The land that now houses LVMS has housed motorsport activity since 1971, when businessman Carl "Curly" Price negotiated a lease from the City of Las Vegas to build a drag strip and road course near Nellis Air Force Base. The facility opened as the Las Vegas International Speedrome in 1972, but fell quickly into disrepair due to financial difficulties, management conflicts, and vandalism. The city revoked Price's lease in 1977 after he failed to maintain contractual obligations.
The complex passed through several operators during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Drag racer Alex Rodriguez and his son took over in the early 1980s, investing more than $500,000 in improvements and rebuilding the track's reputation; by 1987 the NHRA ranked it among the best facilities in the United States. A 0.333-mile oval was added in 1985 using donated barriers from the Caesars Palace Grand Prix. In 1989, Richie Clyne, director of the Imperial Palace Hotel's automobile museum, purchased the complex for $1,070,000 and renamed it the Las Vegas International Raceway.
Around 1993, Clyne began researching the feasibility of a NASCAR-style superspeedway. He announced a $65–70 million, 100,000-seat facility in November 1994. IndyCar Series president Tony George confirmed a 200-mile inaugural race for September 15, 1996. Funding came largely from Imperial Palace owner Ralph Engelstad. A 1.600-mile (2.575 km) infield road course was built as part of the original construction.
LVMS officially opened on September 13, 1996. The inaugural IndyCar race drew a reported 67,132 spectators despite heavy winds and numerous incidents. NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series racing followed in November 1996, and a full NASCAR Winston Cup Series weekend was awarded for the 1998 season. Bruton Smith's Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI) purchased the complex in December 1998 for approximately $215 million.
A $25–27 million renovation in 2006 increased turn banking from 12 to 20 degrees, expanded capacity to 141,000, built a new infield media center and redesigned the Neon Garage. The changes narrowed the racing surface by 20 feet and were met with mixed reactions from drivers. In 2000, the small oval was reconfigured and renamed the Bullring. The drag strip was expanded to four lanes in 2017.
The facility reached peak capacity of over 140,000 but reduced seating multiple times from the mid-2010s onward, removing grandstands to make way for RV lots and premium experiences; by 2023 the stated capacity stood at 80,000.
In 2011, LVMS hosted the IZOD IndyCar World Championship as the season finale with a $5 million bounty offered to any non-IndyCar driver who could win. The challenge fell to part-time driver Dan Wheldon, who started last. On lap 11, a 15-car crash claimed Wheldon's life due to massive head injuries. IndyCar cancelled the race in the aftermath, and both LVMS and SMI sought a buyout of their IndyCar contract, ending IndyCar racing at the venue for nearly a decade. IndyCar returned in 2022 for the Indy Autonomous Challenge, an autonomous vehicle competition for university engineering teams.
LVMS hosts two annual NASCAR Cup Series weekends: the spring Pennzoil 400 and the fall South Point 400. The O'Reilly Auto Parts Series (formerly Xfinity Series) contests the LiUNA! 300 and Focused Health 302 at the same weekends. Iowa Speedway was chosen as the 2024 Cup addition in preference to LVMS hosting additional dates.
Other recurring events include the Electric Daisy Carnival, which relocated its flagship to LVMS in 2011, the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series (hosted 1996–2006 and 2009–2019), and the Dream Racing public driving programme operated by former Italian Formula 3 driver Enrico Bertaggia since 2012.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway played a central role in establishing major-league motorsport as a sustainable attraction in a city previously dependent on gaming and entertainment tourism. Its history — from a neglected city-owned strip through contested ownership transitions to a flagship SMI superspeedway — mirrors the broader development of NASCAR as a national product in previously underserved western markets.