Lap by Lap: Sam’s Town 300 won by Sam Hornish Jr.

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March 9, 2013

no12_nns_lvms_yeazell — Photo Credit: David Yeazell

Sam Hornish Jr. would dominate on the way to winning the Sam Town’s 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to score his second career Nationwide Series victory. The win allows him to keep the Nationwide Series points lead.

Green flag and Brian Vickers leads ahead of Trevor Bayne

Lap 2 Vickers Bayne, Austin Dillon, Brad Keselowski

Lap 3 Vickers A Dilon Bayne Keselowski, Parker Kligerman, Brian Scott, Sam Hornish Jr., Justin Allgaier, Ty Dillon….Eric McClure brings out the first caution with a huge trail of smoke

Restart lap 8 Vickers leads them off of turn two with Dillon in toe…..Dillon gets the run down the backstretch and gets alongside Vickers.

Lap 9 Dillon leads at the line with Vickers to his inside followed by Keselowski. Vickers grabs the lead back through turns three and four

Lap 10 Vickers Dillion Keselowski Bayne Scott Allgaier Kligerman Hornish Jr. Smith Sadler

Lap 11 Keselowski passes Dillon for second

Lap 12 Kligerman, Hornish Jr. and Smith pass Allgaier

Lap 14 Sadler passes Allgaier for ninth

Lap 15 Vickers leads Keselowski Dillon Bayne Scott Kligerman Hornish Jr Smith Sadler Allgaier

Lap 22 Keselowski passes Vickers for the lead

Lap 28 Keselowski leads Vickers Dillon Bayne Scott Hornish Kligerman, Kyle Busch, Smith and Sadler….Ky Busch passes Kligerman seventh

Lap 31 Daryl Harr blackflagged for not meeting the minimum speed – he has made it to pit road. Smith passes Kligerman for eighth.

Lap 35 Competition yellow due to lack of practice with the weather situation. Pit stops. Bayne leads Smith Keselowski Vickers Dillon Hornish Ky Busch Sadler Scott and Earnhardt Jr. Top two drivers took two tires while the rest took four.

Restart lap 42 Bayne and Smith side-by-side for the lead while its two, three-wide behind them.

Lap 43 Bayne leads while Smith and Vickers are side-by-side for second

Lap 44 Bayne Smith Vickers Hornish Keselowski, A Dillon Ky Busch Sadler Scott, Ty Dillon

Lap 47 Ky Busch passes A Dillon for sixth; Earnhardt Jr. passes Ty Dillon for 10^th

Lap 50 Dillon passes Ky Busch back for sixth…….Bayne Smith Vickers Hornish Keselowski A Dillon Ky Busch Sadler Scott Earnhardt Jr.

Caution lap 56 Joe Nemechek wrecks with the No. 01. Bayne pits from the lead with some of the mid-pack cars. Smith takes over the lead.

Restart lap 61 Hornish makes it three-wide on the restart with Smith and Vickers. Smith and Hornish go side-by-side for the lead into turn three. Hornish clears Smith off turn four.

Lap 62 Hornish leads ahead of Vickers and Smith.

Lap 63 Hornish leads Smith Vickers Keselowski Ky Busch A Dillon Scott Sadler Earnhardt Jr and T Dillon

Lap 64 Vickers passes Smith for second

Lap 66 A Dillon passes Ky Busch for fifth

Lap 69 Keselowski passes Smith for third

Lap 71 Hornish leads Vickers Keselowski Smith A Dillon Ky Busch Scott Sadler Earnhardt Jr and T Dillon

Caution lap 81 Robert Richardson Jr. goes for a spin. Leaders hit pit road. Bayne leads Larson A Dillon Vickers Bowman Piquet Jr Hornish Scott. Some took two tires, some took fuel only, some took four tires.

