Public can drive laps at Las Vegas speedway for fundraiser

It can be assumed that driving the family sedan around Las Vegas Motor Speedway at the pedestrian pace of 70 mph is nowhere near as exhilarating as zipping around it in one of Roger Penske’s NASCAR Fords at 191.489 mph — Ryan Blaney’s pole-position speed at last year’s Pennzoil 400.

But if you fashioned yourself a ballplayer and were offered three swings at Wrigley Field, Fenway Park or Yankee Stadium for $35, and you weren’t allowed to swing for the ivy or the Green Monster or the short porch in right field, would you still do it?

Yeah. That’s what I thought.

The only time the general public is allowed to drive personal vehicles on the big LVMS oval is at the annual Laps for Charity fundraiser set for noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. If three laps on the high banks aren’t enough, three addition laps can be purchased for $25, with all money raised going to the Las Vegas Chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities.

The benefit will gets under way at 8 a.m. when car clubs will be allowed on the track for laps. If you own a fleet of plumbing or tow trucks, Laps for Charity provides a great photo op for a cool company Christmas card.

Drivers are asked to enter staging lanes through Gate 6 upon arriving at LVMS. The speedway will be hosting an event on its infield course Sunday, so the tunnel entrance will not be available.

Green, white, checkered

— Here is the latest (but still subject to change) driver lineup for the open NASCAR test session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Jan. 31 and Feb. 1: Jimmie Johnson, Ross Chastain, Paul Menard, Ryan Newman, Austin Dillon, Landon Cassill, Drew Herring, Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece, Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, David Ragan, Matt DiBenedetto, Bubba Wallace, Ty Dillon, Cody Ware, Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson, Zane Smith, Riley Herbst. Practice laps will be run from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday and from 8 a.m. to noon Friday, with a portion of the main grandstand open to the public.

— Chase Elliott models were ranked No. 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 on Lionel Racing’s list of 2019 top-selling die-cast cars. Others in the top 10: William Byron, Alex Bowman, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick. Kyle Busch’s Coca-Cola 600 ride ranked No. 5 on the list of best-selling Cup Series race-winning cars. Busch’s overall die-cast sales were second only to Elliott’s last year.

— The IndyCar race team co-owned by Henderson’s Sam Schmidt, formerly known as Schmidt-Peterson Motorpsorts, has been renamed Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Long-time sponsor Arrow Electronics of Colorado has increased its commitment and will sponsor both team cars, to be driven by popular veteran James Hinchcliffe and former Formula One driver Marcus Ericsson of Sweden, during the 2019 season and beyond.

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