11:55 pm - And that’s a wrap on this weekend’s racing action at LVMS.
Nelson Piquet, Jr. and Tanner Foust were the big winners and the fans were treated to two extremely different but very exciting events. Thanks for joining us….and good night!
11:45 pm - Tanner Foust wins the GRC Main Event.
2nd-8th: Deegan, Isachsen, Heikkinen, Verdier, Millen, Block, Lasek.
Ericksson and Pastrana did not finish.
11:20 pm - Andreas Eriksson wins the last chance qualifier followed by Pastrana Verdier, Lasek, Moro, Hubinette, Mirra and Binks. The top four advance to the Main Event.
The lineup for the Main Event (6 laps): Foust, Block, Deegan, Heikkinen, Millen, Isachsen, Eriksson, Pastrana, Verdier, Lasek
10:50 pm – Brian Deegan wins the third heat race. 2nd -5th: Heikkinen, Verdier, Hubinette, Pastrana.
The lineup for the last chance qualifier is: Mirra, Verdier, Moro, Eriksson, Lasek, Hubinette, Pastrana, Binks
10:31 pm – Ken Block wins the second heat race. Millen, Moro, Erickson and Binks finish 2nd through 5th.
Binks spun in the dirt on the final lap while leading and falls to last place.
10:17 pm - Tanner Foust wins the first heat race followed by Isachsen, Mirra and Lasek.
Richard Burton misjudged the gap jump on his first attempt on the 1st lap and lands hard between the ramps. He is awake and alert but is being transported to UMC by ambulance for observation and further evaluation.
9:25 pm – The track crew is busy reassembling the GRC course and the drivers are getting ready for the heat races.
Bracket 1A: Tanner Foust, Sverre Isachsen, Bucky Lasek, Dave Mirra, Richard Burton
Bracket 1B: Ken Block, Rhys Millen, Andreas Erikssen, David Binks, Pat Moro
Bracket 1C: Travis Pastrana, Toomas Heikkinen, Brian Deegan, Samuel Hubinette, Stephan Verdier
9:10 pm - Despite his run-in on pit road during the 6th caution, Ty Dillon held onto the points lead after a 10th place finish. “We had an awesome truck tonight,” said Dillon, who leads James Buescher by 1 point with five races to go. “I’m disappointed that our night kind of got ruined on pit road. I’m proud of the team. We fought back but it still hurts. We still have the points lead. Everything’s going to be all right.”
9:00 pm - Nelson Piquet, Jr. started 13th and posted his 2nd career victory. His first was at Michigan, 5 races ago. He led four times for 30 laps.
“I have no idea what happened,” said Piquet, Jr. about his last lap pass on Matt Crafton. “I stuck it in there and God gave me the grip I needed. We really needed this win. For sure, it’s one of the best wins of my career. It’s difficult to put into words what I felt when I crossed the checkered flag and even on the back straight when I was in front of the No. 88 (Crafton). I hit the wall 10 laps from the end but I wasn’t giving up. Luckily, it didn’t damage the truck enough to run down the tires. It’s for sure one of the best feelings I’ve had in 19 years of my career. Winning in Vegas is amazing.”
Crafton’s runner up finish was his 12th top 10 finish of the season. “That sucks,” said Crafton, who led twice for 15 laps. “Just plain and simple sucks. My God, that’s a tough one to lose on the last lap.”
7:52 pm - Piquet takes a run at Crafton with 5 laps to go but loses his momentum and falls back. Piquet has a faster truck but Crafton isn’t going to make it easy. White flag – Piquet peeks underneath Crafton in Turn 2 and takes the lead. Piquet wins for the second time this season. 2nd-5th are Crafton, Coulter, Gaughan and Bodine.
7:45 pm - The green flag waves on Lap 131. Coulter takes the lead. Crafton goes three wide on the inside and takes the lead on Lap 133. Gaughan takes ‘em 4 wide and comes out 4th. Piquet is back to 3rd. Gaughan and Bodine are side by side for 4th. Gaughan gets the position. With 9 laps to go the top 5 are Crafton, Piquet, Coulter, Gaughan and Bodine.
7:34 pm - Back to green on Lap 121. Kligerman scrapes the outside wall on Lap 124. He hits it again one lap later and now he’s falling backwards from 14th place. Crafton gets underneath Piquet trying to take the lead but Piquet fights back and keeps it. Kligerman blows a tire and brings out the Caution for the 8th time on Lap 127.
