Shelby American News and Notes

Odds & Ends - Las Vegas

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Data

Race # 3 of 36 (2-28-10)
Track Size: 1.5 miles
Race Length: 285 laps/427.5 miles
Banking/Corners: 20 degrees
Banking/Frontstretch: 9 degrees
Banking/Backstretch: 9 degrees

Driver Rating at Las Vegas

Jimmie Johnson 113.6
Jeff Gordon 111.5
Kyle Busch 109.4
Greg Biffle 103.9
Jeff Burton 98.5
Mark Martin 94.9
Tony Stewart 93.5
Carl Edwards 92.3
Kevin Harvick 92.2
Matt Kenseth 91.6

Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2008 races (5 total) at Las Vegas.

Qualifying/Race Data

2009 pole winner: Kyle Busch (185.995 mph, 29.033 seconds)
2009 race winner: Kyle Busch (119.515 mph, 3-1-09)
Track qualifying record: Kyle Busch (185.995 mph, 29.033 seconds, 2-27-09)
Track race record: Mark Martin (146.554 mph, 3-1-98)

Estimated Pit Window: Every 50-55 laps, based on fuel mileage.

Sin City, Here We Come

One of the biggest stories so far in the early Sprint Cup Series season is the resurgence of Richard Childress Racing. No driver in the RCR stable finished better than 15th in points last year, in what was one of the most disappointing seasons in the organization's 39-year history. However, things quickly have changed, and team owner Richard Childress couldn't be more pleased to the start of a season than this one.

RCR's three drivers -- Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton -- have finished no worse than 11th in the first two races this season. After last Sunday's race at California, the trio are sitting in the top-five in points. Harvick currently holds a 19-point lead over Bowyer, while Burton occupies the fifth spot (-31).

The one thing missing for RCR right now is a trip to Victory Lane, but Las Vegas Motor Speedway might be the site where the team cashes in.

Harvick has been winless in the last 109 points-paying races. Despite back-to- back victories in the pre-season Budweiser Shootout at Daytona and a win in the 2007 All-Star Race at Charlotte, Harvick's last Cup victory came three years ago in the Daytona 500.

Burton is the last RCR driver to win a race, which occurred in October 2008 at Charlotte.

Las Vegas has been one of Burton's better tracks since the series started racing there in 1998. He finished second in the inaugural Las Vegas event and then followed up with consecutive wins there from 1999-2000 when he drove for Roush Fenway Racing. Burton finished third in last year's race.

"It's a track that I've had a lot of success," Burton said. "Everytime we go there, I feel like we've got a great chance to win the race."

Bowyer gave RCR its best performance at Las Vegas one year ago when he finished second.

LVMS underwent a major renovation in 2006, with banking in the turns increased from 12 degrees to 20, and six degrees of banking added on the backstretch. Jimmie Johnson won at the 1.5-mile track consecutively from 2005-07, including the first race there after its reconfiguration.

"With the paving job they did a couple of years ago, the track is a lot faster than it's been in the past," Johnson said. "I'm not sure what the asphalt has done over the off-season and how much speed it's lost, but that track went from being a slippery track that you had to manage your time and manage your lap time around the track to a place that you have to manage."

Johnson is coming off a victory at California. The four-time defending Cup champion moved up to 12th in points following a 35th-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500.

Kyle Busch is the defending race winner. Busch, a native of Las Vegas, won the pole but was forced to start from the rear of the field due to an engine change. He held off Bowyer and Burton in a three-lap shootout to the finish for his first victory at his hometrack.

"It was awesome, just the feeling of a lifetime," Kyle Busch said of his 2009 Las Vegas win. "I told everyone that it would be just like another race, but it really meant a lot more than that when I got to Victory Lane. To have my mom there and my brother come to Victory Lane just made it that much more special."

Forty-six teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Shelby American.

Drivers to Watch
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Kevin Harvick

Atop the point standings for the first time since 2007, Harvick is looking for his first win at Las Vegas, where he has two top-five and three top-10 finishes in nine starts. He finished fourth in this race in 2008 but dropped to 12th in 2009. He has finished out of the top 10 in three of his last four LVMS starts. "It's very bumpy," Harvick said of the track. "It's the roughest newly paved race track I've ever raced on. But it gives it some pretty good character to move around on. You can run on the bottom, if your car goes through the bumps good, but you can also run in the middle really fast, too."

Greg Biffle

Biffle has one top-five finish at Las Vegas third place in 2008 and four top-10 finishes. He was seventh last year. "We had a really good run at Vegas last year, and we've had a whole year to improve on our program so I feel really good about this weekend," Biffle said. "We had a really fast race car at California last weekend, but we got caught in the pits on that last stop. These guys are building incredible cars for me to race, and they deserve a lot of credit. I'm pretty happy with the way this season has started, but I know we could have had better finishes in both of the first two races so I'm going to do everything I can to make sure this one doesn't get away from us and I know the team will, too."

Jamie McMurray

McMurray has no wins, one top-five finish and three top-10s in seven Las Vegas starts. His best finish was fourth in 2004, and since then he has had finishes of 15th, 23rd, 10th, 25th and ninth. "Obviously, we (EGR) have had some great cars over the past few weeks, and we are really looking to continue that momentum as we head to our first 1.5-mile track," he said. "Vegas is extremely fast, but we'll really need to work on getting through the bumps in turn 1 in order to have a good day there."

Jeff Burton

Burton has one top-10 finish (seventh in 2008) in three starts at Vegas. "We've had some success at Vegas in the past, and I'm ready to get back out there after our engine issue last year," said Ragan, who was scheduled to fly with the Thunderbirds on Thursday at Nellis Air Force Base. "It's a really fast track and makes for a fast-paced race."

Mark Martin

Martin was the winner of the inaugural Cup race at Las Vegas in 1998 and has five top-five finishes and nine top-10s in 12 starts. He was 40th last year, breaking a streak of three straight top-10 finishes. "I love this city," Martin said. "It's probably my favorite place we go. I don't know what it is because I'm not a real 'go-out' kind of guy. But the atmosphere is so great here. You can do anything at any time of day. It's open 24 hours. There are shows and great food. It's just an exciting place to be. When I won here that day was so cool. It was the first time the Cup Series raced at Las Vegas. I don't think the win really sank in at first. I'm trying to really appreciate wins more because you don't know if there will be a next one. And that night, after all the post-race stuff was over, we helicoptered out of the track. The Strip was all lit up and it was just an incredible sight. I remember sitting in the helicopter and letting that win sink in. I just really appreciated that one."

Matt Kenseth

Kenseth won at Vegas in 2003 and 2004 and has four top-five finishes and five top-10s in 10 starts there. However, his last-place finish last year was his second consecutive result of 20th or lower after five straight top-10s. "I'm feeling great as far as the two finishes that we've had," Kenseth said. "It sounds dumb, me saying that, since we won the first two last year, but to get out of Daytona with all the troubles we had and finish eighth and then to come here in Todd's first weekend (Todd Parrott replaced Drew Blickensderfer as crew chief last week) and finish seventh is pretty good. We ran a little worse than some of our teammates at times and a little better at times, and it seemed like we ran as good as most of the Fords did. I still think we've got some work to do to get all of our cars better as a group, but I thought overall that our team did a good job."

David Reutimann

Reutimann has one top-five, fourth last year, in two starts at LVMS. He finished 37th there in 2008, his rookie season. "I didn't used to like the place at all," Reutimann said. "I never ran very good there. I qualified well there in the Truck Series and I've had some good runs going in the trucks and the Nationwide cars, but it seemed like we'd always have bad stuff happen. I just felt like it was one of those places that I couldn't quite seem to get on the other side of. Last year we went through a lot of stuff that weekend, too. We had to change motors. We had an oil leak early in the race that forced us to come down pit road to make a pretty big fix and lost all of our track position. We were able to come back from that and get a good finish and have a pretty good day. Right away when you have something like that happen it changes your outlook on the race track. So I wasn't a big fan of the track to begin with, but now I'm really looking forward to going back. It's strange how one race can change that."

