LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY (1.5-MILE OVAL)
LOCATION: LAS VEGAS
EVENT: NASCAR CUP SERIES (RACE THREE OF 36)
TUNE IN: 3:30 P.M. ET, SUNDAY, MARCH 12 (FOX/PRN/SIRIUSXM)
No. 5 LiftMaster Chevrolet SS / Kasey Kahne
Driver Kasey Kahne Hometown Enumclaw, Washington
Age 36 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2017 Season
9th in standings
2 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
1 top-five finish
2 top-10 finishes
7 laps led
Career
470 starts
17 wins
27 pole positions
90 top-five finishes
171 top-10 finishes
4,614 laps led
Track Career
13 starts
0 wins
3 pole positions
3 top-five finishes
7 top-10 finishes
172 laps led
LIFTMASTER: This weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kasey Kahne will pilot the silver and burgundy No. 5 LiftMaster Chevrolet SS. This weekend marks LiftMaster’s first of three races as the primary partner on the No. 5 car this season. It will also adorn the car later this year at Charlotte Motor Speedway (May) and Michigan International Speedway (August).
KAHNE AT LAS VEGAS: Kahne leads all drivers at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with three pole positions at the track. He captured his first career NASCAR Cup Series pole in March 2004, with his most recent pole award coming in 2012. After starting in the eighth position last year at the 1.5-mile track, he ended the day with a 10th-place finish. In his 13 Cup starts at Las Vegas, Kahne has led 172 laps, which ranks him sixth among active drivers.
STRONG 2017 START: The Enumclaw, Washington, native heads to Las Vegas this weekend coming off of two top-10 finishes. He’s one of only three drivers this season who has earned a top-10 result in both races. His average finish of 5.5 is the second-best in the series behind only Kurt Busch. The 36-year-old is one of just seven drivers to complete all 525 laps so far this season.
RECAPPING ATLANTA: Perseverance was key for the No. 5 team at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kahne rallied to be the beneficiary of the free pass twice at the 1.54-mile track. After a speedy pit stop by the No. 5 pit crew during the last caution of the race, Kahne jumped from the 11th position to restart fifth, and ultimately finished fourth.
LAS VEGAS LOOP DATA: According to NASCAR’s loop data since 2005, among active drivers, Kahne ranks third in green-flag passes with 724, sixth in fastest laps run with 115 and sixth in laps run in the top 15 with 2,205. He also ranks seventh in the driver rating category with an average rating of 89.1. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The driver rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator.
No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS / Chase Elliott
Driver Chase Elliott Hometown Dawsonville, Georgia
Age 21 Resides Dawsonville, Georgia
2017 Season
4th in standings
2 starts
0 wins
1 pole position
1 top-five finish
1 top-10 finish
39 laps led
Career
43 starts
0 wins
3 pole positions
11 top-five finishes
18 top-10 finishes
397 laps led
Track Career
1 start
0 wins
0 pole positions
0 top-five finishes
0 top-10 finishes
0 laps led
LAS VEGAS STATS: Chase Elliott will make his second career NASCAR Cup Series start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend. In NASCAR XFINITY Series competition at the 1.5-mile track, he holds a 7.0 average starting position and has garnered three top-five finishes.
1.5-MILE SUCCESS: In 13 starts at 1.5-mile speedways, the 21-year-old has collected four top-five finishes and seven top-10s. Elliott led 186 laps and posted an average finishing position of 15.6 in those races.
TESTING ONE, TWO, THREE: Elliott and the No. 24 team participated in the Goodyear tire test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Jan. 10 and 11. The reigning Rookie of the Year was one of four drivers at the two-day test on the 1.5-mile track.
DESIGN 2 DRIVE 4 CHILDREN’S: To help kick start the Chase Elliott Foundation, Elliott and his three Hendrick Motorsports teammates sported special racing shoes designed by patients at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta during last weekend’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The theme of each pair of shoes was based on art sketches of what the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta summer camp program means to the patients. The five pairs of racing shoes are currently being auctioned off on the new NASCAR Foundation auction website with all proceeds going to the Chase Elliott Foundation to benefit the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta summer camp program.
