PT Tausinga Retires from LV Motor Speedway
PT Taunsinga has retired from Las Vegas Motor Speedway and gone home to feed her flock.
Heart and soul of LVMS considered driving force of track’s creation
LAS VEGAS -- Patricia “PT” Tausinga -- the woman believed by many to be the heart and soul behind the creation of Las Vegas Motor Speedway -- has gone home to feed her sheep and spend more time with her husband, David, at the couple’s home in southwest valley.
The colorful Tausinga, who hotelman Ralph Engelstad put in charge of watching his $200 million investment while also spearheading the construction process of LVMS, retired recently from the facility in the northeast Las Vegas Valley. As senior director of administrations for the 1,500 acre facility since ground was broken in 1994, she has done everything from guide the construction to sign out golf carts; direct traffic and arrange meetings to identify a few of her many responsibilities.And while there was no official going away party when Tausinga left LVMS, the energetic and multi-talented former Minnesota farm girl is recalling the memories generated working with a long list of VIPs ranging from Engelstad and fellow hotelman Bill Bennett to street-hustler and dream weaver Richie Clyne not to mention various auto racing-related big-timers such as Richard Petty, AJ Foyt, Rusty Wallace, Carroll Shelby and anyone else who had a tie to motorsports.
While the track now hosts a NASCAR Sprint Cup race annually and also stages two NHRA drag races along with a NASCAR truck event, it doesn’t seem that long ago that the area was desolate and Las Vegas was without a major auto racing event. With Bennett and Engelstad providing the cash and Tausinga riding herd over the project, the “Diamond in the Desert” became reality even though many naysayers doubted it would ever happen.“I’ll never forget our first meeting to discuss the building of the track,” says Tausinga, who arrived in Las Vegas from Minnesota more than 40 years ago. “We had Hugh McDonough, Shelby, Richie, (engineer) Dave Weir, (architect) Merlin Barth, (local medical expert) Dr. Dale Carrison, (advisor and PR guy) Mel Larson, (Clark County Health District exec) Claire Smooth and (interior designer) Paul Seibert all at the Imperial Palace.”In what might have seemed like a group running on a wing and a prayer, a dream was becoming reality and Tausinga was about to embark on a journey that would not only bring world-class auto racing to the area but also illustrate the woman’s talent as a multi-tasker.“Richie called me and told me to get to K-Mart and buy a pair of shorts and tennis shoes and get to what was about to become a race track,” she recalls with enthusiasm. “He had me get into his Suburban which he was driving like a wild man before we finally got stuck.”Clyne coined the name “PT” saying that “Patricia” was too common and Tausinga was too hard to remember. From that day on, Patricia Tausinga has been addressed as “PT” by everyone from janitors and window washers to holier-than-thou auto racing types representing race cars, sponsorship opportunities and sanctioning bodies.
PT Tausinga has never feared anything during her career.
Read the entire article by Mike Henley at:
http://www.mikehenle.com/article-details.php?article=26
Heart and soul of LVMS considered driving force of track’s creation
LAS VEGAS -- Patricia “PT” Tausinga -- the woman believed by many to be the heart and soul behind the creation of Las Vegas Motor Speedway -- has gone home to feed her sheep and spend more time with her husband, David, at the couple’s home in southwest valley.
The colorful Tausinga, who hotelman Ralph Engelstad put in charge of watching his $200 million investment while also spearheading the construction process of LVMS, retired recently from the facility in the northeast Las Vegas Valley. As senior director of administrations for the 1,500 acre facility since ground was broken in 1994, she has done everything from guide the construction to sign out golf carts; direct traffic and arrange meetings to identify a few of her many responsibilities.And while there was no official going away party when Tausinga left LVMS, the energetic and multi-talented former Minnesota farm girl is recalling the memories generated working with a long list of VIPs ranging from Engelstad and fellow hotelman Bill Bennett to street-hustler and dream weaver Richie Clyne not to mention various auto racing-related big-timers such as Richard Petty, AJ Foyt, Rusty Wallace, Carroll Shelby and anyone else who had a tie to motorsports.
While the track now hosts a NASCAR Sprint Cup race annually and also stages two NHRA drag races along with a NASCAR truck event, it doesn’t seem that long ago that the area was desolate and Las Vegas was without a major auto racing event. With Bennett and Engelstad providing the cash and Tausinga riding herd over the project, the “Diamond in the Desert” became reality even though many naysayers doubted it would ever happen.“I’ll never forget our first meeting to discuss the building of the track,” says Tausinga, who arrived in Las Vegas from Minnesota more than 40 years ago. “We had Hugh McDonough, Shelby, Richie, (engineer) Dave Weir, (architect) Merlin Barth, (local medical expert) Dr. Dale Carrison, (advisor and PR guy) Mel Larson, (Clark County Health District exec) Claire Smooth and (interior designer) Paul Seibert all at the Imperial Palace.”In what might have seemed like a group running on a wing and a prayer, a dream was becoming reality and Tausinga was about to embark on a journey that would not only bring world-class auto racing to the area but also illustrate the woman’s talent as a multi-tasker.“Richie called me and told me to get to K-Mart and buy a pair of shorts and tennis shoes and get to what was about to become a race track,” she recalls with enthusiasm. “He had me get into his Suburban which he was driving like a wild man before we finally got stuck.”Clyne coined the name “PT” saying that “Patricia” was too common and Tausinga was too hard to remember. From that day on, Patricia Tausinga has been addressed as “PT” by everyone from janitors and window washers to holier-than-thou auto racing types representing race cars, sponsorship opportunities and sanctioning bodies.
PT Tausinga has never feared anything during her career.
Read the entire article by Mike Henley at:
http://www.mikehenle.com/article-details.php?article=26
posted by Ron Futrell at
2:57 PM
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