2019 NASCAR Cup Series rules package looks like a culture shock so far

Less horsepower and no ability to pass. 2019 should be fun?

NASCAR preseason testing is a giant tease in that it provides tantalizing hints of what’s to come, but the information is often incomplete.

Take this two-day organizational test in Las Vegas, for example. There were 13 cars on track, draft-racing for 25 laps at a time with temperatures in the low 60s. Will those sessions look the same when there are 40 cars driving a full race in warmer weather next month? Of course not.

So let’s focus on what we know for sure after this test at Las Vegas and the three-car Goodyear tire test at Fontana last month. When it comes to the new rules package, what can we write with pen and what remains in pencil?

Here’s the first, most obvious, most indisputable fact about the 2019 package: It signifies a mentality shift in NASCAR that had been in the works for years.

This isn’t a small tweak to the racing, like the addition of the free pass. This isn’t even on the level of breaking up the races with stages or implementing double-file restarts.

This package — which brings drafting to the Cup Series on a widespread level — is a fundamental change in the way NASCAR races will look and feel.

Read More Here.......JeffGluck.com

NASCAR drivers, teams learn tons from Las Vegas test

The new Mustang

Thursday was the first of a two-day Cup Series test session of the 2019 aero package at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the first opportunity to see the rules’ effects with more than just a handful of cars on the track.

During the course of 10 hours of testing Thursday, three times 14 teams competed in 25-lap drafting sessions, trying to replicate racing conditions.

The second session saw more on-track action than the first, including some three- and four-wide moves through the corners. The final session was much like the second.

“I feel pretty good so far. Even in the first session, where they all started single-file pretty all spread out, you saw that cars that weren’t good in the early part of the run, by the time you got to about seven (laps) to go, they worked back to the front,” said John Probst, NASCAR’s vice president for innovation and racing development.

“I’ve been doing this long enough to know even when days go rough, it’s probably not as bad as how you feel in the moment. And like today, we feel like things have gone pretty well, but by no means are we high-fiving and declaring any kind of victory.

“We still know we have a lot of work to do.”

NASCAR was especially pleased with teams’ participation in the drafting sessions, which are key for both the series and teams to get a better understanding of how races may play out.

READ MORE HERE....MOTORSPORT.COM

Kyle Larson fastest during Las Vegas test sessions

Kyle Larson likes his new Camaro a lot.

For the second consecutive day, no one could top #42-Kyle Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The budding NASCAR star turned the quickest lap of the day and of the two-day NASCAR test at the 1.5-mile speedway in Thursday's afternoon session, crossing the line in 28.234 seconds at 191.259 miles per hour. Veteran #31-Ryan Newman was second-fastest at 28.417/190.027, with reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year #20-Erik Jones in third at 28.420/190.007.

Larson was pleased with the two-day test session, which was free and open to the public.

"I feel good about it, and it's been good to get back in a stock car after a couple months," Larson said. "It felt like we had good speed, especially on that last long run we made. I feel like it was a good test, and it's nice to know we still have a lot of speed in our cars with all the changes to the new Camaro."

More than a dozen NASCAR drivers - including Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champions #2-Brad Keselowski and #41-Kurt Busch - spent two days knocking off the offseason rust and helping their teams collect crucial data at the track. The session was a chance for drivers and their teams to prepare for the 2018 NASCAR season, which begins with the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 18 and makes its first of two LVMS stops on March 4 for the Pennzoil 400 Presented by Jiffy Lube.

Larson, Newman and the other Chevrolet drivers were particularly in need of information, considering the manufacturers' switch to the Camaro ZL1 for the upcoming season.

"I feel like we got a good start with the new Camaro ZL1," Newman said. "We'll go through our notes and see how good we can do on our homework. The guys definitely want loads of data with the new car, and we definitely collected that."

One of this year's Rookie of the Year favorites, #24-William Byron, enjoyed his first career NASCAR test session. He was the fastest from Thursday's morning session and fifth-quickest overall at 28.529/189.281.

