New home, same great action for JEGS Pacific SPORTSnationals

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Oct. 11) – The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will come to life this weekend as several hundred of the world’s best sportsman drag racers make their way to the famed quarter-mile track for the JEGS Pacific SPORTSnationals presented by K&N Filters.

The third of three annual events designed specifically to showcase NHRA’s Lucas Oil Series racers, the JEGS Pacific SPORTSnationals will crown champions in the following NHRA eliminators — Comp, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Top Dragster, Top Sportsman and Sportsman Motorcycle.

The race will kick off an action-packed month in Las Vegas that also includes the NHRA Big O Tires Nationals on (Oct. 25-28) and the track’s annual Division 7 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event (Nov. 1-4). As such, this weekend's event is expected to attract many of the region’s top competitors, including two-time SPORTSnationals Comp champion Ed Sigmon, former Division 7 Super Stock champ and defending event winner Steve Wann, and former JEGS Allstar Thomas Bayer in Super Gas.

Other defending event champions who figure to make an appearance this weekend include Jeff Jerome (Stock), Greg Ventura (Super Street), Rick Takahasi (Top Sportsman), Paul Snell (Top Dragster) and John Widmann (Sportsman Motorcycle).

Much like its counterparts, the JEGS Cajun SPORTSnationals in Belle Rose, La., and the JEGS Northern SPORTSnationals in Columbus, Ohio, the Las Vegas event promises a fun-filled experience that includes intense on-track action and plenty of after-hours entertainment. There will also be a wide variety of bonus features including traditional class eliminations for drivers in Super Stock and Stock, as well as a pair of Gambler’s Races scheduled for Thursday and Friday (Oct. 11-12).

The JEGS Pacific SPORTSnationals will also mark the final opportunity in 2012 for racers to claim the coveted JEGS Crown trophy. The prized trophy, handcrafted by Dan Dreisbach of Naked Sculpture, is awarded to any driver who can win the same class in two of the three JEGS SPORTSnationals events in a given season. The winners of the events in Belle Rose and Columbus can claim the award if they can also win in Las Vegas. Eligible drivers are David Billingsley and Arnie Martel (Comp), Michael Beard and Mike Crutchfield (Super Stock), Bo Butner and John Brimer (Stock), Phil Smida and Steve Mikus (Super Comp), Gary Linkhorn and Dillon Bontrager (Super Gas), Ricky Shipp and Val Harmon (Super Street), Jerry Albert and T.J. Tracey (Top Sportsman) and Ryan Smith and Anthony Bertozzi (Top Dragster).

Should any driver win the JEGS Crown, he would become just the second driver to accomplish the rare feat.