LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- NASCAR Weekend in Las Vegas is still six weeks away, but it will certainly look like race weekend when the stars of the NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series invade Las Vegas Motor Speedway for next week’s Preseason Thunder Las Vegas.
A record 43 Nextel Cup teams have filed testing vouchers, including all 10 drivers in last year’s Chase for the Cup. The Cup teams are scheduled to test on Monday, Jan. 31 and Tuesday, Feb. 1. On Wednesday and Thursday, 20 NASCAR Busch Series teams are scheduled to test including 2004 champion Martin Truex Jr. and former Champ Car star Michel Jourdain Jr.
Nextel Cup teams will be preparing for the March 13 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400, while the Busch teams will be making the preparations for the Sam’s Town 300 on Saturday. March 12.
The speedway’s grandstands will be open to the public free of charge all four days. The testing starts at 9 a.m. and will conclude at 5 p.m. each day.
LVMS recently announced the addition of bleacher seating in Turn 3 for the NASCAR Weekend. These $99 Triple Play seats will give race fans a bleacher seat for the UAW-DaimlerChryslet 400, a reserved seat in the main grandstand for the Sam’s Town 300 and a general admission ticket to the Las Vegas Double Down on Sept. 24 featuring the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Champ Car World Series. Race fans can call 1-800-644-4444 or log on to www.lvms.com for tickets.
Following is a complete list of the drivers scheduled to test.
Nextel Cup drivers (Jan. 31-Feb. 1): John Andretti, Stanton Barrett, Greg Biffle, Dave Blaney, Mike Bliss, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, Jeff Fuller, Jeff Gordon, Robby Gordon, Jeff Green, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Kevin Harvick, Dale Jarrett, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Travis Kvapil, Bobby Labonte, Jason Leffler, Sterling Marlin, Mark Martin, Jeremy Mayfield, Eric McClure, Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears, Joe Nemechek, Ryan Newman, Kyle Petty, Scott Riggs, Ricky Rudd, Elliott Sadler, Hermie Sadler, Johnny Sauter, Ken Schrader, Tony Stewart, Brian Vickers, Mike Wallace, Rusty Wallace, Michael Waltrip and Scott Wimmer.
Busch Series drivers (Feb. 2-3): Johnny Borneman, Clint Bowyer, Stacy Compton, Tim Fedewa, Denny Hamlin, Shane Hmiel, Michel Jourdain Jr., Justin Labonte, Paul Menard, Johnny Sauter, Brent Sherman, Reed Sorensen, Martin Truex Jr., Tyler Walker, Kenny Wallace, Paul Wolfe, Jon Wood and J.J. Yeley.
* - Elliott Sadler and Joe Nemechek will be testing both Cup and Busch cars on Monday and Tuesday.