"It's been awesome and has been a dream come true to get in one of these cars and have Hendrick Motorsports behind me," Byron said. "It's been a blast. I'm looking forward to racing this year. It's going to be a lot of fun, and I can't wait to get back here (to Las Vegas) in the spring."

Day 2 morning speeds

Day 2 afternoon speeds


Byron and Larson fastest during first day of testing at Las Vegas

William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports and Kyle Larson of Chip Ganassi Racing led the morning and afternoon sessions, respectively, during open testing Wednesday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Byron's top speed of 188.298 mph was good enough to beat out Ryan Newman, who was second at 188.186 mph for Richard Childress Racing. Stewart-Haas Racing's Kurt Busch, Larson and Joe Gibbs Racing's Erik Jones rounded out the top five during the morning session. Full results are at the bottom of this story.

In the afternoon session, Larson led with a top speed of 188.403 mph, which held up as the top speed of the day. Newman again finished second (187.162 mph) with Byron, Kurt Busch and Jones rounding out the top five. Sixteen drivers tested Wednesday on the 1.5-mile track, site of the third Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the 2018 season and the NASCAR Playoff opener in September.

Kyle Larson talks with media during Las Vegas test session

Kyle Larson's vacation is over, jumps right in to 2018 test session at Vegas.  

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
PRE-SEASON TEST
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
JANUARY 31, 2018

Today at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, eight (William Byron, Kyle Larson, Ryan Newman, Chris Buescher, Ty Dillon, Bubba Wallace, Kasey Kahne and Justin Allgaier) Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 drivers took their new Camaro ZL1 race cars to the track for their first times behind the wheel of the new race car. Kyle Larson, met with members of the media to discuss his experience:

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to discuss his first laps in the Camaro ZL1 ahead of its competition debut at Daytona, how it feels to be back to start the 2018 season, how much he learns from tests and many other topics. Full Transcript:

TALK ABOUT WHAT IT’S LIKE TO GET BACK BEHIND THE WHEEL AND BE BACK IN LAS VEGAS:
“Yeah, it’s nice to get back in a stock car. I’ve still done a fair bit of racing this off season. But it’s been a couple of months since I’ve been in a Cup car. It was nice to get some laps here and feel like we’ve got some pretty good speed and good balance with our new Camaro ZL1. Pretty good test so far.”

KURT BUSCH LIKENED IT TO THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF IT?
“Yeah, I would agree with that. Especially with me, I haven’t even been around very much throughout the off-season because I spent about two and half weeks in New Zealand and then the Chili Bowl and out of the West Coast with family. I haven’t been in North Carolina a whole bunch to hang out with those guys in the shop, but yeah, the first test definitely feels like the first day of school a little bit.”

DOES THE SECOND RACE HERE CHANGE THE WAY YOU TEST OR THE WAY YOU APPROACH THIS OFF-SEASON TESTING?
“I guess maybe with an added race and it being in the Playoffs this test becomes a little more important. Every test is important because you want to come back and have good speed, but you know when you are coming back here for a Playoff race it’s just that much more important. I don’t know if we put anymore focus on the test or what, but hopefully, we learn a lot to where we are fast both races.”

HOW IS THE NEW CAMARO ZL1 PERFORMING ON THE TRACK SO FAR?
“It seems fine. It doesn’t seem too much different than the other car. Maybe it will be different once we get in traffic and stuff, but at a test you don’t really get to simulate that. It seemed to have good speed. I think we have ran about close to the same lap time as what we did last year, I think maybe at the test day or whatever with Jamie (McMurray) so it all seems fine with it.”

HOW MUCH DO DRIVERS ACTUALLY GET FROM THESE TESTS?
“I mean I get a lot out of it, especially being the first test of the year. Getting familiar with the car and just getting laps. And then you know, out here, obviously you don’t have a lot of cars, the groove doesn’t move up as much as it will for the race weekend, but the weather is always pretty consistent out here. The rubber and all that, it’s like I said, consistent and you can get a decent balance on your car from when you come back in a month or two, or whatever it is. This is the first time I’ve gotten to really test a 1.5-mile in the off-season, which is nice as well.”

