|| *Comments on the 1997 Las Vegas 300:* View the most recent comment <#26> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. larry spencer posted: 10.09.2005 - 8:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Good job the driver of the #2 Ed Spencer the 3rd. 2. Darrell posted: 08.26.2006 - 9:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Good job even though he dropped out three laps in? First race at Las Vegas, and first win for Jeff Green. It looked like he would contend for the championship that year if he hadn't gone up to Cup. 3. RaceFanX posted: 01.04.2008 - 2:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Best career NASCAR finish for ARCA legend Tim Steele, briefly taking over the reins of the #4 James Finch car from Jeff Purvis starting with this event. He'd drive for car for 6 more races, even bringing along his ARCA sponsor HSDie for the later starts. 4. MegaRacer posted: 03.15.2008 - 6:56 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) It took 15 years (well, since the creation of the Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series/Busch Series/Nationwide Series) but they finally ran a race west of the Mississippi River! 5. nascarman posted: 12.06.2008 - 5:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joe Nemechek wrecks in this race. The same day when his brother died. 6. Dodge posted: 03.04.2009 - 9:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Yes, Joe's brother wrecked to cause him to pass away. But John passed away 3 or 4 days later. 7. 00andJoe posted: 09.27.2010 - 3:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) First career Busch Series start for Jerry Robertson in Doug Taylor's #40, and also his best career finish (22nd, later tied at California in 2005). Brad Payne's first and only Busch/Nationwide series start (he would DNQ at two further races later in the year). Backup cars entered to ensure a full field (primary car # in brackets): #0 (#40) 8. Jim posted: 05.25.2011 - 2:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Plain white car for Jeff Green. no sponsor except for car owner. 9. 00andJoe posted: 09.11.2011 - 11:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #2 owner: Allen Crestinger 10. TaterRacing posted: 07.15.2012 - 12:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DNQ: Joe Bean 11. sk posted: 10.02.2013 - 4:18 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) On the same day that John Nemechek is killed driving a white, unsponsored #8 Chevy truck, Jeff Green wins his only race in a white, unsponsored #8 Chevy stock car. 12. Newt posted: 09.06.2014 - 1:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Looks like the #2 car Ed Spencer III drove was his Uncle Jimmy's backup car. 13. RaceFanX posted: 10.29.2015 - 7:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rodney Combs finishes 17th in his final race in David Ridling's #43 Lance Snacks Chevy. Combs had driven the #43 since 1994, although the team was owned by Petty Enterprises before 1997, but was let go and replaced by Dennis Setzer after this race. 14. Anthony posted: 10.08.2016 - 7:27 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) I wish the second series was like this race nowadays, with random winners, good racing and un-sponsored cars not starting and parking 15. RaceFanX posted: 10.08.2016 - 8:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Green finally breaks through to score his first NASCAR Busch Series win. Green was a regular contender in 1995 and 1996 with DEI so it was a bit suprising he didn't win one before this. His move to Diamond Ridge to race the new #8 Chevy proved fruitful as this win, his only one of 1997, would help propel Green up to Winston Cup later in the season. 16. RaceFanX posted: 12.10.2016 - 12:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Green's first career win comes in his 100th career start! Points leader Todd Bodine was the quickest driver in final practice for this race and came into this race hot off four top-10s in the season's earlier races. Vegas oddmakers made him the pre-race favorite for this one, posting his odds at 2:1, and he showed why by leading laps on the way to a podium finish. 17. RaceFanX posted: 12.10.2016 - 12:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Reigning Busch Series champion Randy LaJoie wrecked in qualifying and had to go to a backup. The BACE team rolled out a car named "Ellie May," one of Randy's favorites with a few wins to its credit, however a good run this time wasn't in the cards. A problem in the engine dropped the car down to seven cylinders and off the pace then sent the team behind the wall to fix it. The Fina team fixed enough to rejoin the race but the #74 Chevy Monte Carlo but he would finish well down the running order. This 29th would be the worst finish of the team's successful championship defense season. Steve Park also crashed in qualifying and had to go to a back up car. The new ACDelco #3 Chevrolet was still a fast piece as he recovered for a top-10. Buckshot Jones and Ron Barfield, Jr. crashed out together in Turn 4 while both running in the back half of the top-10. Their problems occurred at almost the exact same moment as LaJoie's woes. The two made contact racing for eighth and both backed it in the wall resulting in race-ending damage. 18. RaceFanX posted: 07.06.2017 - 7:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Elton Sawyer came into this race fifth in points and spun into the outside wall driver's side first before halfway. As Sawyer limped his dark blue #38 Ford Thunderbird back to the pits the Barbasol car burst into flames, the car lost the brakes and slammed into the thankfully vacant pit stall of Hermie Sadler's #1 team ripping off the big DeWalt banner on the wall. Sawyer bailed out of the car once it came to a stop but not before suffering some first and second degree burns in the process. Despite all that though the team managed to fix the car so Sawyer got back in and ran another 50 laps before handling issues finally made him park it, the team gained six spots and maintained their points position because of their extra effort. 19. Luke posted: 10.10.2017 - 1:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm surprised Mark Martin and/or Jeff Burton skipped out on this race. 20. Gray Gaulding's Distant Cousin posted: 10.10.2017 - 2:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @19 It was a standalone race 21. Corey posted: 10.10.2017 - 4:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @20 The Cup series was off that weekend. 22. Luke posted: 10.13.2017 - 4:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I forgot the Cup series didn't start racing there until 1998. 23. Luke posted: 06.16.2019 - 11:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) No. 45 was a Chevrolet as we can see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1bflWSI5u8 2:28:50 24. SweetRich posted: 02.27.2020 - 5:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The commentators for the race were Eli Gold, Dick Berggren and Larry McReynolds. The pit road reporters were Glenn Jarrett and Matt Yocum. 25. SweetRich posted: 07.14.2020 - 8:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jerry Robertson's career best finish in the Busch series came in this race, finishing 22nd. 26. Anthony2 posted: 09.22.2020 - 9:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brian Pattie was Joe Nemechek's crew chief in this race. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: