VIVA LAS VEGAS

Two big Las Vegas Winners as 2016 became 2017 were Justin Lamb, Henderson, NV, NHRA Winter Nationals Champ and Mike Maggio, PSCA Champion.

Leaving Las Vegas in early 2015 after my wife passed away, has been an adventure for sure. My son and I are now located in Tucson, Arizona, south of Vegas but with a similar desert landscape.

During the 12 years we spent in Henderson, NV, we became well acquainted with the local drag racing and car show scene. For the seventh consecutive year we are presenting Viva Las Vegas again due to the wealth of material we have discovered and can offer DRO readers.

Several local racers of today believe that prior to the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the area had no viable drag strip for many years. As pictured above, this was not so. Larry Horton, the manager of the Stardust Raceway in the late ‘60s, found the site where LVMS sits today and made a seamless transition to the new ‘Speedrome’ when Pardee Homes completed the purchase of land including the original Stardust site. I know this because we were there at the first race Larry held. The track grew and grew and became a popular drag racing location during three decades. From the days of the ‘50s at Henderson, the Vegas Valley always had drag racing.