This weekend for the Sprint Cup Series, it was time to take a gamble on the strip as the stars headed to Las Vegas for the Shelby 427. Matt Kenseth had a lot of eyes on his team as he was trying for an unprecedented third-straight victory to open the season, which no driver has ever been able to do. Eyes also went towards the Busch brothers, who are from Las Vegas and have never won at their home track.
It didn’t take long to know the Busch boys were going to be tough on this weekend as Kyle won the pole and older brother Kurt took the outside pole. However, Kyle was on the pole only on paper. Prior to qualifying, his M&M’s team had to replace the engine in the practice session. By rule, because of the engine change, Kyle had to start at the back of the field.
Four other drivers, all in Toyotas, had to start at the back of the field due to engine changes that were experienced in the final practice session of the weekend. So, when Sunday rolled around, all the glitz and glamor that makes the city of lights famous came to a packed Las Vegas Motor Speedway to see NASCAR’s finest place their bets and roll the dice on the track.
It didn’t take long for some gambles to go bust. On the second lap, Brad Keselowski, driving a fifth car for Hendrick Motorsports, spun out in turn two after cutting a tire down. It also didn’t take long for Kenseth to have trouble either, but his came from under the hood as his engine shut off on the track. Upon restarting, it sounded strange. He came down pit road for a change of plug wires and returned to the track.
The race restarted on lap five with Jimmie Johnson leading Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick. Two laps later, Kenseth saw history blow away along with his motor as a plume of smoke came out from his Ford Fusion, bringing out the second caution of the afternoon.
The race restarted on lap 11, beginning a long span of green-flag racing. Johnson opened up as much as a two-second lead on second place Kurt Busch, but Carl Edwards had other ideas as he passed Busch on lap 48 and then took the lead away from Johnson on lap 51 during green-flag pit stops. The lead would cycle through rookie driver Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Robby Gordon during pit stops before going back to Johnson on lap 57.
The third caution of the race came on lap 59 as debris was found on the back stretch. No drivers up front came to pit road, and as the race restarted on lap 64, Johnson once again kept out front ahead of Edwards and Kurt Busch. The race was slowed yet again on lap 74 as David Ragan lost his engine in his UPS Ford, the second of the Roush drivers to have engine failure. The lead drivers came down pit road for service this time, but some new faces came out up front by taking only two tires.
When the race restarted on lap 82, Harvick assumed the lead followed by Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin, all of whom took two tires. Unfortunately, most of the other lead cars took four tires, and Biffle took the lead away from Harvick three laps later. Another caution on lap 95 brought some cars to pit road, however Biffle and Martin elected to remain on the race track.
The race restarted on lap 99 with Biffle out front. The driver that he then saw coming in his rear-view mirror was Gordon who was working his way up front after only getting fuel on his previous pit stop. He got to his bumper due to the race’s sixth caution as Gordon’s teammate Martin had his car go out of gear, causing his engine to expire at the high RPM’s. After the round of pit stops, Johnson once again took the lead with teammate Gordon on his rear bumper.
Another caution flew on lap 138 as Reed Sorenson lost control of his 43 car, hitting the turn 2 wall. Seven laps later, the yellow flag once again waved due to Eric Almirola hitting the wall. Gordon finally got his turn at the front of the field, taking the lead away from Johnson on lap 149. Gordon led until lap 166 as Kurt Busch takes the lead under caution during pit stops. Once Busch pitted, Jeff Burton assumed the lead as he won the race off pit road by taking two tires.
The theme of cautions followed by cautions continued as Denny Hamlin hit the turn four wall on lap 171. Burton continued to lead up through the tenth caution of the race, this one being brought out by Jeff Gordon on lap 220 as he has his left-front tire blow out after missing pit road the previous lap..
When the race restarted on lap 227, the pole-sitter, Kyle Busch, looked to take the lead from Burton. He successfully made the pass two laps later and held on as the race slowed once again for a caution flag, tying the record for the race. During what would be the last round of pit stops, Clint Bowyer elected to stay on track and take the lead while drivers such as Gordon and Burton take fuel only. Some surprising names came to the front of the field in this time, such as Bobby Labonte in the Ask.com Ford and Brian Vickers in the Red Bull Toyota.
When the race restarted on lap 264, Kyle Busch went four-wide on the front-stretch, making his way to third. One lap later, he pushed Bowyer up the track and took the lead. The race was slowed again on lap 272 due to Paul Menard hitting the front-stretch wall, but at this point in the 284-lap race, no driver up front considered hitting pit road.
The race restarted on lap 278, but was slowed for the final time two laps later as Johnson hits the turn two wall. It now came down to a three-lap shootout for the win, as Kyle Busch led Burton, Bowyer, and David Reutimann. When the race restarted on lap 282, Busch pulled away from the field. For the first time in his NASCAR career, Kyle Busch won at his home race track, taking the checkered flag in the Shelby 427. In a last lap heartbreak, Edwards, who was running fourth at the white flag, blew his engine, bringing him to a 17th place finish.
After a disappointing start to the season, Kyle Busch has rebounded well in the last two races. Next week, the series heads to Atlanta. This race last year was all about the tires Goodyear had brought to the track, which according to most drivers was too hard for the surface. Tony Stewart was the most vocal about it after the race, stating “That is the most pathetic race tire I’ve raced on in my whole career.” So, expect Goodyear to bring a completely different tire for teams.
It is going to be a very exciting race next weekend, so see you then race fans.
TOP 10: 1. Kyle Busch, 2. Clint Bowyer, 3. Jeff Burton, 4. David Reutimann, 5. Bobby Labonte, 6. Jeff Gordon, 7. Greg Biffle, 8. Brian Vickers, 9. Jamie McMurray, 10. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
CAUTIONS: 2-5, 7-11, 59-64, 74-82, 95-99, 122-131, 138-142, 144-148, 163-168, 171-175, 220-227, 258-263, 270-278, 280-282; 14 for 72 laps
LEADERS: Johnson-1 to 50, Edwards-51 and 52, Logano-53, Kyle Busch-54 and 55, Robby Gordon-56, Johnson-57 to 75, Harvick-76 to 84, Biffle-85 to 124, Kahne-125, Johnson-126 to 148, Jeff Gordon-149 to 165, Kurt Busch-166, Burton-167 to 228, Kyle Busch-229 to 259, Bowyer-260 to 268, Kyle Busch-269 to 284. 17 lead changes among 12 drivers
POINTS: 1. Jeff Gordon, 459 points; 2. Clint Bowyer, -18; 3. Matt Kenseth, -40; 4. Greg Biffle, -4; 5. David Reutimann, -51; 6. Kyle Busch, -54; 7. Kurt Busch, -66; 8. Tony Stewart, -80; 9. Carl Edwards, -82; 10. Bobby Labonte, -99; 11. Kevin Harvick, -108; Michael Waltrip, -113