Restart lap 87. Bayne and Larson side-by-side for the lead. Both drivers get into the wall off of turn four while racing for the lead. Bayne got loose and up into Larson. Caution comes out. Dillon and Vickers were side-by-side behind them.

Restart lap 92 Vickers restarts of the leader, clears Austin Dillon through turns three and four.

Lap 93 Hornish passes A Dillon for second

Lap 94 Hornish passes Vickers for the lead, ahead of A Dillon, Bowman, Keselowski, Ky Busch, Sadler, Smith, Piquet Jr. and Ty Dillon.

Lap 95 Keselowski passes Bowman for fourth.

Lap 97 Smith passes Sadler for seventh; Allgaier passes Piquet Jr and Ty Dillon for ninth

Lap 98 Scott passes Piquet Jr and Ty Dillon for 10^th

Lap 100 Busch and Smith pass Bowman; Scott passes Allgaier

Lap 102 Hornish leads Vickers Keselowski A Dillon Ky Busch Smith Sadler Bowman Scott and Ty Dillon

Lap 125 Keselowski running into major issues, made a couple of pit stops. Hornish leads Vickers.

Lap 136 Keselowski is back down pit road with splitter and shock issues, to go with their temperature issues.

Lap 137 Kyle Busch passes Vickers for second. Parker Kligerman goes behind the wall. Caution for debris. Kyle Busch leads Vickers Hornish A Dillon Smith Sadler T Dillon Scott and Bayne off pit road. “It popped out of gear. It’s okay. I just have a cut left rear tire…..Sorry guys. That was stupid on my part.” – Kligerman

Restart lap 145 as Vickers and Kyle Busch are side-by-side for the lead. Earnhardt Jr. came on pit road as everyone to green with a flat left rear tire.

Lap 147 Ky Busch Vickers A Dillon Hornish Sadler Smith Scott Bowman Bayne T Dillon

50 laps to go Vickers and Ky Busch side-by-side for the lead. Hornish passes Dillon for third

49 laps to go Ky Busch holds Vickers off, Hornish grabs second from Vickers

48 laps to go Hornish and Ky Busch side-by-side for the lead.

47 laps to go Hornish grabs the lead ahead of Ky Busch Vickers Sadler Dillon

46 laps to go Keselowski to the garage.

36 to go Hornish leads Ky Busch and Vickers

34 laps to go Hornish leads Ky Busch Vickers Sadler A Dillon Scott Smith Bayne T Dillon Bowman

28 laps to go Bayne passes Smith for seventh

19 to go Smith passes Bayne back for seventh

Caution 18 to go Scott Lagasse Jr. goes for a spin after getting loose. Brad Sweet gets the lucky dog as he just went a lap down to leader Sam Hornish Jr. Top seven stay out as the back half pits. There are 13 cars on the lead lap with Sweet getting the lucky dog.

Restart 13 laps to go Hornish and Busch are side-by-side for the lead as Kyle Larson wrecks on the backstretch to bring out the caution. Joey Gase was slow, got hit by Ryan Seig…Gase then hit Larson, sending Larson into the outside wall. Earnhardt Jr. gets the lucky dog. On restart will be Hornish KyBusch Sadler Bayne Vickers Bowman ADillon Scott TDillon Smith Pastrana Piquet Sweet DaleJr

Restart 8 laps to go Kyle Busch and Hornish side-by-side for the lead.

6 laps to go Hornish to the lead ahead of Ky Busch through turns one and two

5 laps to go Hornish leads Ky Busch while Bayne and Sadler are side-by-side for third

4 laps to go Vickers makes it three-wide with Bayne and Sadler off of turn four

3 to go Vickers passes Bayne for third. Piquet Jr. scrapes the wall

2 to go Hornish leads Ky Busch Vickers

Sam Hornish Jr. wins at Las Vegas. Kyle Busch. Vickers. Bayne Sadler A Dillon Smith Bowman Scott Pastrana T Dillon Sweet Piquet Earnhardt Jr

