Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Las Vegas Kobalt Tools 400 Odds & Ends

Kurt Busch won the Vegas Pole last season
At Las Vegas Motor Speedway:
History
• The first NASCAR race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was a NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race won by Ken Schrader on Nov. 2, 1996.
• The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race was held on March 1, 1998, won by Mark Martin.
• In 2006, the track was reconfigured to include progressive banking.

Notebook
• There have been 13 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
• Five drivers have participated in all 13 races: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin.
• Dale Jarrett won the inaugural pole.
• Nine drivers have poles, led by Dale Jarrett, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch and Bobby Labonte (two each).
• Eight different drivers have won, led by Jimmie Johnson (four). Johnson has won four of the last six races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, including last season’s event.
• Only five of the 13 races have been won from a top-10 starting position.
• Las Vegas-native Kyle Busch became the first driver to win from the pole, in 2009.
• Five of the 13 races have been won from a starting position of 20th or worse.
• The deepest in the field that a race winner has started was 25th, by Matt Kenseth in 2004.
• There has been one green-white-checkered finish at Las Vegas: 2006 (270/267).
• Jeff Burton won consecutive races in 1999 and 2000, and has finished in the top five in two of the last three races (fifth in 2008, third in 2009). Burton has been running at the finish in all 13 of his events.
• In three of the last five races, the margin of victory was under one second.
• Kyle Busch made his first start and Kasey Kahne won his first pole at Las Vegas, in the same event (2004).

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Data
Race # 3 of 36 (3-6-11)
Track Size: 1.5 miles
• Race Length: 267 laps/400.5 miles
• Banking/Corners: 20 degrees
• Banking/Frontstretch: 9 degrees
• Banking/Backstretch: 9 degrees

Driver Rating at Las Vegas
Jeff Gordon 117.0
Jimmie Johnson 116.4
Kyle Busch 108.0
Greg Biffle 103.8
Jeff Burton 98.7
Tony Stewart 96.0
Mark Martin 95.9
Matt Kenseth 95.6
Kevin Harvick 94.7
Carl Edwards 92.2
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2010 races (6 total) at Las Vegas.

Qualifying/Race Data
2010 pole winner: Kurt Busch (188.719 mph, 28.614 seconds)
2010 race winner: Jimmie Johnson (141.450 mph, 2-28-10)
Track qualifying record: Kurt Busch (188.719 mph, 28.614 seconds, 2-26-10)
Track race record: Mark Martin (146.554 mph, 3-1-98)

NASCAR in Nevada
• There have been 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in Nevada, one at Las Vegas Park Speedway in
1955 and the rest at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1998-Present).
• 19 drivers all-time in NASCAR’s three national series have their home state as Nevada.
• There have been three race winners from Nevada totaling a combined 124 victories in NASCAR’s three national series:

- compiled by Ray M. Smith, NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications

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