RECAPPING ATLANTA: The Dawsonville, Georgia, native is coming off another top-10 finish at his home track of Atlanta Motor Speedway. Elliott rebounded from a mid-race pit-road penalty to drive the No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS to a fifth-place finish, improving on last year’s eighth-place effort.
No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet SS / Jimmie Johnson
Driver Jimmie Johnson Hometown El Cajon, California
Age 41 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2017 Season
32nd in standings
2 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
0 top-five finishes
0 top-10 finishes
9 laps led
Career
545 starts
80 wins
35 pole positions
218 top-five finishes
330 top-10 finishes
18,455 laps led
Track Career
15 starts
4 wins
0 pole positions
6 top-five finishes
9 top-10 finishes
576 laps led
KOBALT ENTITLEMENT RACE: The black-and-white colors of Kobalt Tools will adorn Jimmie Johnson’s Chevrolet SS this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to commemorate the sponsor’s entitlement event, the Kobalt 400. Kobalt Tools are intelligently designed and engineered for serious, high-stakes projects and built to take on-the-job punishment while delivering dependable, impressive results. They are easy to use, made with precision craftsmanship and are exclusively sold at Lowe’s Home Improvement stores.
VEGAS STATS: According to NASCAR loop data, since 2005, Johnson has the series-best driver rating at Las Vegas with a score of 113.4 in addition to a series-best average finish of 10.9. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The driver rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator.
JOHNSON AND KNAUS AT KOBALT KAMPOUT: Johnson and No. 48 team crew chief Chad Knaus will appear onstage Friday at 6:45 p.m. local time for a question-and-answer session at the Kobalt Kampout area the Neon Garage at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
GO TO LOWE’S IN VEGAS, SEE JOHNSON AND KNAUS: Johnson, Knaus and members of the Lowe’s Racing road crew will be visiting four Las Vegas area Lowe’s stores on Saturday, March 11. Attendees will have the chance to meet the team during private autograph sessions and a question-and-answer session with the seven-time champions. Wristbands are required for the autograph session and the stores will begin handing them out at 1 p.m. local time to the first 100 attendees. Johnson will be at N.W. Las Vegas Lowe’s, 6050 West Craig Road, at 4 p.m. local time and the North Las Vegas Lowe’s, 2570 East Craig Road, at 5:30 p.m. local time. Knaus will be at Lowe’s of Central Henderson, 1401 S Boulder Highway, at 4 p.m. local time and Lowe’s of Henderson, 440 Marks Street, at 5:30 p.m. local time. Click here for more information.
1.5-MILE TRACK WINS: Johnson currently holds the record for all-time wins on 1.5-mile tracks. He has earned 26 victories, which includes eight at Charlotte Motor Speedway, six at Texas Motor Speedway, five at Atlanta Motor Speedway, four at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and three at Kansas Speedway. Johnson’s four wins at Las Vegas are the most at the track. Johnson’s last win at Las Vegas came in 2010 following his three consecutive wins at the track from 2005-07.
HELMET OF HOPE: This week, Johnson and Mike Wells – president and CEO of Wells Enterprises, maker of Blue Bunny Ice Cream – announced the launch of the 2017 Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope campaign, which will award $125,000 to five non-profit organizations in May. The announcement, made via video on Johnson’s Facebook page, revealed that not-for-profit 501c3 organizations that directly support K-12 public education will be eligible to compete for one of the five available $25,000 grants. The program, which began in 2008, allows fans and consumers across the country to nominate their favorite education-focused charities, including parent-teacher associations, to receive a $25,000 grant, a Blue Bunny ice cream party and special recognition on Johnson’s race helmet. Nominations will be accepted at www.helmetofhope.org through Friday, April 14. Ten semifinalists will be selected from the nominations. The public vote to choose the final five grant recipients will take place from May 5 to 12. Johnson will wear the Helmet of Hope during the NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway on Aug. 13.