Unofficial Race Results
Sam’s Town 300, Las Vegas Motor Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=3
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Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
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1	7	12	Sam Hornish Jr.	Ford	48
2	23	54	Kyle Busch(i)	Toyota	0
3	1	20	Brian Vickers	Toyota	42
4	2	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	41
5	15	11	Elliott Sadler	Toyota	39
6	4	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	39
7	12	7	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	38
8	18	99	Alex Bowman #	Toyota	36
9	3	2	Brian Scott	Chevrolet	35
10	31	60	Travis Pastrana	Ford	34
11	5	33	Ty Dillon(i)	Chevrolet	0
12	17	5	Brad Sweet	Chevrolet	32
13	11	30	Nelson Piquet Jr. #	Chevrolet	31
14	32	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.(i)	Chevrolet	0
15	10	31	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	29
16	9	43	Reed Sorenson	Ford	28
17	20	19	Mike Bliss	Toyota	27
18	21	51	Ryan Sieg	Chevrolet	0
19	27	70	Johanna Long	Chevrolet	25
20	40	8	Scott Lagasse Jr.	Chevrolet	24
21	22	24	Blake Koch	Toyota	23
22	36	55	Jamie Dick	Chevrolet	22
23	37	92	Dexter Stacey #	Ford	21
24	14	44	Hal Martin #	Toyota	20
25	26	40	Josh Wise	Chevrolet	19
26	34	79	Jeffrey Earnhardt #	Ford	19
27	16	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	17
28	30	15	Juan Carlos Blum #	Ford	16
29	29	23	Robert Richardson Jr.	Chevrolet	15
30	8	77	Parker Kligerman	Toyota	14
31	25	4	Daryl Harr	Chevrolet	13
32	13	32	Kyle Larson #	Chevrolet	13
33	38	52	Joey Gase	Chevrolet	11
34	19	1	Mike Wallace	Chevrolet	10
35	28	0	Jason White	Toyota	9
36	35	74	Kevin Lepage	Chevrolet	8
37	6	22	Brad Keselowski(i)	Ford	0
38	33	10	Jeff Green	Toyota	6
39	39	42	Chase Miller	Chevrolet	5
40	24	14	Eric McClure	Toyota	4

Matty’s Picks 2013 – Vol. 3 Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Kobalt Tools 400 – March 10, 2013

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SM Staff

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March 9, 2013

JimmieJohnson_Yeazell — Photo Credit: David Yeazell

We stay on the left coast again for the second straight week in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as the series makes first and only visit of the season to the 1.5-mile tri-oval in the desert. An aging race surface, a green racetrack, and the first real look at how the new Gen6 car will perform on a more traditional 1.5-mile track, we head into another weekend with many unknowns surrounding the outcome of the 267 lap stanza on Sunday.

With a rare rain-out of both practice and qualifying yesterday, teams are scrambling to parlay the Intel they gained from Thursday’s 6-hour test session and apply it to their setups for Sunday Afternoon’s 16th Annual Kobalt Tools 400.

Per the NASCAR Rule Book, the field for Sunday has been set according to last season’s Owner Points, meaning The Champ, Brad Kesolowski will share the front row with last year’s bridesmaid, Clint Bowyer. As we saw last week in Phoenix, with the increased amount of downforce the Gen6 car is producing, tire wear is becoming the top story in this young season, and with a green racetrack in the desert again this week, handling and saving your equipment might be the key in driving to Victory Lane on Sunday.

Phoenix Recap

Well, I published my column last week before Denny Hamlin was forced to change engines and start from the rear of the field in last Sunday’s Subway Fresh Fit 500. I really hoped for the best in not updating my column on Sunday morning, and it truly paid off as the guy I looked at to win last Sunday, was also sent to the rear of the field, and he did not fare as well as Hamlin did in working his way up through the field.

