated and few women hold positions as mechanics and over-the-wall crew members in any racing series. Tessa Brelia is the rear-end mechanic on the No. 55 Herdez Ford-Cosworth/Lola of Mario Dominguez in the Champ Car World Series.

Sebastien Bourdais is not a stranger to pressure. The 2003 Champ Car World Series Rookie-of-the-Year, comes to Las Vegas with the championship title in his sights, but not by much. Only 24 points separates him from second place Bruno Junqueira, and a win at the Bridgestone 400 presented by Corona would be a boost to his hopes of winning his first Vanderbilt Cup.

When the Champ Car World Series debuts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on September 25, Alex Tagliani will be looking for bragging rights. Tagliani, along with fellow Champ Car drivers Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser and Patrick Carpentier call Las Vegas home. Tagliani moved to Las Vegas from his hometown in Montreal to take advantage of the tax breaks and real estate investment opportunities, but found that the move was beneficial for him physically as well.

The Chase for Championship hasn¿t officially started for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and already some teams ¿ and Goodyear ¿ are looking ahead to next year. Several Nextel Cup drivers spent Tuesday and Wednesday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway testing tires for Goodyear Racing. Goodyear was hoping to get an idea of how the new rear spoiler on the new Dodge and Ford stock cars would affect the tires in the 2005 season.

Race fans will get an opportunity to meet their favorite NASCAR Craftsman Truck and Champ Car World Series drivers during separate autograph sessions leading up to the Sept. 25 Double Down in the Desert at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. All 18 drivers entered in the Bridgestone 400 Presented by Corona Champ Car World Series event will be signing autographs at the ESPN Zone at the New York New York Hotel and Casino from 7-8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 23. Many of the top NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers, who will compete in the Las Vegas 350, will sign autographs at the NASCAR Street Party on the Third Street Promenade in downtown Las Vegas on Friday, Sept. 24 from 7-8 p.m. The street party, which is being produced in conjunction with the Lady Luck, will have live bands, show cars, interactive games, contests and food and souvenir vendors.

TENTATIVE ENTRY LIST FOR THE CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES BRIDGESTONE 400 PRESENTED BY CORONA, SEPTEMBER 25, 2004, LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY.

Champ Car World Series sponsor partners Bridgestone and Corona have had a major presence during the 2004 campaign, and both announced Friday that they would increase their roles when the series makes its first-ever visit to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on September 24-25. The race will be known as the Bridgestone 400 Presented by Corona, and will take place on the 1.5-mile LVMS superspeedway oval on Saturday night September 25. The event will take place directly after the conclusion of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck event, marking the first time that Champ Car will run a same-day doubleheader with a NASCAR-sanctioned series.

Just three days after winding through the streets of Denver, the stars of the Champ Car World Series will run their fastest speeds of the year during a one-day test session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway today. Fifteen of the 18 Champ Car teams are set to test today in preparation for the Champ Car event scheduled as part of the Double Down in the Desert on Sept. 25. The 400-kilometer Champ Car event will follow the Las Vegas 350 NASCAR Craftsman Truck event. The test will run from 2-10 p.m., and the speedway¿s grandstands will be open to the public free of charge.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway has completed the installation of the Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) barriers. LVMS installed 6,107 linear feet of the SAFER barrier, covering approximately 75 percent of the 1.5-mile superspeedway¿s outer walls. The SAFER barrier system has been placed outside of all four turns as well as most of the front straightaway. The construction project was handled by Behade Builders of Las Vegas.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway has completed its ticket renewal process for the 2005 NASCAR Weekend. All seats that were not renewed in the Dale Earnhardt Terrace are on sale now, while all other seats will be available beginning Monday, Sept. 13.

Installation of Las Vegas Motor Speedway¿s Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) barrier got under way Monday as construction crews braved the July desert heat. The process, which will take about three weeks to complete, will have the barriers in place for the upcoming Las Vegas 350 NASCAR Craftsman Truck and Champ Car World Series doubleheader on Sept. 25.