Joey Logano

Logano started 20th and finished 13th last year in his first Cup race at Vegas. "Las Vegas is one of the tracks I enjoyed racing on the most last year," he said. "It was the bright spot during a tough start to the season. Last year the goal was to keep our nose clean and run every lap, which we did, and it was one of the tracks that we adapted to well. If last week's improvements are a sign of what's to come, this should be a pretty good weekend for us."

Carl Edwards

Edwards won at Vegas in 2008 and has one other top-10 finish there in five starts. Last year he finished 17th. "Vegas is the first mile-and-a-half race, so it will give us a chance to see where we stand with our intermediate program," he said. "Our whole team has been working really hard to get back to Victory Lane. Looking at our stats in Vegas, hopefully we can be as strong there as we have been in the past. The mission at Vegas is to establish a strong intermediate program for the rest of the season, so it's a very important race for us."

Jimmie Johnson

Johnson has three wins and four top-10 finishes in eight starts at Vegas. His three victories came in consecutive years 2005, 2006 and 2007. Johnson will be driving a new car this weekend, one that has never been raced. "I really like Vegas, especially after the paving job they did a couple of years ago (2007)," said Johnson. "It's really a fun race track to drive you have to attack and drive every lap like a qualifying lap."

Kyle Busch

Busch won the pole and the race a year ago at Vegas, but the victory didn't come easy he had to start last after changing engines. Busch was able to roar through the field and take the lead by lap 54, and he went on to lead three times for 5l laps in what he called the biggest win of his young career.

Brian Vickers

Vickers finished eighth last year at Vegas for his first top-10 finish in five starts at the track. "We are a lot better off this year in the point standings than we were a year ago (14th compared to 26th in 2009)," said Vickers. "That takes a lot of pressure off in our bid to get in the Chase again."

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt has two runner-up finishes among his four top-10 finishes in 10 Vegas starts. Crew chief Lance McGrew admits that "since I haven't been to Vegas with Dale, it's going to be a little bit of a learning curve. But we were really good at Texas last year (and Earnhardt will be driving the same car this weekend), so I'm excited to get to the track."

Tony Stewart

Stewart has four top-five and six top-10 finishes in 11 starts at Vegas. His best finish there was second in 2000. Vegas is the only track with both Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races where Stewart has yet to record a win of any kind. "Hopefully we'll change that this weekend," said Stewart.

Paul Menard

Menard's best finish in three Vegas starts is 22nd. "We think we've got a pretty good setup figured out for the next couple races, so we're looking forward to getting to Las Vegas this weekend," said Menard. "We'd like to keep the momentum going our way."

Martin Truex Jr.

Truex is still looking for his first top-10 finish at Vegas. His best finish in four starts at the track is 12th. "I like the track since they repaved it a few years back," said Truex. "It is another one of those tracks that I find challenging because when they paved it, they put a bunch of bumps in it."

Jeff Gordon

Gordon has one win and six top-10 finishes in 12 starts at Vegas, including a sixth a year ago. "We've had fast, competitive cars in the first two events we just don't have good finishes to show for it," said Gordon. "But good finishes will come if we keep running near the front. We've had some strong runs recently at Vegas (four top-six finishes in the last five races)."

Denny Hamlin

Hamlin has three top-10 finishes in only four starts at Vegas, including a third in 2007. Hamlin knows he needs to turn his luck around this weekend if he wants to start moving up the points ladder. "Vegas is a place where we have actually run really well in the past, and we feel like we can go there and challenge for a win," said Hamlin.

Juan Pablo Montoya

Montoya has not fared well at Vegas his best finish in three starts is 19th. "We will run a lot better this year," he said boldly. "We are taking much better cars to the track now. All the hard work the team did last year and over the winter is paying off. I feel good about this weekend."

Bobby Labonte

Labonte's fifth-place at Vegas last year was his best finish of the season. It was his fourth top-five finish in 12 starts at the track. "I had a really good finish at Las Vegas last year, so I always like going back to a track where I've run well in the past," he said.

Kasey Kahne

Kahne has two poles and three top-six finishes in six starts at Vegas. He planned to spend a couple of days back home in Washington this week hanging out with some friends and family and making some promotional appearances.

Scott Speed

Speed finished 21st in his Vegas debut a year ago. "These last two weeks have been a great, refreshing start (to the season) for us," said Speed, who has led in both races. "We need to carry that momentum into the new few races to be well into the top 35 and never have to look back at that again." A driver not in the top 35 in the car owner point standings is not guaranteed a starting spot and must qualify on time.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: News And Notes - Las Vegas Motor Speedway

For RCR, It’s Early — But Encouraging, Nonetheless

Two races don’t forecast a season, but one fact is clear as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Richard Childress Racing is back.

Not just physically. Back statistically and competitively, with the apparent horsepower and performance to challenge for a series title.

Heading into Sunday’s Shelby American at Las Vegas, all three RCR drivers are bunched near the top of the standings. Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Pennzoil Ultra Chevrolet) leads the list – and the standings – for the first time since his 2007 Daytona 500 victory. Clint Bowyer (No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet) is second, followed by teammate Jeff Burton (No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet) in fifth place.

“We worked hard to get to this point,” Harvick said. “But you can’t stop. With the three of us running good, it pushes us to fine-tune our stuff and really get the best out of our cars week in and week out.”

Harvick holds his spot on the strength of consecutive, season-opening runner-up finishes in the 2010 Daytona 500 two weeks ago, then again this past Sunday at Auto Club Speedway. Bowyer and Burton have been as consistent, with Bowyer finishing fourth in the Daytona 500 and eighth at Auto Club, and Burton logging an 11th at Daytona and third at Auto Club.

“Jeff, Kevin and I had cars capable of winning at both Daytona and Fontana,” Bowyer said. “Our engines are performing better and our cars’ handling definitely improved. I’m proud of what we’ve been able to do right out of the gate and we’re confident those solid runs will continue.”

A forgettable 2009 set the stage for improvement. All three RCR teams failed to earn Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup berths with Bowyer finishing 15th in the final standings, Burton 17th and Harvick 19th.

Intensive research and development and crew-chief switches ensued, with the change hinting at rejuvenation near the end of 2009. Harvick logged top fives in two of the season’s final three races while Burton finished
with consecutive runner-up efforts in the final two events.

“We really went into this season with high hopes and I personally felt this was the most prepared we’ve been to enter a season since I’ve been [NASCAR] Sprint Cup racing,” Bowyer said.

RCR knows how to rebound. Uncharacteristic finishes of 14th in the 2004 and ’05 final standings for Harvick, and 18th in ’04 and ’05 for Burton, helped launch an organizational turnaround that propelled both drivers back into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup from 2006-08. Bowyer, who arrived as a rookie in 2006, also earned Chase berths in ’07 and ’08.

The 2009 fall-off created a mandate for change, necessary in a sport where innovation is critical.

“The tire test that we did this winter, combined with the way we ended last year, gives all the RCR teams a lot of confidence,” Burton said. “It’s real nerve-wracking when you don’t get off to a good start and the first three or four races don’t go well. You’re trying to play catch up and trying to make up what you lost.”

Now, all RCR lacks is a victory. Harvick has a 109-race winless streak, Burton’s stands at 43 races and Bowyer’s winless streak is 64.

“It’s still really early in the season but you have to feel optimistic when you see us running the way we have so far,” Richard Childress said. “We ended the 2009 season running good and we worked hard during the off-season to make sure we could carry it over into this season. We have a lot of challenges ahead of us, with the new spoiler and some other things, but we have to take them one at a time and do the best we can.

“I really feel good about the personnel changes we made last year: the crew chiefs; Scott Miller in his new position as director of competition; and Mike Dillon’s revised responsibilities as vice president of competition.

I feel really good about the direction we’re headed but this sport can humble you real quick so you can’t get too high on your horse or, before you know it, you’ve fallen off.”

Johnson, As Expected, Rebounds From Daytona Disappointment

Winning is what champions do, as evidenced by Jimmie Johnson’s victory last Sunday at Auto Club Speedway.

Tenacity, a dose of luck and a good No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet all combined for a late run at the win. Now, the reigning and four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion heads to Las Vegas, where his line reads very well – three wins, three top fives, four top 10s in eight career starts. And if Johnson somehow aces Las Vegas, watch out next week at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He has three career wins there, as well.

