NASCAR Cup Series

“I am really looking forward to getting back in a race car this weekend. We spent a lot of time testing this winter. I really like the direction that Michael Waltrip Racing is heading. I really like my team and I am excited to see how our off season testing worked for us.

University of North Carolina football coach Larry Fedora became a NASCAR fan watching the sport on television. He fell head-over-heels in love with it during a trip to Martinsville Speedway last spring.

Blake Koch, driver of the No. 35 MDS Transport Ford, comments on racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway: "This new qualifying procedure is definitely making things interesting and adding an extra element to have to prepare for and think about going into race weekend.

Ragan has seven Sprint Cup career starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway ... His best finish at the 1.5-mile oval is seventh (2008) ... Taco Bell returns for its first race on the No. 34 Ford with a new black and purple paint scheme.

David Gilliland will take a detour -- on foot -- on his way to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this week. The driver of the No. 38 Love's Travel Stops Ford will be part of a group hiking more than 20 miles of trails through the Grand Canyon Tuesday and Wednesday.

Martin Truex Jr. will make his 300th career Sprint Cup Series start in Sunday’s Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. When informed about the upcoming milestone, the Furniture Row Racing driver said he was both surprised and grateful.

Ryan Truex and the No. 83 Borla Exhaust Toyota Camry team finished in the 35th position at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday afternoon. After spending the race fine-tuning the handling of their Toyota Camry, Truex was able to avoid any trouble on the track to bring home a solid finish.

Alex Bowman and the No. 23 Dr Pepper Toyota Camry team finished in the 41st position at Phoenix International Raceway after racing inside the top-30 in Sunday's 312-mile event in the Arizona desert. Bowman suffered a broken spindle in the right front suspension, which required a long trip to the garage area mid-race and removed the team from contention.

Daytona was great. Phoenix was not bad, once you got used to the differences. One week we had a 2.5-mile superspeedway, the next we got was a single mile circuit. It rained in Florida, yet despite the forecast the only rain came to prematurely end the Nationwide race on Saturday. They ran in big packs in the southeast, not so much in the southwest.

Below is a look at some of the top statistical performers at Las Vegas Motor Speedway going into the KOBALT 400 on March 9.