ARE THERE NERVES A LITTLE BIT GETTING BACK INTO THE CAR? ARE THERE ANY DOUBTS, OR ANY ANXIETY OR EXCITEMENT?
“You know I think when you get going out there to make your first laps, not necessarily that you are nervous, but you are just a little rusty and trying to get that off and all that. No nerves or anything like that, just I guess excited to strap in and get going fast.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT LAS VEGAS GETTING A SECOND RACE? HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT BEING THE FIRST RACE IN THE PLAYOFFS?
“Yeah, I’m excited about it. Vegas is obviously an awesome city and great to come hang out and good food and all that, but the racing is really good here. The fans are always great. The stands are always packed whenever we come. And then to have it be the kickoff to our Playoff’s I think that will be big and hopefully we can promote that a lot and carry that momentum that we build throughout the promotion of it throughout the whole Playoffs. I think moving or adding a second date here at Vegas and having it be the first race of the Playoffs was very important.”

YOU ARE ONE OF THE ONLY DRIVERS THAT HAS RACED AGAINST THE VETERANS AND THE ROOKIE’S YOU ARE SORT OF THE IN THE MIDDLE GUY. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT?
“Yeah, I don’t really know, I mean, but it’s been cool to see kind of the change of how our sport has been. There has been some really, really big-name drivers retire the last handful of years and I’m happy that I got the opportunity to race with all of them and learn off of each and every one of them. But now it’s exciting that we have William Byron and guys like that, that are now in the Cup Series. It’s been a very quick kind of change of the guard in the Cup Series. I think that’s exciting for our sport and hopefully helps build it to new levels.”

CAN YOU JUDGE OFF FAST TIMES FROM THIS TEST AND TELL WHAT IT WILL MEAN DURING THE SEASON?
“I think you can get a decent judge off of kind of where you stack up against other teams. But, I don’t know it’s also hard because you don’t know who is pushing the limits on their bodies and stuff here or whatever they are doing. In that aspect you don’t really know where you stand, but I feel good about it and I think you can still get somewhat of a decent idea on who is going to be fast when we get to Atlanta.”

HOW EXCITED ARE YOU FOR SPEEDWEEKS?
“I’m excited. I guess it’s less than 18 days for my speedweeks. I’m going to go down early and race a sprint car at Volusia and then get going at the speedway for the Clash and all that. I’m excited. I leave next Tuesday, so my season gets going here pretty quickly. Yeah, I’ve only really felt like my off-season has been about two weekends now and I’ve been extremely bored. I’m ready to get going.”

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Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Hamlin wrecks primary car during second LVMS test session Thursday

Denny Hamlin will use back-up car this weekend at Las Vegas. 

Denny Hamlin's weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway got off to a good start when his No. 11 Toyota recorded the second-fastest lap in the first of two test sessions scheduled for Thursday at the 1.5-mile track.

The afternoon took a bad turn for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, however, when his No. 11 Toyota wrecked in the day's second practice.

The wreck, which resulted in significant damage to the rear of the 2016 Daytona 500 champion's car, will force Hamlin to a backup car for Sunday's Kobalt 400 (FOX, 3 p.m. ET).

Thursday's two test sessions were added to the Las Vegas schedule to give Sprint Cup teams an additional opportunity to shake down the new low-downforce aerodynamic package, which was used for the first time in 2016 last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Read More Here...Fox Sports

Test #1 Speeds

Test #2 Speeds

Harvick wows in Las Vegas testing Thursday; what does it mean?

Junior had the 19th fastest lap during testing Thursday

LAS VEGAS -- We all know that Rick Hendrick is heavily involved with Stewart-Haas Racing, but come on? After seeing Kevin Harvick make a mockery of the field last week at Phoenix, he comes right back in Thursday's afternoon testing at Las Vegas and cruises to the top speed of the day -- the only driver to top 190 mph. Engines are one thing, but Harvick’s cars so far look exactly like Johnson cars of the past just because they’re riding on rails right now.

There were 48 drivers that participated in the test session on Las Vegas Motor Speedway's 1.5-mile high-banked layout, which will not only benefit them for Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400, but also for the remaining 10 races on 1.5-mile tracks this season.