“We obviously learn every time we go to the race track and try to make our packages better,”

Johnson’s crew chief Chad Knaus said.

“We’ve got a new car going to Las Vegas that’s got some new things we’re excited about.

Every race is a learning opportunity. If we go away from any race and we don’t learn something, it’s our own fault.”

Busch Brothers Geared Up For Series’ Annual Vegas Visit

For the first time in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career, Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M’s Toyota) heads to his hometown track as the defending race champion.

Busch, a 24-year-old Las Vegas native, won last year’s Shelby American from the pole at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Older brother Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge) made it a family affair by starting on the outside pole. And though Kurt didn’t have quite the day that Kyle did last February, he’s one of the candidates who could unseat his brother as Sunday’s winner First, the reminiscence: “It was awesome, just the feeling of a lifetime,”

Kyle Busch said of his 2009 win. “I told everyone that it would be just like another race, but it really meant a lot more than that when I got to Victory Lane. To have my mom there and my brother come to Victory Lane just made it that much more special.

“We didn’t have the best car last year, but I feel like I drove a smart race, anyway, and did what we needed to do. We worked on it all day and kept making it better.”

That’s what Kurt Busch did with his season, winning the following week at Atlanta Motor Speedway and eventually finishing fourth in the 2009 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Meanwhile, Kyle Busch looks to rebound in 2010 after missing the 2009 Chase. He finished 13th in last year’s final standings, acquired a new crew chief in Dave Rogers and collected the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series title – all life experiences he hopes will bolster his 2010 game plan. Thus far he’s finished 14th in both the season-opening Daytona 500 and last Sunday at Auto Club Speedway, heading home again 13th in the standings.

“The final three races last year, he brought a lot to the table and we learned a lot,” Busch said of Rogers’ new assignment.

“We got going a little bit better, I felt like. Hopefully our competition is ready for us this year.”

Kurt Busch also has a new crew chief as he returns to Las Vegas – Steve Addington, who was Kyle’s crew chief in 2008 and most of ’09.

Although it’s early, the Kurt Busch-Addington combination seems smooth. Kurt finished 23rd in the season-opening Daytona 500 and sixth last Sunday at Auto Club Speedway. He heads home 11th in the series standings.

“I’ve always dreamed about winning the race there at our home track and we had a strong car there last year until we had the engine problem,”

Kurt said. “But as everyone knows, you have to be there at the end. Kyle drove a great race and saved the best for last. I wanted to let him know how proud of him that I was, so that’s why I hustled on down there like I did.”

Adds Addington:
“That’s our big goal this weekend – to get Kurt and the Miller Lite Dodge into Victory Lane. I know just how much last year’s win meant to Kyle and it was a thrill to be part of such a huge hometown win like that. We’re on a mission to get Kurt a big winner’s trophy of his own in Vegas this weekend.

“One of the biggest things I remember about winning last year’s Vegas race was seeing Kurt come into Victory Lane, congratulate his little brother and give him a big hug. Their mom (Gaye) was our team scorer for the 18 car and she was right there soaking the scene all in with her two sons. It was a memorable occasion, that’s for sure.”

Emotions aside, the Busch siblings have mixed results at Las Vegas. Kurt has one top five, two top 10s and two DNFs (did not finish) in nine career starts there.

Kyle has two poles, one win, three top fives, four top 10s and one DNF. Kyle also holds the distinction of being the track’s youngest pole winner (22 years and 10 months) when he won his first series pole there in March 2008. A year later, he became the track’s youngest race winner (23 years, nine months and 27 days). Last year’s pole also set the track’s series qualifying record (185.995 mph).

Jeff Gordon Looks Like A Good Bet, At Las Vegas

Jeff Gordon has reeled off two consecutive bad finishes to start the 2010 season in 22nd place, a strange occurrence for the four-time series champion.

But there are three reasons for optimism.

One, a bad start has never turned into a bad finish. Gordon’s worse points position after two races was 43rd in 1996. He finished the year as the championship runner-up. In 2000, he was also 22nd in the points after two events. He ended the year ninth in the points. Two, Gordon’s finishes are not exactly indicative of the his in-race performance.

At Daytona, where he finished 26th, Gordon had a solid Driver Rating of 88.2, an Average Running Position of 13.8, two Laps Led and four Fastest Laps Run.

At Auto Club Speedway, Gordon finished 20th. His Average Running Position that race, though, was 11.3. Additionally, he had a Driver Rating of 86.9, a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 73.6% and he had 20 Fastest Laps Run.

So what gives?

The answer might lie in the Loop Data box score, under the column “Closer Place.” With 20 laps to go in the Daytona 500, Gordon was running 6th. He lost 20 positions — or, one a lap —in the final 10% of that race.
His Closer number improved dramatically at Auto Club Speedway, as he gained eight positions over the final 25 laps. But he did drop off overall in the second half of the race. At the race’s midpoint, Gordon ran in ninth-place. He finished 20th.

Combined, Gordon has lost 12 positions in the final 10% of races, which ranks fourth-worst.

Three, Gordon is strong at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

He has a win there (2001), five top fives and six top 10s. Gordon also has a series-best Average Running Position of 7.4, a Driver Rating of 111.5 (second-best), 103 Fastest Laps Run (second) and a series-high 1,260 Laps in the Top 15 (92.9%) since the inception of Loop Data in 2005.

Gordon has finished in the top 10 in four of his last five races, and has scored a Driver Rating over 100.0 in each of the last five Las Vegas events.

FANTASY FIX: Pre-race Las Vegas Driver Rating has been spot-on when handicapping the event. Three of the last four race-winners had a pre-race Driver Rating in the top three. There has been only one statistical “upset” since the inception of Loop Data in 2005: Carl Edwards in 2008. Edwards came into that race ranked 16th in pre-race Driver Rating with a 78.3.

Watch out for Roush Fenway Racing at Las Vegas.

Not only does team owner Jack Roush lead all others with six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories there, he and his teams are chasing an important milestone.

The next win by a Roush Fenway driver will be the organization’s 400th overall. Two opportunities exist this weekend with Sunday’s Shelby American and Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series event, the Sam’s Town 300.

Winning is very much on Roush Fenway minds. The last time a Roush Fenway driver visited Victory Lane was last October, when Jamie McMurray (No. 1 Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet) – the reigning Daytona 500 champion now at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing – won at Talladega Superspeedway.

Before that, Roush Fenway’s only other 2009 wins were Matt Kenseth’s (No. 17 Crown Royal Ford) back-to-back, season-opening victories in the 2009 Daytona 500 and at Auto Club Speedway.

Former Roush Fenway drivers Mark Martin (No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet) and Jeff Burton won the first three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events at Las Vegas, Martin in 1998 and Burton in 1999 and 2000. Kenseth followed with back-to-back victories in 2003 and ’04. Carl Edwards (No. 99 Aflac Ford) is the latest Roush Fenway driver to win at Las Vegas, in 2008.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Etc.

It’s early in the season, but already surprises lurk at either end of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings.

Scott Speed (No. 82 Red Bull Toyota) and Paul Menard (No. 98 Moen/Menards Ford) are two drivers buoyed by quality starts to 2010.

Speed is 15th heading into Sunday’s Shelby American at Las Vegas Motor Speedway while Menard is 18th.

Solid runs in the season’s first two events have boosted both teams. Speed finished 11th last Sunday at Auto Club Speedway and led once for three laps. Menard finished 18th. Two weeks ago in the season-opening Daytona 500, Menard finished 13th while Speed finished 19th.

Still soon for statement-making, but continued good runs bode well. Menard, in his first season with Richard Petty Motorsports and fourth in NASCAR Sprint Cup, also is off to a strong start in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, where he ranks 10th, also competing on a fulltime basis.

Speed, in his second season with Team Red Bull, currently must earn a starting spot via qualifying speed. His team finished 36th in the 2009 owner standings, one position shy of the cut-off guaranteeing starting spots through the first five races of 2010.

The top-35 guarantee reverts to current owner standings beginning with the season’s sixth event at Martinsville Speedway. But if he continues to show improvement, Speed may not have to worry about qualifying.

