From humble beginnings The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was the forerunning oval in what became the motorsports megaplex at the site.
A drag strip was originally built on the property in 1958 and a road course was added in 1983. Craig Road Speedway, a .250-mile paved oval in North Las Vegas closed in 1982. Disenfranchised drivers asked dragway operator Alex Rodriguez to build a .375-mile paved oval on his dragway’s property. He built the D-shaped track on the site within his leased property that was once a gravel pit once used by the City of Las Vegas. The track opened in 1985. When it became part of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series in 1990, the track was known as Las Vegas International Speedway. It was soon renamed Las Vegas Speedway Park until Richie Clyne redeveloped the property that included a new 1.5 mile superspeedway in 1997. At the time the weekly track shared the new Las Vegas Motor Speedway name. The short track became “The Bullring” when the complex was acquired by Speedway Motorsports Inc. in 1999. Added were a new state of the art NHRA sanctioned dragway and a half-mile clay oval.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West has competed on both the superspeedway and The Bullring.
Kurt Busch of Las Vegas, the 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, began his racing career at The Bullring and won the track’s 1996 Hobby Stock division championship. Kyle Busch began his racing career there as well.
Two-time NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Super Late Model champion Scott Gafforini leads the track and NASCAR state point standings this week. His 2011 racing record in 11 starts is three wins, 10 top-fives and 10 top 10s.
Gafforini, 44, of Henderson, Nev., got some advice he considers valuable from technical advisor Tony Blanchard of www.race101.net.
“Tony believes in the motto ‘don’t buy it, learn it,’” Gafforini said. “I believe you don’t know it all and you broaden your horizons by learning.
“I was building my own shocks. I laid everything out and had Tony look at them. He said they were good three years ago. Then he taught me about how shocks are supposed to work. We’re still learning and it’s showing this year. We came out of the box fast.”
Gafforini’s renewed competitiveness comes in his first Super Late Model purchased in 1997 by his first car owner Fletcher Jones Jr., a Las Vegas area Toyota dealer. Gafforini later bought the car from Fletcher in 2001. Today Gafforini is a full-time racer.
Gafforini started out racing go karts in 1991 and began racing Hobby Stocks at the forerunner of The Bullring in the mid-1990s. After meeting Jones, a road racing enthusiast, the duo teamed up to compete in the old IMSA series.
“The turning point came with the construction of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In late 1997, he told me to go get a Super Late Model to race at The Bullring. That’s what I’m doing to this day,” Gafforini said.
He gained sponsorship from Binion’s Gambling Hall and Hotel and Four Queens Hotel and Casino in 2002. Howard Holmes of Vegas Machine is the engine sponsor for the Howe chassis Toyota Camry.
Team members include his dad Roger, brother James, Vince Blanchi, Randy Stalter, John Spilotro, and Eric Kirchner.
After entering Super Late Model competition in 1998, it took many years for Gafforini to work his way up to his first track championship at The Bullring in 2006.
“It took a long time to get there,” Gafforini said. “I tried hard to do everything right and I just couldn’t get my luck to line up. It seemed like it took forever to win the 2006 championship. That was the best year of my life. Amy and I got married and our daughter Sonja was born.”
The 2006 championship was won in a squeaker. He was a title contender when his car broke an axle during the second-to-last race night of the point season.
“People in the pits rallied to help me,” Gafforini said. “Someone gave me an axle from their back-up car. I didn’t have the right gear and someone gave me one out of their own race car and didn’t race. At the end of the night I was two points behind Justin Johnson. The next week, I won the championship by one point.”
The 2008 championship was won by more than 40 points. He placed fourth in track points in 2009 and second in 2010. He wants to be the guy to beat for the 2011 track championship.
The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway operates on Saturday nights. Following the July 3 race night, the track will be on its annual summer hiatus until August 20. The break comes during the hottest part of the desert season when daily high temperatures typically exceed 100 degrees.
In addition to Super Late Models, other weekly divisions at The Bullring include Chargers, Bombers, Legends, Bandoleros and Thunder Roadsters.
The track website is www.lvms.com/bullring.
