FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: LAS VEGAS ADVANCE
The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series opens its three-week west coast swing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as all three top touring series will hit the 1.5-mile track this weekend. Ford has half of the 24 all-time NASCAR Cup Series races held at the track and has won this event each of the last two years with drivers Kevin Harvick (2018) and Joey Logano (2019). Here’s a look at Ford’s overall success at LVMS.
FORD IN THE NASCAR CUP SERIES AT LVMS
· Ford leads all manufacturers with 12 series wins in 24 all-time events.
· Roush Fenway Racing tops all organizations with 7 victories, including the first three.
· Ford has won three of the last four at LVMS (Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano).
FORD IN THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES AT LVMS
· Ford has 9 NASCAR XFINITY Series wins at LVMS.
· Jeff Burton and Mark Martin lead the way with 2 wins apiece.
· Jack Roush leads all car owner with 6 series victories at LVMS.
FORD IN THE NASCAR GANDER RV & OUTDOORS TRUCK SERIES AT LVMS
· Ford has 5 series wins at LVMS.
· Ford’s last win came by Grant Enfinger, who won the 2018 Playoff race
· Joe Ruttman, Greg Biffle, Travis Kvapil and Tyler Reddick also have one Ford win each.
LOGANO GOING FOR VEGAS REPEAT
Joey Logano outlasted Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski to win this event last year as Ford placed five drivers in the top 10. Keselowski passed Logano for the lead on lap 240, but four laps later the situation reversed itself and Logano held off a Keselowski charge on the last lap to win for the first time in 2019. The win was Mustang’s second in three series starts after debuting in the Daytona 500 and marked the second straight week a Team Penske driver ended up in victory lane after Keselowski won at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Logano led 86 of the 267 laps while fellow Ford driver Kevin Harvick, who finished fourth, topped everyone with 88 laps led on the day.
ROUSH RULES
There have been two Roush Fenway Racing drivers who have posted consecutive NASCAR Cup Series victories at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Jeff Burton won in 1999 and 2000 while Matt Kenseth did it in his championship season of 2003 and 2004. In fact, Roush Fenway Racing has been a force in both the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup and NASCAR XFINITY Series at the 1.5-mile facility. The organization has posted seven MENCS wins and six NXS victories for a total of 13 overall, which includes back-to-back weekend sweeps in 1999 and 2000. In addition, RFR has three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series triumphs.
TEAM PENSKE ON VEGAS ROLL
Team Penske has dominated the NXS and MENCS events at LVMS in recent years with three drivers combining for seven wins. Sam Hornish Jr. started this streak with his win in the NASCAR XFINITY Series race in 2013 before Brad Keselowski swept the NXS/MENCS weekend in 2014. Keselowski won Cup events in 2016 and 2018 while Joey Logano claimed an NXS victory in 2017 and Cup triumph in this event last year.
SWEEP DELIGHT FOR KESELOWSKI
Brad Keselowski completed a weekend sweep in 2014 after taking the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series events on consecutive days. Even though Keselowski led the most laps in the MENCS race, he needed a little bit of luck and got it on the final lap when Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was in conservation mode, ran out of gas on the back straightaway. That enabled Keselowski to win going away and post the first of his six victories that season.
MARTIN LEADS FORD CHARGE IN INAUGURAL VEGAS CUP EVENT
Ford took the checkered flag at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the inaugural race at the 1.5-mile facility on March 1, 1998 as Mark Martin led a manufacturer runaway that saw 13 of the top 14 finishers driving a Taurus. The win was the first for Taurus, which became the first full-time four-door entry in NASCAR, after Ford decided to use it in the NASCAR Cup Series starting with the 1998 season. Martin bested Roush Fenway teammate Jeff Burton by 1.605 seconds to win the Las Vegas 400 with Rusty Wallace, Johnny Benson and Jeremy Mayfield rounding out the top-five. The only non-Ford to finish in the top-10 was the late Dale Earnhardt, who was eighth.
FORD NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS AT LAS VEGAS
1998 – Mark Martin
1999 – Jeff Burton
2000 – Jeff Burton
2003 – Matt Kenseth
2004 – Matt Kenseth
2008 – Carl Edwards
2011 – Carl Edwards
2014 – Brad Keselowski
2016 – Brad Keselowski
2018 – Kevin Harvick (1) and Brad Keselowski (2)
2019 – Joey Logano (1)
FORD NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS AT LAS VEGAS
1999 – Mark Martin
2000 – Jeff Burton
2002 – Jeff Burton
2005 – Mark Martin
2009 – Greg Biffle
2012 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2013 – Sam Hornish Jr.
2014 – Brad Keselowski
2017 – Joey Logano
FORD NASCAR GANDER OUTDOORS TRUCK SERIES WINNERS AT LAS VEGAS
1997 – Joe Ruttman
1999 – Greg Biffle
2007 – Travis Kvapil
2016 – Tyler Reddick
2018 – Grant Enfinger (2)
