This weeks Kobalt Tools 400 will be held at the one and half mile tri-oval Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The track saw it’s first NASCAR race in 1996 with the NASCAR K&N Pro Series west race won by Ken Schrader. The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race was the Las Vegas 400 won by Mark Martin in 1998. Jimmie Johnson currently holds the record for most wins with four.
This weeks Schedule:
Practice
3 p.m ET Friday on Speed
Qualifying
6:30 p.m. ET Friday on Speed
Practice
6:00 p.m. ET Saturday on Speed
Kobalt Tools 400
3:00 p.m. ET Sunday Fox
News and Notes for Las Vegas
*There have been 13 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at LMS.
*With four drivers participating in all 13 races, Jeff Burton, Jeff gordon, Bobby Labonte, and Mark Martin.
*Eight different drivers have won, led by Jimmie Johnson, Johnson has won four of the last six races at LMS including last season’s position.
*Five of the 13 races have been won from a starting position of 20th or worse.
*The deepest in the field that a race winner has started was 25th by Matt Kenseth in 2004.
*In three of the last five races, the margin of victory was under one second.
*Special guests this weekend: Singer Matt Gross will perform a pre-race concert and Kristen Hertzenberg from Phantom of the Opera will sing the national anthem.
Some Mile Stones looking to be set at LMS this weekend
*Kasey Kahne, coming off a sixth-place finish at Phoenix, is still looking for his 50th career top five.
*Mark Martin’s next pole will be his 50th. If he does it, he’ll be th eighth driver in series history with at least 50 poles.
*Paul Menard currently the Richard Childress Racing driver with the best points position (11th) will make make his 150th start this weekend.
*The Sub Way Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway proved to as exciting as the Daytona 500. We saw our second different race winner in Jeff Gordon ending his 66-race winless drought. Gordon’s Phoenix victory on Sunday also made it career win number 83 – tying Cale Yarborough for fifth on the all-time list. On deck in the record books: Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip at 84 wins. If Gordon does win this weekend, it would be the first time since October 2007 that he won consecutive races (Talladega and Charlotte).
*This weekend will mark the 50th Anniversary of Wendell Scott’s first start. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Scott’s first star-March 4, 1961 at Fairgrounds Speedway in Spartanburg, S.C., every NASCAR Sprint Cup and NASCAR Nationwide Series will display a decal of Scotts photo this weekend at LMS. Scott, the African-American to win a premier series race, ran 495 career races in what is now the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
*A.J. Allmendinger has opened up the season with finishes of 11th (Daytona) and ninth (Phoenix). Bringing glory back to the Iconic No. 43, currently fourth in points standing. thus putting the Richard Petty Motorsports No.43 back near the top of the points standings for the first time in more than two decades. The last time the No. 43 car was this high in the standings was Martinsville on April 26, 1987.
Top 15 in Points Standing 2 of 36
Rank Driver Points Behind
1 Kyle Busch 80 Leader
2 Kurt Busch 77 -3
3 Tony Stewart 69 -11
4 A.J. Allmendinger 69 -11
5 Jeff Gordon 65 -15
6 Mark Martin 65 -15
7 Bobby Labonte 64 -16
8 Ryan Newman 64 -16
9 Juan Montoya 64 -16
10 David Gilliland 63 -17
11 Paul Menard 63 -17
12 Carl Edwards 59 -21
13 Jimmie Johnson 59 -21
14 Denny Hamlin 58 -22
15 Kasey Kahne 57 -23
Notable Drivers outside of top 15
Rank Driver Points Behind
16 Martin Truex Jr 56 -24
17 Dale Earnhardt Jr 55 -25
21 Clint Bowyer 45 -35
22 Kevin Harvick 44 -36
28 Greg Biffle 33 -47
