Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE M any people look back on the late 1990s as the high-water mark in terms of attendance and popularity of the AMA Superbike Championship. And no question the period was marked by a ton of factory and factory-supported teams, paying good money to their riders, and many, if not most tracks, had great fan support. But definitely not all. One event that did not bring out the crowds, however, was the three AMA Superbike National held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway a total of three times from 1996 to 1998. More on that, but first a little back- ground on road racing in Las Vegas. Stardust International Raceway, built by the owners of the Stardust Hotel and Casino, featured a flat, three-mile, 13-turn road course, and a quarter- mile drag strip. It was built just a few miles west of present day McCarran International Airport. That track hosted high-profile auto races, but when motorcycle racing was proposed, it initially was caught up in the politics of the seemingly never- ending battle between the AFM and AMA of those days. Finally, after some 11th-hour negotiations the AMA and AFM cooperated to run the race togeth- er. The first motorcycle road race, an AMA Sports- man event, was held at Stardust in February of 1967. Veteran Southern California road racing specialist Buddy Parriott won the main event of the weekend on his Norton over the BSA of Ralph White and the Triumph of Eddie Mulder. Unfortunately, the Stardust closed shortly after motorcycle racing was established. The site of the track, which at the time was on the outskirts of Las Vegas, became part of the city's suburban sprawl and is now a neighborhood. This left Las Vegas road racing enthusiasts with- out a place to compete, so plans were drawn up for a new drag and road course on the other side of town. Known as Las Vegas Speedway Park, a quarter-mile dragstrip opened for business in February 1972, with a 1.6-mile road course fol- lowing a few weeks later. The old road course is still on the site of the present day Las Vegas Mo- tor Speedway and if you look on Google Earth you'll see the road course sitting just to the west of the oval. The old road course hosted club races right up to the time of the new speedway being built in 1996. The road course built at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) was another in the trend of building road courses inside a NASCAR oval. THE SPARSE CROWDS OF VEGAS P112 PHOTOGRAPHY BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS Superbike racing never caught on with the fans at Las Vegas Motor Speedway even at the height of AMA Superbike racing.