It’s hard to know what to make of the testing times just because there were some unusual speeds at the top, such as Austin Dillon (second fastest), Trevor Bayne (third), Danica Patrick (fifth) and Cole Whitt (sixth). Who knows what each team’s agenda was? Some of the top times may have been an optimum set-up for qualifying, and some may have been exclusively in race trim looking for long run results.

Only nine drivers ran 10 consecutive laps or more. The Richard Childress Racing No. 27 had the best average, and right behind him was Harvick, which is another sign that the SHR No. 4 is going to be strong.

If you're in Vegas for the race, make sure to get a Harvick Championship ticket at 8-to-1 while in Las Vegas. It’s only March, but the value is super strong at that price. He should probably be no higher than 4-to-1 based on what we have seen so far from Phoenix to testing at Vegas, and we know he‘ll be good on the wild cards at Daytona, Talladega, Sonoma and Watkins Glen.

Joey Logano clocked in the most laps (113) of the test session and had the 14th fastest single lap. Kyle Larson ran the second-most laps (99), but he could only find the 24th fastest speed, which is in stark contrast to what we saw last week at Phoenix where he was dynamite when racing by himself in practice.

Four-time Las Vegas winner Jimmie Johnson had the 18th-fastest lap, which he got on the 34th of his 42 laps run. Johnson didn't pick up any steam on the 1.5-mile tracks last season until finally winning on one at Texas in November. On Sunday, he'll be using his sixth-place Kansas chassis from October.

Knowing that there were plenty of different strategies among the drivers and crew chiefs, I’ll file this four-hour session away for the next few races at Fontana, Texas and Kansas, and then reassess things after every final pair of practices. Saturday’s Vegas practices will still be the most crucial ingredient to finding the best car to win Sunday. Also of note is that most teams will not be using the same chassis or engine from Thursday’s test.

Based on what we've seen so far, chances are Harvick will be fast again. Based on what the odds were Monday, everything should be shaded at least 25 cents higher on matchups or props that involve the No. 4 Chevrolet of Harvick. All lines were based on what Harvick might do in testing. Now that we know, adjustments have to be made.

Read More Here....LVH Odds and props

Uh-Oh....Harvick fast of 1.5-mile tracks too. Tops LV test times

Is Harvick saying, "Hey Zip, this 2014 stuff is easy" after Thursday test ?

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Mar. 6, 2014) — Forty-eight drivers from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series turned laps at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Thursday to further build upon the 2014 intermediate-track rules package that was formalized late last year.

Serving as the first official NASCAR test with the new 2014 rules package in place, today’s four-hour session allowed teams to prepare for Sunday’s Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – the series’ first visit to a 1.5-mile track in 2014 – and beyond.

Included in the new intermediate track rules package are various physical changes to the car that were determined after much collaboration between NASCAR, the teams and the manufacturers. Based in part on two lengthy test sessions at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October and December, NASCAR implemented chassis and aerodynamic adjustments into the setup specifications to encourage more green-flag passing and side-by-side racing. Changes to the package include statically setting the race car ride height, a square leading edge on the splitter, side skirt and rear fascia adjustments and an eight-inch rear spoiler. A 43-inch by 13-inch radiator pan rounded out changes for 2014.

Fresh off his win at Phoenix International Raceway last Sunday, Kevin Harvick was at the top of the speed charts at the conclusion of today’s test session. The No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet logged a total of 42 laps with a top speed of 190.148 mph.

“We were three or four tenths off [at the start of the test] and had to kind of abort on what we were doing and go a different route,” said Kevin Harvick, who won last week’s race at Phoenix International Raceway. “The next route was not as good and the third route finally wound up being good. I think those are good things that are, for us, important because it gives us direction when we go to other mile and a half race tracks so we don’t have to do like we did today. We can get to what has been working for us and just go straight from there to progress that package to make it even better.”

“There’s a bit of a learning curve,” said Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR vice president of innovation and racing development. “The package we put together is going to be used on all the tracks except the superspeedways, so at Phoenix we began to see a glimpse, but obviously since that’s only a mile track, the speeds are a lot lower. They could probably only harvest maybe 30 to 40 percent of the capability of the package, so really this will be the first race where we get to see they can fully exploit the aerodynamic and chassis changes.”