Pastrana gets the free pass and is back on the lead lap, running 17th. The top five under caution: Piquet, Crafton, Coulter, Bodine and Mayhew. Gaughan is running 6th.
7:27 pm - A handful of drivers pit including Kligerman, Dillon and Townley. Up front the top five under caution are Piquet, Bodine, Crafton, Mayhew and Coulter. Vegas’ own Brendan Gaughan is running 9th. Sauter and Lofton were evaluated and released from the infield care center. “We’ve got people out here that just shouldn’t be racing,” said Sauter. “That’s just the way I feel.” Lofton’s take on the deal: “I should have just turned right and put into the fence,” said Lofton. “Bummer it had to end this way. I really think we had a chance to win this.”
7:21 pm - Piquet takes the lead from Mayhew. Bodine gets around Mayhew as well and sets his sights on Piquet. Dillon is mired back in 16th after the mishap on pit road. Crash on the front stretch on Lap 114 involving Johnny Sauter and Lofton. Yellow #7. Lofton lost control and Sauter had nowhere to go. Buescher barely makes it by with no contact. Kligerman gets the free pass and is back on the lead lap.
7:11 pm - Brennan Newberry (running 14th) crashes in Turn 4 to bring out the 6th caution of the race. Peters and Kligerman battle for the free pass spot and Peters gets it to put himself back on the lead lap. The leaders pit. Piquet takes 2 tires and 1 can of fuel. Bodine and Dillon take 2 tires. Coulter takes 4 tires. Mayhew and Dillon make contact on pit road. Dillon has a flat tire after contact on pit road and has to come in again. Green flag with 40 laps to go. The top five are Mayhew, Bodine, Miguel Paludo, Lofton.
7:00 pm - Kligerman gets the free pass and is now 1 lap behind the leaders. Dillon takes the lead off of pit road followed by Coulter, Piquet, Crafton and Gale. Back to green on Lap 80. Dillon gets loose and falls all the way back to 8th. Coulter takes the lead. Crafton gets around Piquet for 2nd. Lap 95: Coulter has a 2.0 second lead over Piquet, Justin Lofton, Bodine and Crafton.
6:51 pm - Kligerman gives up the lead to pit on Lap 71. He only took 1 can of fuel on an early stop and he needs more. He loses a lap. Piquet takes over the top spot. Kligerman gets a penalty for speeding on entry to pit road. He heads back in for a stop and go penalty and loses a 2nd lap. The caution flag flies for the fifth time on Lap 77 for debris in Turn 4. Brian Silas gets the free pass putting 17 trucks on the lead lap. Piquet leads the field onto pit road.
6:40 pm - Peters heads to pit road under green on Lap 52. He thinks he has a tire going down. The crew changes all four tires. He rejoins the race in 21st , 1 lap behind the leaders. Coulter and Dillon are back up to 3rd and 4th , respectively. Peters’ crew lets him know he did not have a flat tire and he is still complaining the truck is loose. Hornaday is out of the race with a blown engine.
6:31 pm - Some drivers take two tires to shake up the running order. The top three before pit stops take 4 tires and restart 8th through 10th . Back to Green on Lap 36: Kligerman, Buescher, Grant Enfinger are now 1st through 3rd. Enfinger takes the lead briefly but Kligerman grabs it right back. The top 5 on Lap 42 are Kligerman, Gale, Piquet, Coulter and John Wes Townley. Lafferty was checked and released from the infield center.
6:15 pm - Travis Pastrana gets the free pass and is back on the lead lap. Several trucks come to pit road for service. The top 13 stay out on the track. Back to green on Lap 19. Coulter and Dillon get around Peters for 1^st and 2nd.
Ron Hornaday is off the pace on Lap 22. Bodine slides up the track and scrapes the wall off Turn 4 on Lap 28. Chris Lafferty slams the wall in Turn 4 and Parker Kligerman gets sideways to avoid the contact and makes it through. Yellow #4 flies on Lap 30. Top 5: Coulter, Dillon, Peters, Mayhew and Nelson Piquet, Jr.
6:06 pm - Pastrana says there is nothing wrong with his truck. He lost control because the air pressure in the tires hasn’t had time to build up yet. Green flag on Lap 8. Chris Lafferty spins off Turn 4 and Yellow #3 flies on Lap 15. He doesn’t hit anything and drives around to the attention of his crew. Peters continues to lead followed by Coulter, Dillon, Mayhew and Crafton.