“We made a lot of progress in the offseason,” he said. “(Crew chief) Jimmy (Elledge) and the guys have worked so hard. What’s cool for me is how much I’ve learned. When I’m out there I’m doing stuff and I’m like, ‘Man, I felt so dumb and that makes the whole process easier.”

Some significant names linger further down in the standings.

Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) is 22nd after two races (he was second heading to Las Vegas in 2009). Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 42 Target Chevrolet) is 23rd, Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Bud-
weiser Ford) is 33rd and Ryan Newman (No. 39 Tornados Chevrolet) is 36th. All four were 2009 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup participants; all have been stymied by on-track incidents (Kahne and Gordon at Daytona) and mechanical problems (Montoya losing an engine at Auto Club; Gordon slowed by spark-plug problems).

“We’ve had fast, competitive cars in the first two events,” Gordon said. “We just don’t have good finishes to show for it.” …

Several NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers will achieve career milestones at Las Vegas: Marcos Ambrose (No. 47 Kingsford-Scott Branded Products Toyota) with 50 starts, Jeff Burton with 550 starts, Kevin Harvick with 325 starts and Sam Hornish Jr. (No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge) with 75 starts.

Bobby Labonte (No. 71 Taxslayer Chevrolet) seeks his 200th top-10 career finish while Mark Martin seeks his 50th career pole. ...

This week’s race weekend gets off to a colorful start with Thursday’s popular hauler parade down Las Vegas Boulevard, aka, “The Strip.”

Track officials expect 60-75 NASCAR Sprint Cup and NASCAR Nationwide Series haulers to participate.

The big trucks will stage in the right lane of Las Vegas Blvd., just south of the Russell Road intersection at 6 p.m. They’ll proceed north to Sahara Ave., before exiting onto I-15 for the trip to the track. Fans may watch the parade from either side of “The Strip.”

Up Next: Race 4 @ Atlanta

Kurt Busch is the defending champion of next week’s Kobalt Tools 500 (Sunday, March 7) at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Last year’s Atlanta victory was the first of Busch’s two wins in 2009.

It’s a 500-mile, 325-lap event.

Dale Earnhardt leads all drivers with nine career wins at Atlanta. Ryan Newman is tied with Buddy Baker for the most career poles (seven) there.

autoracingdaily.com

Vegas stop helped bolster NASCAR betting
By Micah Roberts

When Las Vegas sports books starting popping up in casinos in the late 1980s, the wagering menu offered to the public was already set thanks to a heavy dose of generational conditioning.

Many people had grown up knowing the nuances of baseball, football and basketball, so it was easy for folks to understand how to bet on them, either in sports books or with the corner bookie in their old hometowns.

Sports books just can't create their own events; they have to be live, credible events with a following to justify offering the odds, not to mention the time it takes to study the tendencies of the participants involved. Before the 1990s, booking sports was a meat-and-potatoes game with just the core team sports.

Then something strange happened. In 1994, people coming into Las Vegas books began asking for the weekly NASCAR races. Most of the books offered only the Daytona 500 and the open-wheel Indianapolis 500 as auto racing options.

Some books laughed at the notion of offering weekly odds on the races, usually with a punch line involving a fan stereotype -- something comedian Jeff Foxworthy might deliver. Other books embraced the idea and tried to get as much information as possible on the weekly NASCAR races to offer a fair line.

And why not?

If people have money and want to ask the casino to hold it until the outcome is decided on something, well, isn't that what Las Vegas is all about?

The combination of increased television coverage and intense rivalries shaping up in the series caught on with fans all across the country. The young California kid in Jeff Gordon taking on the brash Dale Earnhardt, and beating him, piqued interest everywhere.

It no longer was a Southern thing, and the few books in Vegas offering the weekly odds were getting attention at the betting windows.

The evolution of betting on NASCAR took off on its own course in 1998, when Bill Bennett and Ralph Englestadt brought the first NASCAR Cup series race to Las Vegas at their new track.

The first year was somewhat overwhelming for the books, because all these people had lots of money and were looking for any type of action on the race. The only thing there was to bet were odds to win and a couple driver matchups.

In 1999, prop bets really took off, beginning with the Daytona 500. After reviewing the volume from each race in the 1998 season, it was determined that the two biggest races of the year were Vegas and Daytona, and they deserved a little more attention. That's when the propositions and driver matchups went up in a manner similar to the Super Bowl.

Anything that NASCAR posted as an official statistic went into some kind of prop. Lap leaders, number of drivers to lead a lap, cautions, winning car number and winning manufacturer were just a few options offered to the betting public, in addition to the odds-to-win index that featured about 30 drivers.

At first, many of the fans didn't get the props. They understood getting 5-1 on Jeff Gordon to win the race, but laying odds in a two-way proposition seemed confusing. First-time bettors in a sports book, for any sport, often feel intimidated because they don't want to ask questions for fear of looking stupid.

It took a few years to get the fans coming into town for the race as well as many locals -- to get the hang of NASCAR wagering, but by 2001, it had taken off. Fans were more educated and smarter than ever on how to approach the odds and props in an effort to beat the casino.

The sports books, at the same time, had to stay on top of their game. They began devoting time and manpower on Fridays and Saturdays to what happened in qualifying and practices. The drivers with the better times in practice had their odds to win dropped a notch, while the slower drivers got bumped up in price.

Then, with off-shore sports books popping up all over the world via the Internet, the popularity of NASCAR betting climbed even higher.

The overall handle on the events doesn't compare to team sports, simply because there is only one race per week. But it's not unusual for a Sprint Cup race to be the most wagered-upon event of any given week.

This week's Shelby American race will be the second-largest wagering event of the month in Las Vegas, behind the betting behemoth of the Super Bowl. Not bad for something that came out of nowhere 20 years ago and fell, gift-wrapped, into the hands of sports books.

Shelby 427 Preview
By Micah Roberts

Bright light city gonna set my soul
Gonna set my soul of fire

Got a whole lot of money that’s ready to burn
So get those stakes up higher.

Ya'll know the rest......Viva Las Vegas!

NASCAR is back in Vegas and everyone in their world couldn’t be happier. It’s like a mini-vacation after a long speed weeks at Daytona and then having to sit through a dreadfully boring weekend at Fontana. Vegas couldn’t have come at a better time.

The upper brass at NASCAR are probably happy to see Vegas, too. Last week’s awful showing at the California Speedway, a track that barely holds 80,000, made the top series of the sport look like a can’t miss sporting event like a WNBA matinee.

All Las Vegas does is add the glitter and lights to already fantastic event. It dresses up the event like the perfect present wrapped by a department store. Mix in the Neon Garage of Las Vegas Motor Speedway which has become like a Disneyworld of the Auto Racing world and there aren’t many better places for the fans to watch a race, all 150,000.

It’s a mystery how Vegas still only has one race a season while Fontana has two, not just from the capacity aspect, but obviously by what the fans have shown. Aren’t we in the new age of NASCAR where they are listening to what the fans say and react accordingly? Not sure there is a better example of fans saying what’s on their mind than 55,000 showing up for a race that seats 80,000 outisde of the biggest Metroplis' in America.

Beyond all the fans words, they should take note of what the drivers, crews, and most of all, their wives say about Vegas. Bristol is a great race event, but it sure is tough to do anything else while the race is in town. It’s the big fish in a little pond there, where as Vegas is the perfect mix for the race to take center stage, but still big enough to get a little lost in the city if you want to.

"I love this city. It's probably my favorite place we go, says Mark Martin who won the inaugural event in 1998, “I don't know what it is, because I'm not a real 'go-out' kind of guy. But the atmosphere is so great here. You can do anything at any time of day. It's open 24 hours. There are shows and great food. It's just an exciting place to be."

For Kevin and DeLana Harvick, they will be celebrating their ninth wedding anniversary on Sunday. The couple got married in Las Vegas in 2001, two days prior to Harvick scoring his first career NASCAR Cup Series top-10 finish, an 8th-place finish in Vegas. The couple will celebrate by having dinner at the same local restaurant they visit each year, a tradition that began on their first anniversary.

Had they been married at the storied racing grounds of Daytona, that annual dining experience may have been at the Bob Evans across the street.