Racing action will continue for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with the Kobalt 400 on Sunday, March 9 at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage will air on FOX, Performance Racing Network Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, with additional coverage on NASCAR.com.

About NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States. NASCAR consists of three national series (the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series), four regional series, one local grassroots series and three international series. The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) governs the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, the premier U.S. sports car series. Based in Daytona Beach, Fla., with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information, visit www.nascar.com and follow NASCAR at www.facebook.com/NASCAR and Twitter: @NASCAR.

Harvick Fastest Thursday...Sporting News

Thursday Las Vegas Test Speeds

Las Vegas Track Facts: 2014 Kobalt Tools 400

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2014 Top 10 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Rank	Driver	Races	Poles	Wins	Top Fives	Top 10s	DNFs	Average Finish	Driver Rating
1	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	14	0	0	2	7	2	15.6	88.2
2	Brad Keselowski	5	0	0	1	1	0	25.0	66.7
3	Jeff Gordon	16	0	1	6	7	3	15.4	103.8
4	Kevin Harvick	13	0	0	3	5	0	12.7	94.8
5	Jimmie Johnson	12	0	4	5	7	0	9.5	112.3
6	Joey Logano	5	0	0	0	1	0	14.0	83.1
7	Matt Kenseth	14	1	3	6	7	1	11.6	98.7
8	Denny Hamlin	8	0	0	1	4	0	13.1	79.2
9	Carl Edwards	9	0	2	4	5	0	9.7	98.8
10	Greg Biffle	10	1	0	2	6	1	13.8	103.0

* – Based on last nine races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (2005 – 2013).

 

At Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

History

·      The construction to build the superspeedway known today as Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) began in 1995. Speedway Motorsports Inc. acquired the property in 1998.

·       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 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

·        128 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Las Vegas; 97 in more than one.

·        Four drivers have participated in all 16 races: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin.

·        Dale Jarrett won the inaugural pole with a speed of 168.224 mph (32.773 secs.).

·        10 drivers have poles at LVMS, led by Kasey Kahne, who posted his third last season (2004, 2007 and 2012).

·        Kyle Busch is the only driver to win consecutive poles at LVMS from (2008-‘09).

·        Youngest LVMS pole winner: Kyle Busch (3/2/2008 – 22 years, 10 months, 0 days).

·        Oldest LVMS pole winner: Dale Jarrett (3/4/2001 – 44 years, 3 months, 6 days).

·      Nine different drivers have won at LVMS, led by Jimmie Johnson (four). Three other drivers have multiple wins at Las Vegas: Matt Kenseth (three), Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards (each have two).

·        Roush Fenway Racing leads the series in wins at Las Vegas with seven, followed by Hendrick Motorsportswith five.

·       Las Vegas-native Kyle Busch became the first and only Only two LVMS races have been won from the front row:Kyle Busch, 2009 (pole); and Carl Edwards, 2008 (second-place).

·        Three of the 16 races (18.7%) have been won from a top-five starting position at Las Vegas.

·        Seven of the 16 (43.7%) races have been won from a top-10 starting position at Las Vegas.

·        Four of the 16 races (25%) at Las Vegas have been won from a starting position outside the top 20.

·        The deepest in the field that a race winner has started was 25th, by Matt Kenseth in 2004.

·        Youngest LVMS winner: Kyle Busch (3/1/2009 – 23 years, 9 months, 27 days).

·        Oldest LVMS winner: Sterling Marlin (3/3/2002 – 44 years, 7 months, 32 days).

·        Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart lead the series in runner-up finishes at Las Vegas with two each.

·        Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart lead the series in top-five finishes at Las Vegas with six each.

·        Mark Martin has 10 top-10 finishes, more than any other driver. His average finish is 13.4.

·       Jimmie Johnson leads the series in average finish at LVMS with a 9.5; Carl Edwards (9.6) is the only other active driver with an average finish in the top 10.  

