JOE BARBOZA / SPECIAL TO THE PVT Death Valley Raceway is already in operation in the Amargosa Valley, with its next program on the one-third mile dirt oval starting at 1 p.m. Saturday. SPECIAL TO THE PVT The area in the Amargosa Valley where Troy Lefevre and Clay Woods plan to build an off-road track in Amargosa Valley sits idle, pending final arrangments. Advertisement

AMARGOSA VALLEY -- An area known for its dairy industry and the Opera House, as well as being known as the gateway to Death Valley, will soon be the center for motorsports in Nye County.

The Death Valley Raceway, a one-third mile dirt oval, is in its second year of operation, just down the street from the Longstreet Inn. The DVR has a race card Saturday, starting at 1 p.m.

In mid-April, Troy Lefevre and Clay Woods plan to open a two-mile off-road course at Farm and Valley View, not far from the historic sand dunes. The track will be located on private -- not Bureau of Land Management-owned -- property.

"Both of us are out-of-work construction workers ... we were looking for something worthwhile for us to do," said Lefevre. "My cabinet-making business is on life-support ... things have to change for us."

The race course will be two-miles long, with about a dozen turns to complete one lap. "We hope to average 50, 60 cars each weekend in several classes of off-road vehicles," said Lefevre. "We want to have rhinos, 216s, Class 7s and 1450s, dune buggies and 1600s racing here. We hope to have a test-and-tune in mid-April."

The proposed track already has a Web site (www.ocorr.net), with at least 18 races scheduled in its inaugural season.

"We're also planning to build 10 similar cars to form our own series," said Lefevre. "It will cost $500 to rent one of these cars in each race, but drivers will have a chance to win one of them by winning the series."

Each race, according to Woods, will be 20 to 25 laps. "We plan to run two or three classes a weekend, starting at 8 a.m. and finishing all of the events by 5 or 6 p.m."

Plans include creating a space for RV parking as well as significant areas for spectators' parking and seating.

"We want to have an area for the spectators to have tailgate parties while they are here," said Lefevre.

"We want to do this ... we both want to do something different," Lefevre and Woods agreed.

At the moment, the only off-road action scheduled in Nye County is the Best in the Desert-sanctioned Vegas-to-Reno Race in August.