Beyond all the spas, nightlife, and great dining, the racing has also been pretty good, especially since the track reconfigured the banking to make the track run more like the SMI sister-tracks of Charlotte, Atlanta, and Texas giving it a faster edge compared to the relatively flat banking it used to have that had no real drama at the end of races, just lots of long green flag runs.

“Vegas is a fast track, much more like Charlotte since they made the changes to the track a few years ago. It’s unique in that the transitions are different than other intermediates but you get really close racing,” Denny Hamlin said.

“The track changes over the course of the race so the driver can usually find a place where the car works. It’s a fun track and I think the fans get a good show.”

Last weeks race at California was good from the stand point that it showed us all who was going to be real good at the horsepower required down force tracks. We knew Martin and Jimmie Johnson would be good coming in to that race, but the real surprise was the trio of Richard Childress cars who flexed their muscles under the hood all day.

It wouldn’t have been a surprise to see any one of the Childress cars win last week after seeing them in practice consistently putting up good times in both average speeds and single lap times.

All of that power from last week should carry over into Las Vegas this week. Harvick and Jeff Burton will be bringing in brand chassis’ this week while Clint Bowyer will be using his car that raced at Indianapolis and Kansas.

Even though many of the Vegas races were under the old format of the track, Burton is still the top dog when it comes to Vegas on the basis of his two wins and a career average finish of 9.8. In his last two seasons under the new format, Burton finished fifth and third.

It’s a little bit of a gamble to make a wager on a driver using a first time car without seeing it practice, but hey, this is Vegas! Burton is listed at 15 to 1 at the Las Vegas Hilton Super Book. Based on the complete change his entire team has made along with his past success, nearly tasting victory last week, Burton looks pretty live this week.

Harvick has two top-5 finishes on the track over his career along with four other top-13 finishes. His new chassis shouldn’t be too much of a concern either because everything Childress has put into the No. 29 car since the Chase started last season has been pretty good.

Harvick is a free-agent next year and despite rumors of the Childress-Harvick relationship being strained, winning cures a lot of that. By giving Harvick the goods as Childress has done, and not letting him languish in a jalopy like some owners do with lame-duck drivers, it shows that Childress wants him to do well and keep him.

Look for Harvick and Burton to both have great runs Sunday with Bowyer a little behind but still in the Top-10.

The favorite of the race is Jimmie Johnson at 9/2, as he should be. This guy is just flat out awesome in Vegas, winning on both configurations while winning three straight Vegas races from 2005-07. The last two seasons Johnson has struggled out of the gate as the team tinkered with his cars to finally get them in Jimmie-shape during his Championship runs.

This season they came out swinging early with the win last week. Whether it was luck or not, the reality is that Johnson had one of the best cars in practice that was well deserving of the win. He also had used a proven winning car from the 2009 season. This week Johnson will be using a brand new chassis which could give reason to pick against him, at least until we some practice times.

Denny Hamlin has quietly put together a pretty good Vegas resume in his four races that has him averaging an 11th-place finish with a best run of third in 2007. Hamlin, looking to build on some kind of success early on after having two poor runs to start the year, has brought in his best handling chassis from his garage.

The choice is a little curious because they don’t seem to correlate, but the bottom line is wins. He’ll be using his winning rides from Pocono and Martinsville this week. The wins alone are something to take serious notice of and make him a solid candidate to win.

Mark Martin has nine top-10 finishes in Las Vegas. His 40th-place finish last season was more a matter of him getting familiar with his new team and we see how that eventually turned out. Martin will contend for the win again this week. He’ll be using his chassis that finished fourth at Texas last season.

Other notes:

Joey Logano may have officially turned the corner as a top flight Cup series driver. He’s got a year under his belt, a nice feud going with Greg Biffle, and a great support system that will give him good rides on a weekly basis. It looks like he’s going to be in contention for wins and we’ll talking much more about him weekly. This week he’s bringing his car that finished 14th at Richmond and 12th at Martinsville.

The Ganssi-Earnhardt crew came into California with all kinds of great expectations and then sat on the front row making everyone take notice that they had something special going on for 2010. But then the race didn’t turn out well and no one is talking now. It’s possible they could rebound nice this week in Vegas.

Juan Pablo Montoya has brought his car from Miami last season that ran well but was involved in a mid-race incident. McMurray will be using his chassis from last years runs at Atlanta, Texas, and Miami where he had a best finish of 9th-place at Miami among the three.

The power Montoya showed last year throughout the season is still fresh on my mind and until I see otherwise for a duration of time, I will continue to believe that he is a contender on these type of tracks. For Jamie McMurray, his only non-restrictor plate win of his career came on a track like this in Charlotte while subbing as a driver for Chip Ganassi.

Dale Earnhardt Jr had a tough week in California. We found out that his stuff wasn’t as a good as Martin’s, who they share a garage with at Hendrick Motorsports. He looked almost exactly like the Junior we saw being led by Tony Eury Jr before eventually making the change to Lance McGrew.

This week he’ll be bringing in the first chassis McGrew completely built himself, with no Eury Jr fingerprints on it, and it‘s a pretty good one. He ran this car last year at Texas and was running sixth but a late race desperation fuel gamble didn’t payoff making the finish look worse than it should be with a 25th-place finish. He needs a good race here!

We don’t have any mentions of Fenway-Roush Racing’s drivers yet despite having six of the 12 wins on the track. We indirectly talked about older Roush drivers like Martin and Burton who combined to win three of those, but no Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, and Matt Kenseth who are all within the top-8 of all-time performers in Vegas.

Both Biffle and Kenseth looked good in California, but not good enough to win at any juncture unless getting lucky with rain. Vegas could be a different story, but they looked at lot like last years version more than hoped for new and improved version of 2010.

Kyle Busch will be looking for his third straight Vegas pole and second straight Vegas win. The folks at the Hard Rock Hotel are still talking about the party he threw his teams last season after winning. Last week he got better as the race went on and showed a lot of patience by taking what the car would give, a sign that he may be ready to unseat Johnson this year as the champ. It’s a long season, and he loves to win as many as he can, but I think he learned a valuable lesson of how to miss the chase last season.

TOP 5 Finish Prediction:
1) #31 Jeff Burton (15/1)
2) #5 Mark Martin (7/1)
3) #18 Kyle Busch (8/1)
4) #29 Kevin Harvick (15/1)
5) #48 Jimmie Johnson (9/2)

Fantasy Insider: Kyle Busch Only Sure Bet In Vegas
By Mike Ravesi

Well, we did a little better last week at Fontana than Daytona. All my normal picks finished in the top 23, with my studs running in the top 13 and two of my underdogs 12th and 17th. Plus, Jamie McMurray won the pole while Brian Vickers logged bonus points for leading the race. My dud of the week also came home 32nd, leaving the only driver to mess me up my extra underdog (Truex in 39th, although he was challenging for a top 10 spot when the motor blew). Don’t worry, fans; I won’t make any extra underdog picks like that again.

This week, NASCAR heads to Sin City where the younger Busch brother dominates and a pair of young drivers without a lot of history but definite momentum are going to lead your team to victory (assuming you avoid having one of last year’s Chase contenders on your roster.) So read on to find the hidden fantasy gems this week for the running of the Shelby American at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Studs:

Kyle Busch – You’ll want this hometown hero on your roster Sunday – no questions asked. In the last five years, he’s won two poles and finished no worse than 11th in Vegas, completing every lap along the way. And did I mention he’s got three top 3 finishes and doubles as the defending race champ? Definitely a stud for your team.

Jeff Burton – Another driver on your short list this weekend is Burton, who has a long history of success out West. NASCAR has been coming to Vegas since 1998, and if you throw out the 2001 race where he finished 39th, the veteran has finished no worse than 17th in his other 12 starts at the Speedway. He’s also posted a pair of wins and has finished on the lead lap of every race, with the exception of that 2001 anomaly where he wrecked. Add in the hot streak his team’s on right now (seven straight races of 11th or better), and this one’s a no brainer – especially if Burton’s still a cheap buy for your team.

Who will carry you:

After a rough transition to the Sprint Cup Series, Joey Logano has righted the ship since an upset win at New Hampshire midsummer. In the past eight races, he’s got three top 5 finishes – two more than he’d had throughout his entire career up to that point.