6:00 pm - Back to green on Lap 5. Timothy Peters takes the lead. Travis Pastrana spins off Turn 4 in almost the same place where Bodine spun and we’ve got Yellow #2 on Lap 7. The top five are Peters, Coulter, Ryan Reed, Ty Dillon and Matt Crafton.
5:50 pm – Green Flag! Todd Bodine spins off Turn 4 as the field completes Lap 1 and under caution for the first time. Joey Coulter leads the first lap followed by Timothy Peters and David Mahew. Bodine heads to pit road with a flat left, front tire.
5:40 pm – We’ve just wrapped up driver introductions and we’re ready to go racing. The fans, drivers and crew members observed a moment of silence for Chris Economacki, the undisputed Dean of Motorsports, who passed away earlier yesterday morning. Julianna Erdesz performed the National Anthem and Tate Jorgensen, account manager for Smith’s is about to give the command to start engines.
2:30 pm – NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Pre-Race Stats:
1:30 pm – The GRC drivers have finished their seeding session with Tanner Foust at the top of the list with a lap completed in 25.447 seconds. Ken Block was second in the Monster World Rally Ford at 25.640 seconds. Travis Pastrana was third at 25.651 seconds.
11:25 am – Tanner Faust, from Dana Point, CA, was the fastest GRC driver during the morning’s first practice session. Faust toured the course in 29.617 seconds in his Rockstar Energy Ford Fiesta. Sweden’s Andreas Eriksson was second fastest at 30.106 seconds in the Best Buy Ford Fiesta. UK driver David Binks made it a top three sweep for Ford in the eBay Motors entry with a lap of 30.227 seconds.
10:45 am – GETTING TO KNOW GLOBAL RALLYCROSS – Take some highly modified all-wheel-drive turbocharged compact cars generating 600 hp. Add some water and a little dirt, throw in drifting, jumping and aggressive drivers with big…uh…talent and you get Global Rallycross.
The course is oval-ish and is laid out with half of it on the LVMS frontstretch and the other half on pit road. Drivers negotiate a variety of elements, including the car wash, a dirt turn, a chicane, a tabletop that looks like a giant speed bump and a 70-foot gap jump. Drivers have a choice of going over the gap or turning hard left and going under it but they can only take the shortcut once per event and must time it strategically to take full advantage.
Heat races feature multiple cars competing from a standing start for four laps. Winners advance to the A Main, which is a five-lap race. Described by some drivers as motorcross with a roll cage, the sport debuted at the X games in 2010.
10:00 am – Welcome back for Day 2 at LVMS. The Global Rallycross cars are practicing for tonight’s main event. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams will get the command to start engines at 5:40 pm this evening with RCR Racing’s Joey Coulter leading the field to green. Ticket gates and the Neon Garage open at 3 pm. There are still tickets left and we’ve got great weather, so come on out and join us!
9:45 - That will do it for Day 1. Join us tomorrow for the Truck Series and Global Rallycross series main events.
9:37 pm – Joey Coulter backed up his fast practice times by winning the pole for tomorrow night’s Smith’s 350. Coulter lapped the track in the No. 22 Chevy in 30.572 seconds for a speed of 176.632 mph.
The is the third pole for the Richard Childress Racing driver in 2012 and his second in a row after leading the field to green last weekend at Kentucky Motor Speedway.
“I had a fantastic truck from the time we unloaded,” said Coulter. “It’s a really good day when you don’t have to mess with it. As good as the truck was in practice, I really would have been disappointed if we couldn’t back it up. It’s definitely cool for me. Last year we qualified 12th or 14th and wrecked. Our goal was to come back and try to forget about last year.”
Timothy Peters qualified the No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota 2nd fastest with a lap of 175.856 mph completed in 30.707 seconds. David Mayhew, Matt Crafton and Ty Dillon rounded out the top five. Hometown hero Brendan Gaughan starts sixth in the No. 2 South Point Chevrolet.
5:37 pm - Practice is over and Joey Coulter hangs onto the top spot as the only driver to crack the 176 mph barrier. Timothy Peters, Grant Enfinger, Johnny Sauter and David Mayhew round out the top 5. Ty Dillon was 8th fastest.
