Supercross finale gets new course layout

The new course layout for Saturday night's AMA Supercross season finale will give Kevin Windham a few more minutes to catch Chad Reed in the championship hunt.

That starting gate is being moved outside Sam Boyd Stadium to create an 825-foot sprint that will produce speeds near 60 mph when riders enter the stadium to start races.

Windham will need any edge he can muster to catch Reed, who needs a top-six finish to win his second straight series championship. Reed will start the 20-lap feature race with a 10-point lead over Windham, who has won the last two races.

Reed finished second to Windham on Saturday in Seattle and has been competing with a cracked shoulder blade he sustained in a crash three weeks ago in Detroit.

Honda's Windham, whose best season finish was second in 2004, has won four of 16 races this year. Reed has won eight times on a Yamaha.

The Sam Boyd pit area will open at 12:30 p.m. for ticketed spectators. Racing will begin at 7. ...

A recap of the Supercross season will air at 9 a.m. Sunday on CBS (Channel 8). ...

The annual Mini Moto Supercross will conclude with championship rounds at 7:30 tonight at the Orleans Arena. For information on what's billed as the "biggest mini bike race on the planet," go to MiniMotoSX.com.

• DRAG RACING -- The new NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series for nostalgia drag racing will debut at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend.

The Las Vegas Speed Spectacular will feature an eight-car field of vintage Funny Cars, including replicas of the Pisano & Matsubara 1977 Vega and Future Flash 1972 Charger. These cars can reach speeds of 250 mph.

The event will include a car show, vendors, midway and music. Racing will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. ...

Giuseppe Gentile of Sun Valley, Calif., set a PSCA Pro Street elapsed-time record Saturday at the speedway with a run of 6.297 seconds (226.05 mph) in his 2008 Mustang "door slammer."

• QUARTER MIDGETS -- More than 100 youngsters ages 6 to 17 will compete in a Las Vegas Quarter Midget Association event during the Speed Spectacular on a special oval course set up on the LVMS dragstrip midway.

• BULLRING -- Stock cars will take Saturday off at the LVMS Bullring to make way for Vintage Midget and Sprint Car and Focus Midget races. Legends Cars, Thunder Roadsters, Bandoleros and Bombers also will compete.

• NASCAR -- Today's 4 p.m. ESPN coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series race from Richmond, Va., has been moved to ESPN Classic (Digital 322) and Speed (Digital 329). The switch from ESPN2 was made to accommodate the sixth game of the NBA playoff series between Washington and Cleveland.

• DESERT RACING -- Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. today for the SCORE Las Vegas Cup IV stadium desert race at the LVMS Dirt Track. Information or tickets: ScoreLasVegas.com. ...

The Championship Off Road Racing series opened its season last weekend in Pomona, Calif., where Las Vegan Rob MacCachren won two Pro 2 titles and Bryan Freeman won twice in Single Buggy for Menzies Motorsports.

Other CORR winners in major classes were: Carl Renezeder (Pro 4) and Mary Hart and Chad Hord (Pro Lite).

The next race is scheduled for May 17 and 18 behind Buffalo Bill's in Primm. ...

Las Vegan Mike Petersen placed 13th on the final leg of the Central Europe Rally to finish 19th overall in the 1,616-mile event. ...

Ronn Bailey's run in the Tunisia Rally ended Sunday with an engine failure in Libya. The Las Vegas resident had won his class' stage the day before.