Stewart enjoyed his first Cup win in the gambling capital. Photo: Yahoo Sports.
NASCAR had a blast in the desert at the fast 1.5 mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The fast oval with 12° banked corners saw the usual contenders shine. However, the early part of the race was dominated by Dale Earnhardt Jr., who got a great getaway and led 70 laps before the first round of stops. He took 4 tyres and struggled afterwards stuck in traffic as 14 cars emerged ahead of him with only 2 tyres changed and pole sitter, Kasey Kahne, who also took 4 tyres.
The lead battle then saw Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth duke it out before Johnson took the lead on lap 101. Behind them were Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick. Martin Truex Jr was enjoying another good run ahead of Ryan Newman and Jamie McMurray. Kasey Kahne was the only driver, who took 4 tyres, to make it work for him in ninth and Carl Edwards, struggling with a loose car, was hanging onto a top 10 spot.
However, after a caution because of Travis Kvapil’s engine blowing and leaking lubricants all over the track, Tony Stewart restarted well to grab the lead ahead of Johnson, Biffle, Kenseth and Truex Jr. Kevin Harvick was behind, but suffered from a dead left leg due to a tight lap belt. Kasey Kahne continued to run well while Earnhardt Jr. had worked his way back up into the top 10. A hard charging Paul Menard and Carl Edwards, who was looking happier in his car, completed the top 10.
A caution around the 200 lap mark saw a variety of strategies out of the pits with fuel just being about 6 laps short. However, Tony Stewart continued to lead with Jamie McMurray up to second after taking 2 tyres and early leader, Dale Earnhardt Jr., got his way back into the top 5. Another caution with about 40 laps to go saw a couple of guys, such as Clint Bowyer and Brad Keselowski, try to stretch their fuel, while most of the field pitted. Stewart restarted just behind having taken his splash to make the finish and blasted his way into the lead on the restart.
Another couple of cautions, with local lad Kyle Busch bringing out the last one after hitting turn 4 with 9 laps to go to put the icing on a poor race, couldn’t deny Stewart with his diamond restarts. It is Stewart’s first win at Las Vegas and with new crew chief Steve Addington. Jimmie Johnson put pressure on after the final restart, but couldn’t find a way past, so had to settle for second. Greg Biffle continued his great start to the year with another third place ahead of Stewart’s team-mate, Ryan Newman, and Carl Edwards. Bowyer’s alternative strategy worked, with the late cautions bringing him in line with the rest, getting him 6th ahead of Paul Menard, who stormed from 18th to 7th, after taking 4 tyres on his last stop. Jamie McMurray, Trevor Bayne and Earnhardt Jr. all enjoyed top 10 finishes.
Early front-runners, Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne, barely touched after the last restart, due to Kenseth getting caught out by his team-mate Edwards, with Kenseth battling the wall on the backstretch. This meant they finished 19th and 22th respectively. Another front-runner for most of the race, Martin Truex Jr., ended up in 17th and Kyle Busch had a forgettable 23rd place finish.
The result means Biffle leads Harvick in the championship by 10 points. Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr. and Kenseth/Edwards complete the top 5. Stewart jumps up to seventh with surprise packages so far, Truex Jr. and Joey Logano, behind and Mark Martin completing the top 10.
The Nationwide series also had a good race with defending series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. holding off Mark Martin to win. Elliot Sadler backed up his win in Phoenix with a 3rd place there ahead of Trevor Bayne and Brendan Gaughan. Rookies Cole Whitt and Austin Dillon had great races finishing behind them. Justin Allgaier, Sam Hornish Jr. and Kasey Kahne completed the top 10. Kenny Wallace and Danica Patrick were just behind Kahne, while another rookie, Johanna Long, had a good run to 19th.
All this means that Sadler leads the championship by 15 points from his team-mate Dillon. Stenhouse Jr. jumps to 3rd ahead of Trevor Bayne and Cole Whitt. Hornish Jr., Tayler Malsam, Michael Annett, Allgaier and Blake Koch fill the top 10. Not a long wait for the next action as the Sprint Cup and Nationwide guys and girls will be back at the short track, Bristol Motor Speedway, this weekend.
Preview of Bristol will be up on Friday or Saturday, so ’til then, cheerio.
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