We specialize in hard to find items
All Categories
Stardust International Raceway: Motorsports Meets the Mob in Vegas, 1965-1971
Share Tweet
*Price and Stocks may change without prior notice
*Packaging of actual item may differ from photo shown
- Electrical items MAY be 110 volts.
- 7 Day Return Policy
- All products are genuine and original
About Stardust International Raceway: Motorsports Meets
Product Description Professional motorsports came to Las Vegas in the mid-1950s at a bankrupt horse track swarmed by gamblers--and soon became enmeshed with the government and organized crime. By 1965, the Vegas racing game moved from makeshift facilities to Stardust International Raceway, constructed with real grandstands, sanitary facilities and air-conditioned timing towers. Stardust would host the biggest racing names of the era--Mario Andretti, Parnelli Jones, John Surtees, Mark Donohue, Bobby Unser, Dan Gurney and Don Garlits among them. Established by a notorious racketeer, the track stood at the confluence of shadowy elements--wiretaps, casino skimming, Howard Hughes, and the beginnings of Watergate. The author traces the Stardust's colorful history through the auto racing monthlies, national newspapers, extensive interviews and the files of the FBI. Review “a detailed account of motor sport in the Las Vegas area.... The story of the development of the Stardust International Raceway makes for the fascinating reading...an intriguing story that simply needs to be read to be fully appreciated.... The authors deserve great credit for producing what I think is an excellent example of what motor sport history can and should be. Not only is it an excellent book, but a splendid example of what the often overlooked and underappreciated ‘enthusiast’ or ‘hobby’ motor sport historians can produce given the opportunity. It is not often that one has the great fortune to find monographs such as this one.”― SAH Journal; “A tremendous amount of research went into uncovering all the intriguing details of motorsport in this town, a fascinating story...a most colorful history”― Vintage Motorsport; “Meticulously researched and documented, this treasure trove of civic history is far more than a chronicle of the sports-car, open-wheel stock car, and drag-racing spectacles in the 1950s and ’60s.”― Competition Plus; “The authors have uncovered voluminous sources and written about [ Stardust International Raceway] in astonishing detail. For anyone who has an interest in Las Vegas history, especially the deeply buried past, or the history of motorsports in general, [this book] is a real find”― Las Vegas Advisor; “Thoroughly researched and a good read, this book casts a spotlight into the darkness behind the bright, loud, gaudy scenery that we fans of auto racing normally see. For us, a weekend at Stardust was about speed, sleek cars, fast racers and (as some might have hoped) racier women. But a few of those other characters we passed in the pit lane without a glance? Author Cannon tells us who they really were, and about their unsuspected roles backstage. Wow!”―Pete Lyons, motorsports photographer, author of Riverside Raceway: A Photographic Tour; “Randy Cannon chronicles, in graphic detail, the rise and fall of big-time auto racing in ‘Vegas. How strange bedfellows (mobsters, corporate hucksters and hinky politicians) brought racing to center stage then cut its throat.”―Pete Ward, editor Drag Racer Magazine; “The Stardust is an important part of the history of Las Vegas, gambling, and organized crime, but there’s still a lot for us to learn about it. Randy Cannon has given us a great look at a part of the Stardust and Las Vegas experience that has long needed more attention.”―Michael Green, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, consultant to and appeared on A&E’s Making of the Mob; “The iconic superstars of racing rubbed fenders with the promoters of Stardust International Raceway. These promoters were just as noteworthy, serving as front-runners for organized crime, unintentionally making the name ‘Stardust’ synonymous with mob control!”―Jeffrey A. Silver, former member, Nevada Gaming Control Board. From the Back Cover Professional motorsports came to Las Vegas in the mid-1950s at a bankrupt horse track swarmed by gamblers--and soon became enmeshed with the government and organized crime. By 1965, the Vegas racing game moved from makeshif