With Hamlin coming off the back last week, the combination of excellent pit strategy and quick pit stops were the key for the No. 11 FedEx Office team in their first top-five of the 2013 season. A three-wide pass on the white flag lap in the dogleg section of PIR vaulted the No. 11 team to a third place finish after battling a loose racecar for the majority of the day.

Hamlin spoke after his podium finish and was fined $25,000 by NASCAR for his comments about the new Gen6 racecar, and NASCAR has not released exactly what sparked the $25,000 slap, but the only negative comments Hamlin made appear to be comparing the Gen6 car to the Generation Five cars:

” We learned a lot. I don’t want to be the pessimist, but it did not race as good as our generation five cars. This is more like what the generation five was at the beginning. The teams hadn’t figured out how to get the aero balance right. Right now, you just run single-file and you cannot get around the guy in front of you. You would have placed me in 20th-place with 30 (laps) to go, I would have stayed there — I wouldn’t have moved up. It’s just one of those things where track position is everything.”

My dark horse pick fared quite a bit worse at the flat-track in the desert last week, despite winning each of the three practice sessions and after starting the race from the pole position. Michael Waltrip Racing’s Mark Martin was the car to beat going based off practice speeds and after taking the Coors Light Pole Award, but after an extra pit stop on lap 63 for a vibration on the right side of the No. 55 AAron’s Dream Machine Toyota, Martin had to first gain back the lap he lost on the stop, as well as pass 20+ cars on the lead lap to end up in Victory Lane. Luckily, the caution would fly just a few laps later, and Martin would climb his way back to the lead lap, but would fall short in the end following the wild conclusion of the Subway Fresh Fit 500. A 21st place finish is what I got out of my Dark Horse last week, not the finish I’m looking for.

Vegas Picks

Just one time a year we visit the 1.5-miler in the desert, and it’s probably a good thing we only make one trip to Sin City, both for the sake of the difficulty in handling drivers are experiencing this week and also for the sake of The Champ’s liver….

Winner Pick

It’s very difficult not to look at Jimmie Johnson this week, as his impressiveness in the first few races each season is what kick-starts the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet team. Johnson tops the list of active driver performances at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with four wins, five top fives, and six top tens in just eleven races at the 1.5-mile tri-oval. Historically speaking, Johnson has been a contender in each and every Intermediate Track race the past seven or so seasons, and the odds-makers have made Johnson the preliminary front-runner in giving him 5-1 odds at taking home the trophy tomorrow for his car sponsor, who like last week’s race winner, Carl Edwards, will also be driving for the race sponsor tomorrow afternoon. He had the second-best 10-lap average in Thursday’s test session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the second-best time by any Chevrolet, and the best run by any of the Hendrick Motorsports drivers. He’s starting inside the second row, so he doesn’t have far to go to get to the front.

Dark Horse Pick

Richard Childress Racing claimed two of the top-five spots in final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Happy Hour this afternoon, and the fifth-fastest 10-lap average went to RCR’s Paul Menard. Las Vegas Motor Speedway happens to be Menard’s second-best track in the past 2 years, averaging a finish just inside the top-10 at 9.5. At Las Vegas’ twin track, Kansas Speedway, which hosts two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races each year, Menard has boasted a finish inside the top 5 and the track happens to be his second-best track in his 10-year Sprint Cup Career. By definition, a long-shot is any driver with odds of winning of 20-1 or worse, and Menard currently sits at 100-1 to win the Kobalt Tools 400 on Sunday, so a Dark Horse is exactly what Paul Menard is for taking the home the trophy.

That’s all for this week, so until we roll on to the bull ring in the hills of Tennessee, you stay classy NASCAR NATION!