·        There has been one green-white-checkered finish at Las Vegas: 2006 (270/267).

·        Kyle Busch made his first start and Kasey Kahne won his first pole at Las Vegas, in the same event (2004).

·        Aric Almirola made his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2007.

·      Three drivers have won consecutive races at Las Vegas: Jeff Burton (1999, 2000); Matt Kenseth (2003, 2004) and Jimmie Johnson is the only one of the three to win three consecutive races (2005, 2006 and 2007).

·       Eight of the nine NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers who have won at Las Vegas participated in at least two or more races before visiting Victory Lane. Mark Martin (1998; inaugural event) is the only driver to win at Las Vegas in his first appearance.

·     Tony Stewart competed at Las Vegas Motor Speedway 13 times before winning (2012); the longest span of any of the nine winners. Stewart is the only driver to have made 10 or more attempts before his first win at LVMS.

·       Bobby Labonte leads the series (active drivers) with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Las Vegas without visiting Victory Lane with 16.

·     Since the advent of electronic scoring the closest margin of victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Las Vegas was the March 12, 2006 race won by Jimmie Johnson with a MOV of 0.045 second.

·       No driver has won the first three races of the season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The five drivers that have won the first two events of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season are: Matt Kenseth (2009), Jeff Gordon(1997), David Pearson (1976), Bob Welborn (1959) and Marvin Panch (1957).  

·      Three reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions have gone on to win at Las Vegas the following season:Matt Kenseth (2004), Jimmie Johnson is the only one to do it multiple times(2007, 2010) and Tony Stewart(2012).

·     Three drivers have won at Las Vegas and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship in the same season: Jeff Gordon (2001), Matt Kenseth (2003) and Jimmie Johnson (2006, 2007 and 2010).

·     Danica Patrick and Shawna Robinson are the only two female drivers to compete at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Driver	Starting Position	Finishing Position	Date	Race Name
Shawna Robinson	36	42	3/3/2002	UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400
Danica Patrick	37	33	3/10/2013	KOBALT Tools 400

·        Only two car numbers have produced three or more Las Vegas NSCS wins:

Car Number – Drivers – (Years)

o   No. 48  - Jimmie Johnson (2005-2007 and 2010)

o   No. 99 – Jeff Burton (1999, 2000) Carl Edwards (2008, 2011)

 

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Data

Season Race #: 3 of 36 (3-9-14)

Track Size: 1.5-miles

Banking/Turns 1 & 2: 20 degrees

Banking/Turns 3 & 4: 20 degrees

Banking/Frontstretch: 9 degrees

Banking/Backstretch: 9 degrees

Frontstretch Length: 2,275 feet

Backstretch Length: 1,572 feet

Race Length: 267 laps / 400.5 miles

 

Top 10 Driver Ratings at Las Vegas

Jimmie Johnson...................... 112.3

Jeff Gordon............................. 103.8

Tony Stewart........................... 103.4

Greg Biffle............................... 103.0

Kyle Busch............................. 102.8

Carl Edwards........................... 98.8

Matt Kenseth........................... 98.7

Kevin Harvick........................... 94.8

Dale Earnhardt Jr...................... 88.2

Kasey Kahne........................... 87.7

Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2013 races (nine total) among active drivers at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

 

Qualifying/Race Data

2013 pole winner: None Due to Inclement Weather

2013 race winner: Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 146.287 mph, (2:44:16), 3-10-13

Track qualifying record: Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 190.456 mph, 28.353 secs., 3-09-12

Track race record: Mark Martin, Ford, 146.554 mph, (2:43:58), 3-01-98

 

NASCAR in Nevada

·        There have been 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Nevada.

Track Name	City	NSCS
Las Vegas Motor Speedway	Las Vegas	16
Las Vegas Park Speedway	Las Vegas	1

·        23 drivers in NASCAR national series history have their home state recorded as Nevada.

·        Three drivers from Nevada have won at least one race in NASCAR’s three national series.

Driver	NSCS	NNS	NCWTS
Kyle Busch	28	63	36
Kurt Busch	24	5	4
Brendan Gaughan	0	0	8