Joey Logano – After two finishes outside the top 25 to open 2009, Logano finally broke through at Vegas with a 13th place run. This year, he’s started the season much better, with a 20th at Daytona and a fifth at Fontana leaving him ninth in the season standings. Armed with a year under his belt and momentum on his side, look for him to crack the top 10 and possibly post a second consecutive top 5 this Sunday.

Scott Speed – Having covered Speed last year in the Bubble Breakdown, I must say I am impressed with his progression in 2010. Finishes of 19th and 11th give him momentum going into the weekend, and last year he ran 21st at Vegas, one of his few good performances during an awful rookie season. For a guy whose value is still pretty cheap in most leagues, he’s well worth the risk as I see another top 20 in store this Sunday.

Jamie McMurray – Jamie has followed his Daytona victory reasonably well, with a pole and 17th place run last weekend, and I see him continuing with solid finishes not only at Vegas but several other tracks in the near future. In the last six races in Sin City, Jamie has finished in the top 25 in each, with a best finish of fourth in 2004 and a ninth last year. He has also completed all but one lap of competition in those six races, making him a sure bet to finish the 400-miler. Grab him now before his value climbs any further!

Who will bury you:

Ryan Newman – While Newman’s value is dropping like a stone, you don’t want him on your roster this week even if you can get him free. Newman has had some bad luck, posting an average finish of 35th in 2010, and his career average at Vegas is only 22nd. Definitely not worth the price you are going to pay to have him this weekend.

Juan Pablo Montoya – Another guy struggling to figure out Las Vegas Motor Speedway is Mr. Montoya. He has yet to post a top 15 run there, and his average finish at this event is only 24th. In leagues where drivers are assigned a number of points and you can’t exceed a maximum point total, a guy like Scott Speed running 24th is OK; a guy like Montoya is not.

Recap:

With no burning questions submitted this week, I thought maybe a recap and some quick advice would be in order. So far in 2010, my eleven picks have posted six top 20 finishes, and five of those drivers have earned bonus points for your race team. Of the three duds, two have finished outside the top 32, and the third only mustered a 14th place run. Not too bad to start the year!

If, for whatever reason, you can’t get one of this week’s studs in your league, take a good, long look at Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth. Gordon has finished top 6 in four of the last five trips to Vegas, and Kenseth has never finished worse than 20th until last year’s blown engine relegated him to 43rd. If you remember, teammate David Ragan’s engine also went during that race, leaving him 42nd and ruining the day at a track where that organization tends to excel. Don’t expect that faulty batch of parts to pop up two years in a row

So, there you have it! Now go set your lineups with confidence, and we’ll see you back here in a week when we prepare your team for Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Driver Handicaps: Las Vegas
RacingOne.com

This weekend the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Sin City for Sunday's Shelby American at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. To help you make your fantasy racing picks, Motor Racing Network brings you our weekly detailed look at some of the field for the 267-lap event.

Who's HOT at Las Vegas
• Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch are the three winners on the new track configuration.
• Jeff Burton leads all drivers with a 9.8 average finish in 12 starts.
• Jeff Gordon has finished sixth or better in four of his last five starts.
• Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have respective average finishes of 5.0 and 6.0 with the COT (2 starts).
• Denny Hamlin has an 11.0 average finish in four starts.
• Matt Kenseth, who has two wins on the old configuration, is fifth in laps led (71) with the COT.
• Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne are the only other drivers that have competed in both COT races with average finishes of 10.0 or better.

Keep an Eye on at Las Vegas
• Vegas is the site of David Reutimann's first career top five in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
• Clint Bowyer finished second in this event last year.
• Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart posted respective average finishes of 10.7 and 11.4 on 1.5-mile tracks in 2009.
• Kurt Busch will return in the same car that won at Texas last fall.
• Inaugural Vegas winner Mark Martin has finished in the top 10 in three of his last four starts (engine problems knocked him out in 2009).
• Joey Logano, who finished fifth last weekend at Auto Club, finished 13th in his first Vegas start in 2009.
• Jamie McMurray has two top-10 finishes on Vegas' new configuration.

2009 Track Performers
Jeff Gordon was the only driver to post an average finish of 10.0 or better in the 10 races on 1.5-mile speedways in 2009. Gordon wound up with a stellar 5.8 average finish, 274 laps led and one win, which came at Texas last spring. Kasey Kahne (10.7), Tony Stewart (11.4), David Reutimann (11.8) and Denny Hamlin (11.9) rounded out the top five in average finish. Defending Las Vegas winner Kyle Busch led the most laps in the 10 races with 483. Four-time and reigning series champion Jimmie Johnson was second with 358 laps led. Based off 1.5-mile tracks in 2009: Las Vegas, Atlanta (1.54-mile), Texas, Lowe's, Chicago, Kansas and Homestead.

MotorRacingNetwork.com Staff Picks
Jeff Wackerlin: Jeff Burton
Pete Pistone: Jeff Gordon
Rachael West: Carl Edwards

Top 30 Driver Notes - Ordered by current standings

(All stats/notes are in regards to Las Vegas Motor Speedway unless noted)

1. Kevin Harvick: Best finish in nine starts came in 2008 in fourth; 14.3 average finish in the three races on the track's new configuration; Has yet to lead a lap since 2004; Will drive a new car (chassis No. 299) in the Shelby American.

2. Clint Bowyer: Coming off first top 10 in four starts with a second-place finish; Led nine laps in 2009; 22.0 average finish (15.0 with COT) in the three starts on the track's new configuration; Will pilot the same car (chassis No. 277) that finished 21st at Kansas last fall.

3. Greg Biffle: Finished eighth or better in four of his last five starts; 8.7 average finish (5.0 with COT) in the three starts on the track's new configuration; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 608) that raced in the All-Star race last season.

4. Jamie McMurray: Only top five (fourth) came with Chip Ganassi racing in 2004; Posted a 14.7 average finish in three starts with Roush Fenway Racing on the track's new configuration; Finished ninth last year in last track start with RFR; Will race chassis No. 070 this weekend in his Vegas return with Ganassi; This car saw its best finish in 2009 with driver Martin Truex Jr. at Homestead in ninth.

5. Jeff Burton: Best track on the circuit based on 9.8 average finish in 12 starts; Won two races (1999, 2000) with Roush Racing; Last five starts have come with Richard Childress Racing; 7.7 average finish in the three races on the track's new configuration; Will pilot a new car (chassis No. 293) in the Shelby American.

6. Mark Martin: Winner of the inaugural race; Has finished in the top 10 in nine of his 12 starts; All three of his starts (18.3 average finish) in a Chevrolet came on the track's new configuration; Finished 40th last year in first track start with Hendrick Motorsports after the engine expired; Will race the same car (chassis No. 555) that finished fourth at Texas last fall.

7. Matt Kenseth: Two-time winner on old track configuration; Leads all drivers in laps led with 438; 23.3 average finish and led 71 laps on the new Vegas track configuration.

8. David Reutimann: Finished fourth last year for first career top five in the Cup Series; Qualified fourth in 2009; Finished 37th in first start in 2008 to give him an average finish of 20.5; Has yet to lead a lap.

9. Joey Logano: Finished 13th in first start in 2009; Will drive the same car (chassis No. 252) that finished 14th and 12th at Richmond and Martinsville, respectively.

10. Carl Edwards: Winner of the 2008 race; Led 86 of his 91 career laps at LVMS en route to the win; Fourth-best average finish (8.0) on Las Vegas' new configuration; Will race the same car (chassis No. 565) that ran both Atlanta races, Chicago and Darlington last year; This car saw it's best finish (third) at Atlanta in the spring.

11. Kurt Busch: Has yet to post a top-15 finish in four starts with Penske Racing; Last of two top 10s came with Roush Racing in 2005; 5.5 average start and 30.5 average finish in two starts with the COT; Will pilot the same car (chassis No. 702) that won at Texas last fall.

12. Jimmie Johnson: Leads all drivers with three wins; 17th-best finishing average (18.0) in the three races on Las Vegas' new configuration; Has respective finishes of 29th and 24th in last two starts; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 580) in the Shelby American.