The crews will get ready for qualifying while their drivers head to the Neon Garage to meet the fans for a one-hour autograph session starting at 7 pm. Tonight's qualifying session will get underway at 8:35 pm.
5:15 pm - DILLON 4TH HOTTEST IN NASCAR – Apparently Ty Dillon has impressed a lot of people this year…both on and off the track. The series points leader was surprised, flattered and pleased to learn he was named the 4th Hottest Dude in NASCAR by BuzzFeed.com and the only CTS regular to make the list.
“Is that hot, like, good looking hot?” he asked. “Awesome. Was that after Danica, so really it’s like third?” he joked. “Well, that’s cool. I’m sure my girlfriend will be happy about that.”
For the record, Danica – not being a dude – was not in the running. The top three ahead of Ty are Sprint Cup stars Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne and Jamie McMurray.
5:00 pm – We’ve had our first incident on the track. Chris Lafferty spins his Chevrolet off Turn 4 and manages to avoid contact with the wall. Coulter continues to lead the way with a 175.234 mph lap.
4:30 pm – Joey Coulter has jumped to the top of the speed chart at the halfway point of the practice session. Coulter’s fastest lap so far is 174.622, more than 1 mph faster than Todd Bodine in second place. David Mayhew is third, followed by Parker Kligerman and Justin Lofton.
4:20 pm – FROM WINNER TO DARK HORSE – Ron Hornaday does not plan on resting on the laurels of last year’s victory at LVMS. Hornaday is winless so far in 2012 with his best finish a 2nd at Iowa Speedway in July. He would like nothing better than to make it back-to-back victories in Sin City.
“The way this track weathers and the sand and the wind we get out here, it ages fast,” said Hornaday. “What you think you had here last year is not gonna work. This is the only track that I’ve felt comfortable enough where I can get to the top groove. We had a good enough truck last year where we kind of dominated the race and I could drive it anywhere. The odds are definitely against this team coming into this weekend but I would like to consider us a dark horse.”
3:45 pm – The Truck Series teams are 15 minutes into their first and only practice session. Ty Dillon was the first on track and is currently second fastest behind Parker Kligerman. Joey Coulter, Cale Gale and Justin Lofton round out the top five.
2:25 pm - PASTRANA DOUBLES DOWN IN VEGAS - Travis Pastrana is the only driver pulling double duty at LVMS this weekend. He’ll make his Craftsman Truck Series debut in the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Toyota before climbing into the Red Bull Rallycross Dodge Dart to race for the 2012 Global Rallycross Series championship Saturday night.
Pastrana has been racing part time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series with his most recent start earlier this month at Richmond International Racing where he finished 17th and led his first NNS laps driving for Roush Racing.
“I’m trying to get my future more into NASCAR and I always wanted to race here,” said Pastrana. “I watched last year’s Smith’s 250 (Truck Series race) here from the grandstands.”
BUESCHER’S DRIVE FOR FIVE – James Buescher comes into LVMS fresh off his fourth victory of the season at Kentucky Motor Speedway. All four wins have been on 1.5 mile intermediate tracks. He is 2nd in points and with just four markers separating him from series leader Ty Dillon, he’s looking for victory number five.
“The team and I are really confident that we can go to Vegas and win this race after last weekend’s performance,” said Buescher. “Las Vegas Motor Speedway falls right into our wheelhouse with it being an intermediate track.”
11:30 am - Good morning from Las Vegas Motor Speedway where we’re gearing up for two days of NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Global Rallycross action.
The Truck Series teams roll in with rookie Ty Dillon leading the championship standings by a scant 4 points over last week’s winner James Buescher. Dillon is competing for the first time at LVMS while Buescher has a best finish of 3rd in three races at America’s Racing Showplace. Ron Hornaday is the defending race winner and is hoping to dance with Lady Luck once again for his first victory of the season. The truck teams take to the track at 3:30 pm for two hours of practice with qualifying scheduled to start at 8:35 pm. Fans will get a chance to meet their favorite driver at this evening’s autograph session in the Neon Garage from 6-7 pm.
The Global Rallycross drivers are competing in their 2012 season finale tomorrow night with 12 drivers still in the hunt for the $25,000 grand prize and championship title. Tanner Foust and Brian Deegan are tied for the lead with Samuel Hubinette second and Travis Pastrana third.