Richie Clyne, whose vision of bringing big-time motorsports to the Las Vegas valley led to the creation of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, is one of five people being inducted into the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame Friday night at the Cox Pavilion. Clyne will be joined in the class of 2004 by former NFL great Gerald Riggs, former UNLV football coach Tony Knap, UNLV golf coach Dwaine Knight and longtime sports contributor Jack Cason.

The Birthday Bash is a car show (more than 400 cars are expected to participate) featuring hot rods, street rods, custom cars, dragsters, stock cars and monster trucks. The event also offers many attractions, including: vendor booths, oldies DJs, clowns, gymnastics exhibitions and displays.

The 2004 NASCAR Weekend in Las Vegas had a record $142 million impact on the local economy, the greatest impact in the seven-year history of the event.

The Las Vegas Chapter of Speedway Children's Charities¿ second annual golf tournament, held April 19 on the Red Rock Country Club¿s Arroyo course, raised $28,581 for the children of southern Nevada. Last year¿s event, held at the Revere Golf Club at Sun City Anthem, raised $13,500.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway will install the new Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) barriers prior to the Sept. 25 Las Vegas 350 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, LVMS general manager Chris Powell announced today. "Participant safety is of utmost importance," Powell said. "Many great strides have been made to improve driver safety over the years, and we believe the SAFER barrier represents one of the most significant improvements in a long time in motorsports."

Frank Mogus, a 79-year-old race from St. Petersburg, Fla., received the best birthday gift from SMI and PRN on Friday, January 16, when he was told he won the 2003 SMI Ultimate Speedway Tour Sweepstakes.

Raybestos Rookie-of-the-Year title contender Kasey Kahne grabbed the attention of Las Vegas in fine style by winning his very first Bud Pole Award and breaking the track record at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during qualifying for Sunday's sixth annual NASCAR Nextel Cup Series UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400.

The Las Vegas Chapter of Speedway Children's Charities held its sixth annual NASCAR Driver Auction on Thursday, March 4 in Sam's Town Live! at Sam's Town Hotel & Gambling Hall in Las Vegas. The charity auction raised a record-setting $182,900 for the children of southern Nevada. For the second time in three years, NASCAR Nextel Cup Series driver Rusty Wallace was the highest-bid driver, going for $9,000. Stacy Compton was the highest-bid NASCAR Busch Series driver at $4,600.

¿I like going out to Las Vegas, because it¿s in the desert and when I am not on the track I love playing in the desert. In fact, I am planning to play around Thursday and take some of the guys on my team for a ride in my sand car, along with some other friends. Desert racing has been a major part of my life, so I will always make time to play in the sand and race in the sand at least a few times each year.

¿It¿s going to be exciting. Our test was decent. We think our car is as good as what we can make it right now. We¿re going to go out there and shoot for the stars. I don¿t go to the race track unless I feel like I can win. If I didn¿t think we had an opportunity to go to that race track and win that race, we¿d just rather stay home and get prepared for Atlanta. So we¿re feeling good about it.¿

Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) has been a favorite of ACDelco Chevrolet driver Ron Hornaday ever since it opened in 1996. Hornaday has seven consecutive top-10 finishes at the 1.5-mile track and an average finish of sixth. In fact, Hornaday has never finished outside the top-10 in any series or event at LVMS. That includes Trucks, Busch and NEXTEL Cup, where he finished ninth in A.J. Foyt's No. 14 car in 2001. Last year, Hornaday finished ninth in the Sam's Town 300. Hornaday is listed by the odds makers at 15-1 to win the event.

Joe Nemechek said he has four solid reasons to feel good about his chances at this weekend¿s UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400. The veteran driver, whose Chevrolet will carry the USG Sheetrock Brand colors at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, said one reason for his buoyant feeling is how quickly the 01 team has come together since he took over the ride with four races remaining in 2003.

