It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. When The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as built about 20 years ago, it was intended to be a four lane drag strip. Anyone who has ever visited the facility has seen the tell-tale signs of that fact. The placement of the right hand scoreboard far off the course, the fact that there was all that flat, wide graded desert next to the existing track, and other tells like the placement of the tower belied an unrealized vision from Bruton Smith. At the time, the idea of a four wide track was not something the powers at NHRA wanted to see, reportedly. All that changed with the construction of zMax Dragway and the subsequent crowds that the four wide races have drawn. Having been at said races the last four years and announcing sell out crowds on Saturdays at almost all of them, we get why Bruton Smith and his company see this as the right time to expand The Strip.

Will the west coast crowds respond like the east coast people have? Time will tell.

The attendance cycles of the two tracks are opposite of each other currently with the spring zMax race drawing hordes and the fall race being light. Right now the spring race at Vegas is light and the fall race (which comes right before SEMA) is a madhouse. With the addition of four wide at the spring Las Vegas race, track officials are clearly looking to grow that end of things. It will also be interesting because that means two four wide races in a row.

A unique fan experience, a unique racing experience, and now something that fans on both ends of the continent can enjoy.

Here’s the statement from Las Vegas Motor Speedway –

Four of a kind usually means big money at the local poker tables, but at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it’ll mean the debut of four-wide drag racing in the western United States.

The speedway announced plans today to widen The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to four lanes. Construction is freshly under way, and the first four-wide event will be the NHRA DENSO Spark Plugs Nationals April 6-8, 2018.

“Four-wide drag racing has captured the interest of race fans and competitors at Charlotte’s zMAX Dragway,” LVMS president Chris Powell said. “It’s exciting to give everyone on the west coast a chance to see what fans back east have experienced for several years now. Four-wide drag racing was the vision of our chairman, Bruton Smith, and our chief executive officer, Marcus Smith.  They are two of the key reasons that NHRA drag racing has become one of the most popular forms of motorsports in the world.”

NHRA officials expressed excitement about bringing four-wide NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series to the west.

“The excitement and sensory overload of four-wide drag racing is one of the most intense displays of motorsports in the country,” said Peter Clifford, NHRA president. “We look forward to presenting the four-wide experience to the dedicated NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series fans in Las Vegas and the surrounding states.”

CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THE STATEMENT FROM LVMS