Martin Truex Jr. Paces Happy Hour Leading Up To Race

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SM Staff

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March 9, 2013

MartinTruexJr_Yeazell — Photo Credit: David Yeazell

Martin Truex Jr. paced Happy Hour with a fastest speed of 188.383 mph leading up to the Kobalt Tools 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway tomorrow afternoon. Truex is trying to get a good race under his belt after poor finishes in both the season-opening Daytona 500 and last weekend at the Subway Fresh Fit 500 in Phoenix. Could this be a track where Truex can fit all the pieces of the puzzle together? Truex comes into this race with an average finish of 17th. His 6th place finish here at this event in 2011 is his best finish here in Vegas.

Carl Edwards was second fastest with a speed of 187.007 mph. Edwards is coming off his first win in nearly two years last week in Phoenix where he led 122 of the 312 laps. Last season, Edwards only led 250 laps and missed the cut for the Chase and failed to win a race. Edwards is a two-time winner here in Vegas. He won here in 2008, and 2011.

Hometown hero Kyle Busch was third quickest. Busch is also one of those drivers who just needs a break. He left the Daytona 500 due to engine failure and hit the wall twice in Phoenix en-route to a 23rd place finish. He won here in 2009, but hasn’t found much luck since. His engine exploded in 2011, and last year he struggled and wound up in 23rd after spinning out.

Points leader and Daytona 500 champion Jimmie Johnson was fourth quickest and he has 4 wins at this race track. He is my pick to win the race. He won three races in a row here at one point from 2005-2007, and beat teammate Jeff Gordon in a duel here in 2010, but it was the decision to take 4 tires on the last pit stop that prevailed the 48 to the front of the field. Mark Martin, Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, Paul Menard, and Greg Biffle rounded out the Top 10.

Matt Kenseth was 11th fastest. He is a two-time Vegas winner, but has not won here since 2004. Following Kenseth was Jeff Burton. Burton is also a two-time winner here in Vegas. In the first three races held in Las Vegas, Burton had two wins and a 2nd, but has won come close to winning here since 2009 where he finished third.

Defending winner of this race Tony Stewart was 18th quickest. Other notables include: Keselowski (21st), Gordon (22nd), Kurt Busch (23rd), Danica (30th).

Win-Tron Racing Announces Sponsor For Matt Tifft In NASCAR K&N Division

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SM Archive

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March 9, 2013

Car Owner Points From 2012 Put The No. 21 In the Line-up at Las Vegas

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SM Archive

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March 9, 2013

Brad Keselowski wins pole for Kobalt Tools 400 after qualifying is rained out

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SM Staff

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March 9, 2013

Keselowski_Yeazell — Photo Credit: David Yeazell

With rain falling throughout the entire afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, qualifying was rained out, putting defending series champion Brad Keselowski on the pole. The rest of the field will start based on last year’s owners standings as per NASCAR rules.

The rule states that for the first three races, if qualifying is rained out, the field is set based off last year’s owners standings. For the rest of the season, the field will be set by this year’s owner’s standings if qualifying is rained out.

The driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford is fully taking in the perk of being last year’s champion after timing in 12th and 21st during Thursday’s test session.

“That is the first time I have had a decent starting position in a rainout,” he said. “That is great. I feel pretty good about that. I was just thinking when I walked in, with this being Vegas and all, what the odds would be of a rainout in Vegas. I bet that was pretty high. Obviously whenever you can start up front it is a big deal and you get the first pit stall and all those things that make a big difference on pit road. The way our car has been running the last two weeks, and off of what I saw in practice yesterday I feel like we are in position to hopefully keep that for a very long time in the race and hopefully close it out.”

Clint Bowyer will start second, followed by points leader Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle. Denny Hamlin will start sixth, followed by rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (who is using Matt Kenseth’s points from last year), Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon. Biffle led the second practice session on Thursday.

Matt Kenseth, who led the morning session, will start 18th as he is using Joey Logano’s points from last year.

Phoenix race winner Carl Edwards will start 16th with Daytona 500 pole sitter Danica Patrick starting 37th.

Mike Bliss will be the only driver that does not make the field for the Kobalt Tools 400.