Mcmorran wins with heavy heart
Victorious twice as family home burns
On the night before he would become the first driver in Las Vegas Motor Speedway Bullring history to clinch two division championships in the same season, Aaron Mcmorran’s boyhood home — in which his parents still resided — burned down.
This sort of puts a penalty for speeding on pit road in big boy auto racing into perspective.
And yet the first thing Mcmorran mentioned on a history-making night the Winchester 400 on the Winchester Speedway high banks.
Driving a Kyle Busch Motorsports entry on an off weekend from the NASCAR Truck Series, Gragson chased down leader Harrison Burton in the closing laps and picked up the win when Burton hit the wall and had to pit for repairs. Gragson added his name to an impressive list of Winchester 400 winners that includes NASCAR’S Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace.
NASCAR steps up for victims
It wasn’t announced publicly, but during the drivers meeting before Sunday’s Cup Series playoff race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, International Speedway Corp., Speedway Motorsports Inc. and NASCAR’S other tracks and extended family said they will contribute $250,000 to victims of the Route 91 Harvest festival shooting.
Also, Xfinity Series driver Spencer Gallagher of Las Vegas said in a text that Driversforvegas.com has raised $23,000 so far through sales of Vegasstrong T-shirts and stickers. NASCAR drivers Gallagher, Kurt and Kyle Busch, Brendan Gaughan and Noah Gragson of
Las Vegas, along with pit road reporter Jamie Little, are combining on the fundraiser in partnership with Zappos, which will match 100 percent of donations up to $1 million.
Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.