13. Kyle Busch: Defending race winner; Credited with winning from the pole in 2009, but had to start at the rear of the field due to an engine change; Combined to lead 77 laps in the last two events; His three other top 10s came with Hendrick Motorsports (2005-2007); Has the best average finish on the new Las Vegas configuration (7.0); Will debut a new car (chassis No. 268) in the Shelby American.

14. Brian Vickers: Scored first top-20 finish in five starts in 2009 in eighth; 32.0 average start and 16.0 average finish in two starts with the COT.

15. Scott Speed: Finished 21st in first start in 2009.

16. Dale Earnhardt Jr: Tied for the second-best average finish (7.7) in three starts on the new Las Vegas configuration; Finished second in first track start with Hendrick Motorsports in 2008; Started 31st and finished 10th in 2009; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 556) that finished 25th at Texas last fall after a gamble on fuel.

17. Tony Stewart: Finished 26th in first track start with Stewart-Haas; Scored six top 10s in previous 10 starts with Joe Gibbs Racing; Posted a 25.3 average finish in the three races on the track's new configuration; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 583) in the Shelby American.

18. Paul Menard: 29.7 average finish in three starts; Best finish came in 2008 in 22nd; Will pilot a car (chassis No. 653) that ran in one race last season.

19. David Ragan: Only top 10 came in 2008 in seventh; Has a 28.7 average finish on the new track configuration; Finished 42nd last year after an engine failure; Has yet to lead a lap in three starts; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 620) that finished 34th at Homestead in 2009.

20. Martin Truex Jr: Will make first track start in a Toyota; Has the 16th best average finish (19.7) on the track's new configuration; Did not finish in the top 10 in his previous four starts with Dale Earnhardt Inc./Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing.

21. Denny Hamlin: Ended a streak of three consecutive top 10s with a 22nd-place finish in 2009; Last year's finish, which was caused by damage after a lap three incident raised his average finish to 11.0 in four starts; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 248) that won at Pocono and Martinsville last year.

22. Jeff Gordon: Winner of the 2001 event; Has finished sixth or better in four of his last five starts; Has combined to lead 147 laps in the last three races; Posted the best average finish on 1.5-mile tracks in 2009.

23. Juan Pablo Montoya: Has yet to lead a lap or finish in the top 15 in three starts; Will pilot the same car (chassis No. 910) that finished 38th at Homestead after a mid-race incident with Tony Stewart.

24. Elliott Sadler: Has one top 10 in 11 starts; Will make first track start in a Ford since 2006; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 282) in the Shelby American.

25. Bobby Labonte: Finished fifth with Hall of Fame racing in 2009; 11.7 in three starts on the track's new configuration; Scored four top 10s with Joe Gibbs Racing on old configuration; Will make first track start in a Chevrolet since 2005.

26. Sam Hornish Jr: 28.5 average finish in two starts; Finished 16th in 2009.

27. AJ Allmendinger: Finished 33rd in first start in 2009; Will pilot the same car (chassis No. 289) that finished 10th last fall at Texas as the No. 44.

28. Brad Keselowski: Finished 38th in 2009 with Hendrick Motorsports in only start; Will make first track start with Penske Racing; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 708) in the Shelby American.

29. Travis Kvapil: Finished eighth with Yates Racing in 2008; Two other finishes of 26th and 39th came on the track's old configuration in 2005 and 2006.

30. Regan Smith: Finished 19th in first track start with Furniture Row Racing in 2009; Only other start was in 2008 with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. where he finished 34th; Has yet to lead a lap.

33. Kasey Kahne: Two-time pole winner; Best finish came on the old Las Vegas configuration in second; Has led 14 laps and posted an average finish of 17.3 on new configuration; Will make track debut in a Ford.

Chassis selections for Las Vegas

#1-Jamie McMurray: Crew chief Kevin "Bono" Manion will bring chassis #070. This chassis ran in the 2009 season spring event at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway and in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway where it finished10th, 25th and ninth respectively.

#2-Kurt Busch the Steve Addington-led #2 Penske Racing Team will be racing their "PRS-702" Dodge Charger this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The "PRS-702" was brought out for the first time in last November's Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Brother Kyle may have had the dominant car, but the #2 Dodge, carrying a special Operation Homefront color scheme, used fuel mileage strategy and came home the winner.

#5-Mark Martin: Crew chief Alan Gustafson has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-555 for the race in Las Vegas this weekend. This chassis was raced at Texas Motor Speedway last November where Martin finished fourth.

#6-David Ragan: The Chassis Primary is RK-620 which last ran Homestead finished 34th. The backup is RK-670 ran Homestead in 2009 as the #26 (McMurray) finished 18th. The Red Rock Center (SLIC 8911) was selected as the Maximum Center for the February 28 Shelby American NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The center in the Pacific Region is recognized for their achievements on the Great Basin District's Balanced Scorecard in January 2010.

#11-Denny Hamlin: The #11 FedEx team will unload Chassis JGR 248 this weekend in Las Vegas. This car has two starts and two wins to its credit taking the checkered flag at both Pocono and Martinsville in 2009. The backup chassis 246 sat on the pole at Auto Club in the fall of 2009 and will serve as the backup this weekend. The #11 FedEx Ground Toyota will carry the letters DSRT on the B-posts for Sunday's race in recognition of the Desert Region's outstanding performance with regards to package care. The FedEx Ground Desert Region includes not only the cities of Las Vegas, El Paso and San Diego but also the entire states of Arizona and New Mexico.

#12-Brad Keselowski The #12 Penske Dodge Charger team will use chassis PRS-708 during Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Shelby American at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. PRS-708 is a brand new chassis to the #12 Dodge team.

#14-Tony Stewart: running Chassis No. 14-583 at Las Vegas. It is a brand new racecar that has only been tested in the wind tunnel. Las Vegas will mark its first time on a racetrack.

17-Matt Kenseth: primary chassis will be RK-646, with the backup being RK-616, no details

#18-Kyle Busch will drive Chassis No. 268 which is a brand new race car that has never turned a wheel on the racetrack.

#20-Joey Logano: The team is bringing to Las Vegas chassis No. 252, which Logano drove to two top-15 finishes last year 14th at Richmond in September and 12th at Martinsville in October.

#29-Kevin Harvick: will pilot chassis No. 299 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This is a brand new Shell-Pennzoil Chevy which will circle the track for the first time this weekend.

#31-Jeff Burton: This Week's #31-Caterpillar Chevy at Las Vegas Motor Speedway & Jeff Burton will race chassis No. 293 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This is a brand new Caterpillar Chevrolet Impala that will circle the race track for the first time this weekend.

#33-Clint Bowyer: This Weekend's Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet Impala at Auto Club Speedway & Clint Bowyer will pilot Chassis No. 277 from Richard Childress Racing's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. Bowyer piloted this #33 Chevy twice last season and finished 18th at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July and 21st at Kansas Speedway in October.

#39-Ryan Newman will pilot a new #39 chassis this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The car, which was built in the offseason, will turn its first laps ever on the racetrack in first practice at the 1.5-mile speedway on Friday morning. The car was tested in the wind tunnel in early February.

#42-Juan Pablo Montota: Crew Chief Brian Pattie and the No. 42 Target team will bring chassis #910 to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This chassis ran at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the 2009 season finale where a mid-race incident forced the team to a 38th-place finish.

#48-Jimmie Johnson will pilot a brand new chassis - No. 580 - in Sunday's event. The backup chassis No. 534 was last driven to a 13th-place result at Pocono Raceway last August and also ran at Las Vegas last year, finishing 24th.

#71-Bobby Labonte will run chassis number 282, will be making its on-track debut with TRG Motorsports.

#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. This weekend at Las Vegas, crew chief Lance McGrew and the #88 engineers will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-556, which is the first chassis McGrew built from scratch for Earnhardt. This chassis, which Earnhardt debuted in 2009 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, was used last at Texas Motor Speedway in November. Earnhardt was running sixth before a late-race fuel gamble resulted in a 25th-place finish.

#99-Carl Edwards The #99 Roush Fenway Racing crew will unload RK-565 for the weekend. Edwards raced this car at both Atlanta events, Chicago and Darlington in 2009. Its best finish was third at Atlanta in March.(from team PR's if reported)(2-26-2010)

Shelby American Betting Preview And Picks
By Greg Engle

Plenty of clichés will be heard as NASCAR heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Sunday's running of the Shelby American.

