Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at [email protected] or (702) 259-4089.
Schedule
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Las Vegas 350 NASCAR Winston West The Orleans 150 At Las Vegas Motor Speedway Today
4 p.m. -- Spectator gates open (free admission)
4-6 p.m. -- Winston West practice
7-8 p.m. -- Driver autograph session (ESPN Zone at New York New York hotel-casino)
Saturday
Noon -- Spectator gates open
Noon-1 p.m. -- NCTS Practice
1:15 p.m. -- Winston West qualifying
2-3 p.m. -- NCTS Practice
4 p.m. -- NCTS qualifying
5:45-6:45 p.m. -- NCTS final practice
7 p.m. -- Winston West driver introductions
7:30 p.m. -- Winston West The Orleans 150 race (100 Laps)
Sunday
Noon -- Spectator gates open
1:30 p.m. -- NCTS driver introductions
2 p.m. -- NCTS Las Vegas 350 race (146 Laps)
Points will be on the minds of most of the drivers in Sunday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Las Vegas 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
But you won't hear any talk about points racing -- that is, a driver laying back in the race in order to protect his position in the standings.
"That's one of the things that's different about the Truck Series," said Terry Cook, fifth in points heading into the weekend. "Typically, your Winston Cup races last three, three and a half hours and ours are two hours or less.
"From the drop of the green to the drop of the checkered, we're on the gas. There's no 'let's ride here a little bit and get some laps out of the way' or 'let's save our tires.' It's a series where we're not afraid to bump and bang a little bit to get to the front because you've got to get there in a hurry."
Adding to the drivers' urgency to get to the front is the fact that the NCTS is embroiled in its second-closest points battle with four races remaining. Only 177 points separate the top five drivers in the standings and each is approaching this as a "must-win" race -- even points leader Mike Bliss.
"I try to tell myself 'just drive hard -- don't let up,' " Bliss said. "Sometimes I might think twice about doing something, making a pass or something, but then I just say 'forget it; you've got to do it if you're going to win the race.
"I think these next four races, you want to do what you did to get here and try to win some more races. "
Bliss, who has five wins this season, leads Rick Crawford by 55 points. Defending Las Vegas race winner Ted Musgrave is in third place, 112 points behind Bliss, David Starr trails by 112 and Cook is 177 points off the pace.
"It's (Bliss') championship to lose right this minute and mine to win but I have to win races to do it," Crawford said. "We have to continue to make calculated risks and be aggressive and outrun him along with three or four other guys to stay in the hunt."
Musgrave, who is the defending race winner at three of the four tracks remaining on the schedule, lost 49 points to Bliss in the most recent race but hasn't given up on winning his first NASCAR championship.
"We're not counting ourselves out of the championship by any means," Musgrave said. "We're not giving up. When the checkered flag flies at Homestead we'll give up, but not before then.
Rose, 22, has five top-10 finishes in 17 races this season, including a third-place effort in the season-opening race at Daytona International Raceway. He also is scheduled to attempt to make his Winston Cup debut next weekend at Martinsville Speedway in a car owner by Rick Ware.
Former Winston Cup driver Andy Houston will take over for Rose in the No. 15 Billy Ballew Motorsports Ford in Sunday's Las Vegas 350.
Shepherd originally was scheduled to compete in the Winston Cup race at Lowe's Motor Speedway this weekend, but a lack of funding forced him to scrap that plan.
"Our intentions were to head to Charlotte for the Winston Cup race but with 50-plus cars, we just don't have the qualifying package to make it work," Shepherd said. "We still need sponsorship help.
"We're taking the truck to Vegas this weekend but we are looking forward to Martinsville with the Cup car."
In his most recent start in the Truck Series, Shepherd finished 17th at Richmond International Raceway in September.
Norris, the son of actor Chuck Norris, holds a 36-point lead over Cameron and a 78-point edge over Richards going into the season finale. Norris can clinch the title by finishing sixth or better -- regardless of how Cameron or Richards finish.
Norris enters Saturday's 7:30 p.m. race with two wins and nine top-10 finishes this season while Cameron has five wins and six top-five finishes. Richards, who is looking for his first win of 2002, has finished in the top 10 nine times this season and won the Winston West race at LVMS in 1999.
Hendrick cited lingering effects from a shoulder injury he suffered in a crash in the Busch Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March as the reason for his retirement.
"He was driving like a drunk on the way to get more liquor."
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