Las Vegas Motor Speedway hosted it's first NASCAR Busch Series event on March 16, 1997. The Busch Series event was the first ever Busch race to be held West of the Mississippi River and offered the second largest purse in the series' history. Another first, Jeff Green recorded his first Busch win at the Las Vegas 300. The Winconsin native Dick Trickle, the uncle of injured local race driver Chris Trickle, is the "home town favorite" and nearly gave his nephew a vitory in the innogural race. Winston Cup drivers included Dick Trickle, Bobby and Terry Labonte, Jimmy Spencer, Dale Jarrett, Michael Waltrip, Joe Nemechek, Greg Sacks and Mike Wallace. Following is a collection of photographs I took at the Las Vegas 300.
	If anybody says "they can't run 4 wide" take a look at this. Count them, four, no 5 wide through the tri-oval.
	The starting grid befor the Las Vegas 300. The cars are lined up behind the pace car on pit road.
	Teammates Jeff Green and Elliot Sadler take the field to the green flag for the start of the innogural Las Vegas 300.
	A shot of Bobby Labonte entering the tri-oval.
	Dick Trickle leads the field into the tri-oval. Photo's not too bad for an amateur.
	With about 50 laps remaining, Jeff Green attemps to take the lead from Dick Trickle.
	After an incident in turn 2, Elton Sawyer's car catches fire while comming onto pit road. Elton's crew was able to make repairs and get him back onto the track.

Top of Page | Home