There will be rolls of the dice, spins of the wheel, but to put a twist on a famous cliché, what happens in Vegas won't stay in Vegas as teams continue their quest for the season crown.

Favorites

Jimmie Johnson (+450): Johnson was the favorite last week at Auto Club Speedway and delivered. At Vegas, he again leads all active drivers with three wins, along with three Top-5 and four Top-10 finishes. However keep in mind that all his wins here came prior to 2008. In the last two years, Johnson has finished 24th and 29th respectively.

Kevin Harvick (+1500): He may not have the best stats here, with no wins, two Top-5 and three Top-10 finishes, but Harvick and the entire Richard Childress Racing team are hot this season. Harvick has been a contender the last two weeks and spent last Sunday nipping at Johnson's heels. He's also the series points leader. Look for him to be a real threat this week.

Mark Martin (+700): Martin survived Daytona and was happy, finished fourth last week and smiled when it was over. He has won here and has five Top 5s and nine Top 10s. More importantly, at 51 years old, he's on top of his game at a time when most athletes have long since retired. Martin is having a blast and he's my pick to win this week, so look for some more smilies Sunday.

Long shots

Jeff Burton (+1500): Burton has also been part of the Richard Childress Racing resurgence. He has two wins, five Top 5s and eight Top 10s here. Most notable, he has the highest average finish of any contendor and could be in a position to surprise.

Carl Edwards (+1800): Edwards has one less thing to worry about this weekend as he and wife Kate welcomed daughter Anne to the world Wednesday. Carl told me it became a “whole new world” after the baby was born. After fretting over when his daughter would make her appearance over the last two weeks, Carl, who has one win a Top 5 and two Top 10s here, may now have the motivation he needs to add Victory Lane to his new world.

Matt Kenseth (+2000): Edwards' teammate Kenseth is the type of guy who can suddenly come out of nowhere. With two wins, four Top 5s and five Top 10s, he may find his groove and make a run to the front this weekend.

Head-to-head matchups

Kyle Busch vs. Kurt Busch: The brothers Busch are both Vegas natives and Kyle has already one-upped his brother by winning last year’s race at their home track. In addition to his win, he has three Top 5s, four Top 10s and two poles. Older brother Kurt only has one Top 5 and one Top 10, but the Penske crew seems to have found a new spark, so look for Kurt to come out ahead of this matchup and quite possibly a race win.

Denny Hamlin vs. Tony Stewart: Hamlin has one Top 5 and three Top 10s here while former teammate-turned-owner Stewart has four Top 5s and six Top 10s. Neither has won at Vegas, but Stewart is hungrier and has the better stats, he will “smoke” Hamlin.

Greg Biffle vs. Jeff Gordon: Biffle has one Top 5, four Top 10s and one pole while Gordon has one win, five Top 5 and six Top 10s. Gordon may have the better record, but Biffle seems to be more on his game to this point. Look for Biffle to win this matchup.

Is Johnson’s dominance bad for racing?
By Case Keefer

Controversy still swirled around Jimmie Johnson’s victory last week in Fontana, Calif., during drivers’ first media appearances at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday.

Aided by a well-timed caution with 26 laps to go while he made a pit stop, Johnson won the Auto Club 500 Sprint Cup race for his 48th career victory. Some fans and drivers complained after the race about Johnson’s apparent good luck.

Kevin Harvick, who came in second in the race, made the comments that garnered the most attention.

“Jimmie is a good friend of mine, but there’s no denying how lucky they are,” Harvick said of Johnson’s team after the race. “They have a golden horseshoe stuck up their (butt).”

Johnson, who has won four straight Sprint Cup championships, responded to the claims of luck Friday.

“Luck didn’t have us lead 101 laps. Luck didn’t hold off the No. 29 car,” Johnson said. “Luck put us in position. I’ll take that, and I’m the first to admit it. But luck did not win the race for us.”

The only thing that irks Johnson more is when people argue his dominance is bad for NASCAR. With attendance figures down, Johnson’s winning ways have sometimes been pointed to as a reason why NASCAR has stalled in its growth.

Johnson’s supremacy has been on display in Las Vegas, as he won the race here three straight times from 2005-2007. As awkward as it may sound, Johnson is now used to having to defend his achievements on the racetrack.

“We all look at sports and, say, Shaun White is the best at snowboarding and dominates. Does it hurt their sport? No,” Johnson said. “You look at golf, granted Tiger’s got some different issues now, but did it hurt golf before that? No. You go through tennis and Federer. Did it hurt that sport? No. It helped.”

Rain affects Sprint Cup practice session

The forecast calls for an 80 percent chance of rain Saturday, which forced Sprint Cup drivers to change their approach during Friday’s practice session.

Sprint Cup racers are scheduled to have a second practice session tomorrow at 10:40 a.m., but the chance of precipitation means that might be in jeopardy. The drivers planned accordingly.

“It wasn’t a normal practice,” said Jamie McMurray, who won the Daytona 500 two weeks ago. “We threw a lot of things on the car just in case we can’t practice tomorrow.”

On a normal weekend, most drivers use the first practice to prepare for the qualifying round. That wasn’t the case for all drivers Friday.

“We spent the entire practice on race setup in case the weather comes tomorrow,” Tony Stewart said.

Drivers talk odds

David Reutimann, ranked eighth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings, used to look forward to coming to Las Vegas during race week and peeking in the sports books.

After all, who doesn’t like seeing their name illuminated on a giant betting board? Reutimann doesn’t anymore.

“It was depressing the odds they had on me doing anything,” Reutimann said. “So, I stopped looking.”

The Las Vegas Hilton lists Reutimann’s odds to win the Sprint Cup race as 60-to-1. Tony Stewart is facing the opposite problem as Reutimann.

As one of the favorites at 12-to-1, Stewart said his bettors weren’t getting a big enough potential payout.

“I don’t know if I would be a good bet this weekend or not,” Tony Stewart said. “It looks like you wouldn’t make as much money as you wanted.”

Practice Notes - Las Vegas
By Micah Roberts

Driver Rankings after Qualifying and Practice Sessions

Driver (Odds) - Practice 1, Qualifying, Practice 2, Practice 3

1. Mark Martin (7/1) - 4th, 8th, 13th, 3rd
Racing same car that finished 4th at Texas, fastest AVG time in happy hour

2. Kyle Busch (8/1) - 8th, 5th, 1st, 17th
New car, best single lap and top AVG speeds in 2nd practice Saturday

3. Kurt Busch (18/1) - 21st, 1st, 3rd, 16th
Brought same car that dominated Atlanta, most laps in 2nd practice

4. Greg Biffle (15/1) - 10th, 7th, 2nd, 8th
Same car from All-Star race, 2nd fastest AVG time in 2nd practice

5. Jeff Gordon (10/1) - 5th, 2nd, 12th, 6th
Past winner, the best on all 1.5 mile tracks in 2009

6. Clint Bowyer (15/1) - 12th, 13th, 5th, 1st
Fastest in Happy Hour, strong average lap times

7. Juan Pablo Montoya (15/1) - 1st, 10th, 14th, 2nd
2nd fastest in Happy Hour, same car from Miami in 2009

8. Jimmie Johnson (9/2) - 3rd, 20th, 6th, 4th
Brand new chassis, 4th fastest in Happy Hour with 3rd best AVG speeds

Nothing Like Vegas and NASCAR

I took a trip downtown for the festivities on Friday night and saw the most amazing sight NASCAR fans and colors abound. There must have been about 25,000 fans rolling through Fremont street with all their drivers’ sponsors on full display.

As I walked through the casino to get their odds sheet in the sports book, the lively action on the tables and bars were a symbol that Downtown was as alive as I’ve ever seen since cruising Hot Rod’s was allowed before the dome was placed over the top.

When a Johnny Cash tribute band came on as part of the Fremont Street Experience and the crowd sang “Cocaine Blues” in unison, I knew right away that NASCAR had never been as cool as it was at that moment.

I’ve been around, man, and I’ve seen races all across this place, but nothing compares to the marriage of NASCAR and Las Vegas. How about two?