No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS / Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hometown Kannapolis, North Carolina
Age 42 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2017 Season
33rd in standings
2 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
0 top-five finishes
0 top-10 finishes
8 laps led
Career
597 starts
26 wins
13 pole positions
148 top-five finishes
252 top-10 finishes
8,195 laps led
Track Career
17 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
4 top-five finishes
10 top-10 finishes
287 laps led
ATLANTA RECAP: Dale Earnhardt Jr. earned a solid starting spot for last Sunday’s event at Atlanta Motor Speedway after making it to the final round in qualifying once again. Unfortunately, multiple issues plagued the No. 88 Nationwide team throughout the race, putting Earnhardt multiple laps down at the finish, even though his Chevrolet showed top-10 speed.
LOOKING FOR A WIN: Earnhardt has yet to score a NASCAR Cup Series victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but the driver of the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS has come close. He has recorded three second-place finishes, including most recently in the 2014 event, and finished inside the top 10 in his last six trips to the 1.5-mile oval.
LOOP DATA – SPEED: Earnhardt ranks at the top of the chart in average speed late in a run at Las Vegas from 2005 – 2016, according to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, with an average speed of 170.989 mph in the last 25 percent of laps run in a typical green-flag segment. The Kannapolis, North Carolina, native is also ranked fourth-fastest in speed by segment, fifth in fastest laps run (128) and sixth in green-flag speed (171.835 mph), average speed early in a run (173.866 mph), and restart speed (166.672 mph).
IN POSITION: According to NASCAR’s loop data, the driver of the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS ranks third among active drivers from 2005 – 2016 in laps spent in the top 15 (2,371), third in quality passes (422), fourth in green-flag passes (720), fifth in average running position (12.773) and sixth in driver rating (94.1) and laps led (142). He is also tied with Mark Martin for the most top-10 finishes of all-time at Las Vegas with 10 top-10s, and is tied with Matt Kenseth for the most lead-lap finishes among active drivers with 14.
Hendrick Motorsports
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT LAS VEGAS: In 19 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports has earned five wins, two pole positions, 19 top-five finishes and 34 top-10s. Jimmie Johnson leads all drivers at the 1.5-mile oval with four victories, while Earnhardt leads active drivers with 10 top-10 finishes at the track.
ORGANIZATION STATS: To date, Hendrick Motorsports has totals of 12 championships, 245 race victories, 211 pole positions, 1,011 top-five finishes and 1,697 top-10 finishes in points-paying NASCAR Cup Series competition. Its teams have led 66,435 laps since 1984.
QUOTABLE /
“We had a good weekend at Atlanta and now we are headed to another mile-and-a-half. Las Vegas is really fast. Turns 1 and 2 are different from Turns 3 and 4, so you have two different corners with two different feels for each end. Over the years it’s gotten rough and has some interesting bumps and things that you have to make sure your car handles over and maneuvers through really well.”
Kasey Kahne on racing at Las Vegas
“The surface is not very worn and I feel like that gives the track a lot of grip. Turns 1 and 2 have a lot of banking, while 3 and 4, to me, seem kind of flat for whatever reason. It can be a challenge to try to marry those two ends of the racetrack together for a race.”
Chase Elliott on racing at Las Vegas
“I thought Goodyear did a great job with the test. I think we got to experience some different tire options and what they potentially could do – trying to reduce that corner speed and trying to increase falloff – which I thought they did a fantastic job with that.”
No. 24 team crew chief Alan Gustafson on the testing at Las Vegas
“It is so fast for its configuration. There is not a lot of banking there. Every memory I have is just driving over my head and driving like a fool to put up lap time. There is a lot of grip in that racetrack.”
Jimmie Johnson on racing at Las Vegas
“I’m proud to represent Lowe’s and Kobalt Tools this weekend at Las Vegas. For 16 seasons, Lowe’s has been on my Chevrolet SS and this is the biggest race to me where we can make them proud to be our partners and put them in Victory Lane. So, there is added pressure to win this race and to win the Kobalt wrench trophy. I hope we have a better weekend than we did last week in Atlanta, so we can be dialed in and focus on putting Lowe’s and Kobalt in Victory Lane.”
Johnson on representing Lowe’s and Kobalt Tools
“I like the steep banking at Las Vegas. They reconfigured it many years ago and it’s much more fun with the steeper banking. I’m looking forward to the next couple of racetracks – there are a lot of fun racetracks coming up. I love the low-downforce package. The cars are hard to drive and everyone is out there being challenged. It’s awesome.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. on racing at Las Vegas