After a two week respite from NASCAR Busch Series racing, Paul Wolfe is ready to get to ¿the City of Lights¿ and prove what he can do in a race car. After an accident during qualifying caused him to miss making the field in Rockingham two weeks ago, the driver has had time to process what happened and get focused on the future.

Nextel Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: NXTL) is putting the call out to NASCAR fans to donate their old wireless phones to support the American Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services, beginning at the March 7 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In 2003, Nextel raised nearly $400,000 for the American Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services through the American Red Cross DONATE A PHONEâ program, as well as other fundraising efforts.

NASCAR Busch Series driver Jason Keller has added his name to the growing roster of drivers headed to the sixth annual Speedway Children's Charities NASCAR Driver Auction at Sam's Town March 4.

Jason Keller has started all seven races since the inaugural Vegas race in 1997. He started on the outside pole and finished fifth there in 2003. Keller is especially looking forward to returning to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday due to the success they had during their test in January.

Micah Roberts, of Las Vegas¿ Station Casinos sports books, has chosen Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth as his favorites (3-to-1) to win the NASCAR Busch Series Sam¿s Town 300 March 6 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Last year¿s winner, Joe Nemechek, is third at 5-to-1. The first full-time Busch Series driver listed is Las Vegas¿ Kyle Busch, at 8-to-1.

Three drivers are favored at 8-to-1 to win the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway March 7: Jimmie Johnson, Las Vegas' Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman. According to odds released today by Micah Roberts of Station Casinos, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and defending champion Matt Kenseth are next at 10-to-1. Las Vegans Kyle Busch and Brendan Gaughan have been assigned odds of 35-to-1.

Tentative entry list for the 2004 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400.

Robin Leach, who became world famous as the founder and host of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," will host the pre-race show and introduce the starting field for the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 7. Leach will be joined during the pre-race ceremonies on Sunday by legendary star of stage, screen and television Robert Goulet. Goulet has been selected by the speedway to sing the National Anthem prior to the start of the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400.

Brendan Gaughan of Las Vegas drives the No. 77 Kodak Dodge in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. The March 7 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at LVMS will be Gaughan's first Cup Series start at his home track. Gaughan was the highest qualifying Raybestos® Rookie for the Daytona 500, earning the 17th starting position. Gaughan is fourth in the Raybestos® Rookie standings, 11 points behind leader Scott Wimmer.

Track officials announced Monday that only a few hundred tickets remain for this year¿s event. ¿We simply want people to know that seats still are available for the race,¿ said Chris Powell, LVMS general manager. ¿Ticket sales this year have been as brisk as ever, and sometimes the perception in the public is that there is nothing available. There still is time to buy tickets."

As Las Vegas Motor Speedway prepares for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 March 7, John Fernandez, Director ¿ Dodge Motorsports Operations, says Dodge has the right lineup of teams and drivers to bring home a title.

Bill Elliott¿s window of opportunity is smaller this year than any of his past 25 seasons in motorsports. That¿s because Elliott will run a limited schedule in 2004 and will allow Jeremy Mayfield and Kasey Kahne to carry the flag for Evernham Motorsports.

The UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is still six weeks away, but the Evernham Motorsports team has served notice that it will be a force to be reckoned with on March 7. Evernham drivers Jeremy Mayfield and Kasey Kahne completed their two-day test on LVMS¿ 1.5-mile superspeedway, and by unofficial counts, they were the class of the field.

NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series testing will take place Jan. 26-29 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. More than 50 teams are expected to descend on LVMS to experiment with the new tires, spoilers and body designs that will go into effect in the coming season. It¿s the first open test for teams on an intermediate (1.5-mile) speedway.

Probable entry list for 2004 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Some of the biggest names in NASCAR have signed up to test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Jan. 26-29 in preparation for the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event and Sam¿s Town 300 NASCAR Busch Series race.