BUZZ SODEMAN The Buzzman SPECIAL TO THE PVT Two cars battle it out as spectators watch from the wall at the Craig Road Speedway in Las Vegas, circa 1970s. Advertisement

I recently had the opportunity to go "Back to the Future," journalistically speaking, to the late 1960s and early 70s of auto racing in Southern Nevada, in particular, Craig Road Speedway, the precursor to the Pahrump Valley Speedway.

Fifty pages of chronological racing coverage, perhaps the most comprehensive race coverage of a racetrack that no longer exists except in the memories of those who lived it.

It is important to rectify what could be considered an "urban legend" concerning the Pahrump Valley Speedway. It is widely circulated that the track contains many items from the Craig Road facility, including the concrete wall sections.

That is not true.

The concrete wall sections came from the Caesar Palace Grand Prix configuration. Craig Road "parts and pieces" were hauled up to Tonopah, according to Jim Wulfenstein.

Imagine earning a track championship where the high point driver will be awarded the Permatex Trophy which guarantees a starting position, providing the driver qualifies at least at 141 miles per hour, in the Daytona Permatex 300 Late Model Sportsmen World Championship Race in Daytona Beach.

The Permatex-sponsored race was a prelude to what is now called the Busch Series. The Craig Road track champion then had the option of making the long tow to Daytona to race against the likes of a LeeRoy Yarborough and Cale Yarbrough in 1970. Fifty cars started that race and after four hours, just 23 cars greeted the waving of the checker flag.

Coverage of the weekly racing program was an auto-racing journalist's dream. The action on the track provided enough fodder that must have sold out many a newspaper rack, as well as pack the stands.

There were grudge matches (best two out of three), black-flags, suspensions, and loss of championship points. It appeared that all that was missing was a "cage match."

While the colorful cast of mobsters were patrolling what was then the Las Vegas Strip, it was only appropriate for the auto-racing scribes to attach well-earned nicknames on the Craig Road racers. The list of drivers read like a police blotter; there was Bob "Red Feather" Ruppert; the "Flyin' Plumber," "Rebel" Sam Fairchild, and Ralph "Flipper" Atkins. In addition, Jerry "Mad Bomber" Green and Phil "Mad Hatter" Hayes traded paint with the likes of "Steady Freddie" Alexander, Al "Skunk" Wittig, and "Scoopshovel" Hamilton. Perhaps the best driver's name without a nickname was Englebert Heimerdinger.

What intrigued more were the names that had the familiar ring of a generation that surfaced in the early and mid-1990s.

Little did I know when I tagged Tom Montes with the "Terrible" nickname, when he drove a Dwarf car at Mohave Valley Raceway, that he carried that moniker back then while wheeling a "claimer" at Craig Road.

By the time I started coverage of southwest dirt track racing, there was Tom's son "Mean Mike" Montes. During their careers, both were barred from racing action for various acts of unsportsmanlike conduct.

Here's an account, dated May 13, 1971 of one of Tom's lapses of good judgment: 'Terrible Tom' Montes busted up two cars in one evening trying to put 'Iceman' Alderman into the crash wall (he finally succeeded). Two busted cars and a 30-day suspension."

Common names, relevant to both racetracks, that would spring up 30 years later would be Allison (Chuck "Crash Wall" to Mark and Donovan), Alderman (Richard "Iceman" to Thane), Snowden (Clint to Dan), and DeSaints (Jack "Frenchy" to Doug), Debiase (Tony to Anthony), and then Wulfenstein ("Stormin' Mormon" Ray to Jim). Whether there are any connections, I'm not sure.

Perhaps the most hated driver to ever strap into a late model sportsman was Bob "Cleaner than Ajax" Ruppert. His introduction was interrupted with a litany of unprintable shouts and a chorus of boos.

One writer wrote, "If Bob Ruppert were running against Adolf Hitler in a political race, Hitler might walk away with the affair after last Saturday. Ruppert was disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct and 'dirty driving' with no money and no points."

There are a couple of phrases that I could use quite often in my coverage of the Pahrump Valley Speedway. Ruppert had altercations or "racing issues" with Gus "The Old Pro" Newman, Wulfenstein, Ed "Two Lap" Chandler, "Bashful Bob" Van Norman, DeSaints, Jack Roberts, and Eddie Grey.

Craig Road Speedway hosted several drivers who were well known throughout the southwest, West Coast, and in some cases nationwide. Making this list was Duane Carter (father of Pancho Carter), "Wild Bill" Cheesbourg, Ray Elder, Jimmy Insolo, Ron Hornaday Sr., Ken Schrader, Jerry Weeks, Larry Esau, Eddie Bradshaw, Bob Earnshaw, and Steve Chassey.

In July 1971, the Craig Road Speedway jalopy division had names familiar with Pahrump Valley Speedway: Tommy Montes (Dwarfs), Jack DeSaints Jr. (street stocks), and Deane Fountain (street stocks and IMCA modifieds).

On July 23, women drivers were allowed to run against the men in the claimer division. The headline proclaimed that, "Vera Murphy Invades the Claimer Division." She was described as a part of the Wulfenstein clan.

So while things seem to change as life goes on, they really don't. Pahrump Valley Speedway isn't immune to unsportsmanlike "temper tantrums," family feuds, the alleged cheaters and the rule benders, the booed and the cheered, the villains and the heroes.

The only thing missing is that many of today's "hot shoes" haven't earned a nickname.

Pahrump Valley Speedway update: Plans for a $5,000 to win IMCA Nationals, which would have been held the day after the Duel in the Desert, have evaporated, according to track promoter Dave Hall.

Expect about 15-20 Vintage Sprints and Midgets to help the regular classes celebrate the Fall Festival Friday and Saturday nights. Last year, they put on quite a show.

After the Festival, the next event is the Mini Stock Nationals in October. Hall is expecting a large contingent of super stocks for the Super Stock Shootout in November -- rumor has it that many of the rooms at Saddle West and the Nugget are rented.