Las Vegas Motor Speedway adding new seating for NASCAR race

Cue the “William Tell” overture.

Load another silver bullet in the six-shooter.

The Loge Ranger at Las Vegas Motor Speedway rides again.

Fans attending the inaugural Sept. 14-16 South Point 400 NASCAR weekend will be greeted by a new loge box seating area in Turn 4 mirroring the one that debuted in Turn 1 at the spring Cup Series weekend.

No additional seats were removed to make room for the premium seating area.

The seats where the new loge is going in were taken out prior to the spring race leaving LVMS with a seating capacity of around 80,000 — down from around 140,000 during the NASCAR boom in the early 2000s.

The new loge will front the Earnhardt Terrace between Turn 4 and the start-finish line. It will include swiveling armchairs, padded seating, food-and-beverage stations, wait-staff service and rails upon which to place beers and other drinks. For a small surcharge, I’m (jokingly) told they may also let you start the race from the back of the grid.

LVMS decided to pursue the addition after loge seating in front of the Petty Terrace in Turn 1 proved popular and profitable during springtime.

“The loge boxes were a huge hit during our Pennzoil 400 race weekend in March, and we can’t wait to offer the experience this September,” LVMS president Chris Powell said in a statement.

A total of 82 boxes will be added for the Truck Series race on Friday, Xfinity race on Saturday and the Cup race on Sunday that opens the NASCAR playoffs. LVMS also announced a new Front Stretch Shuttle that will drop fans closer to their seats than ever before.

Will the new premium seating area and air-conditioned shuttle buses help offset competition on a big sports weekend in Las Vegas that will include a UNLV football game, the long-awaited Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin boxing rematch and climate controlled pro football on television?

Better ask the Loge Ranger.

Green, white, checkered

— Another week, another encouraging debut for Las Vegas’ Riley Herbst in another NASCAR touring series. A week after finishing sixth in his Xfinity Series baptism at Iowa Speedway, the teenager ran eighth at Gateway Motorsports Park across the river from St. Louis in a Truck Series race nearly won by fellow Las Vegas youngster Noah Gragson. After leading a race-high 63 laps, Gragson, 19, slipped to 10th place after experiencing a tire issue on the final restart with six laps to go.

—- Jason Johnson, the World of Outlaws driver from Louisiana who was killed in a crash at Beaver Dam Raceway in Wisconsin as he battled for the lead Saturday night, was a regular competitor in Outlaws races at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Johnson, who was 41, finished fourth in a WoO main event here in 2017 and fifth in 2016.

— At the Bullring: Night of Fire, July 3. Super Late Models (76 laps) plus Figure 8 and Skid Plate racing and fireworks. Tickets and information: LVMS.com, 800-644-4444.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.