Ticket gates open at 3 pm, so there’s still plenty of time to come on out and join us. The Truck Series drivers will be hosting an autograph session in the Neon Garage from 6-7 pm.
6:10 p.m. – The third race of the 2012 NASAR Sprint Cup Series is in the books and defending champion Tony Stewart can add a Las Vegas trophy to his already robust collection of hardware. That wraps up our coverage here at the speedway. Until next time…good night!
5:50 p.m. – With Stewart's win at LVMS there are now just two tracks on the circuit where he has yet to visit Victory Lane. The two tracks are Darlington and Kentucky, which joined the schedule in 2011. "That's a huge personal accomplishment for me," said Stewart. "I take a lot of pride in being at least competitive in different types of cars, being competitive at different racetracks. This is one we've been close a couple times and it got away."
5:40 p.m. – Tony Stewart recorded his 45th career victory and first at LVMS in 14 series starts. He led three times for 127 laps, including the final 34 after a three wide move on a restart carried the No. 14 Chevrolet from third to first. The car was equally strong on the final two restarts as the defending champion held off Johnson. "I'm just finally glad to win one here," said Stewart. "Just proud of the Hendrick engine department making great steam with it. That was the key to our restarts was the power that we had." It was also the first win with new crew chief Steve Addington. "He's doing an awesome job," Stewart confirmed. "It is hard to come into a team after they've won a championship like that. I don't know that there are too many guys other than a guy like Steve Addington that could step into the role and do the job he is doing." Stewart climbed from 15th to 7th in the standings, 25 points behind Biffle.
5:20 p.m. – Tony Stewart recorded his 45th career victory and first at LVMS in 14 series starts. He led three times for 127 laps, including the final 34 after a three wide move on a restart carried the No. 14 Chevrolet from third to first. The car was equally strong on the final two restarts as the defending champion held off Johnson. "I'm just finally glad to win one here," said Stewart. "Just proud of the Hendrick engine department making great steam with it. That was the key to our restarts was the power that we had." It was also the first win with new crew chief Steve Addington. "He's doing an awesome job," Stewart confirmed. "It is hard to come into a team after they've won a championship like that. I don't know that there are too many guys other than a guy like Steve Addington that could step into the role and do the job he is doing." Stewart climbed from 15th to 7th in the standings, 25 points behind Biffle.
4:15 p.m. – Jimmie Johnson rallied from tail end of the field in a backup car to finish 2nd . He led once for 35 laps and chased Stewart to the checkers. Two restarts within the final 11 laps bunched up the field but Johnson couldn't close enough on Stewart to complete a pass for the lead. "The first one I know that I just jumped on the gas too hard and spun 'em," said Johnson. "That was my fault. The second restart, I didn't spin 'em. I felt really good. He was still running away from me. We're flying around here. The faster you go, the more that clean air becomes a priority."
Johnson fourteen positions in the point standings to 23rd . Johnson has back-to-back top five finishes after the 42nd place finish at Daytona. He would be tied for 13^th if not for the 25-point penalty handed down after Daytona. The appeals hearing for that penalty will take place on March 13. Crew chief Chad Knaus and car chief Ron Malec will find out then if their suspensions stand.
4:00 p.m. – Greg Biffle's third place finish boosted him into the early points lead by 10 over Kevin Harvick. Biffle has three third place finishes in the first three races of the season and equaled his best finish at LVMS in starts. "It was clear that the 14 (Stewart) and 48 (Johnson) were just a little bit better than we were," Biffle said. "We had a top five car and finished third. We want to win like the 14 car did today. We're going to keep our heads down and keep working hard."
3:15 p.m. - Kenseth gets pushed up into the outside wall on the restart and falls all the way back to 22^nd by Lap 266. No caution. Tony Stewart wins the Kobalt Tools by almost half-a-second over Jimmie Johnson for his first series victory at LVMS. Biffle, Newman and Edwards round out the top five.
3:10 p.m. – Kyle Busch cuts down the right rear tire, spins to the entrance of pit road and unceremoniously crushes the orange cone. The caution flies for the 8^th time on Lap 261. Aric Almirola gets the free pass. Stewart leads the field back to green on Lap 264 with Johnson, Kenseth, Biffle and Edwards in his tire tracks.
3:05 p.m. - Keselowski doesn't come up to speed on the restart and heads to pit road on Lap 252, loses a lap and goes behind the wall. He's experiencing the same fuel pump problem his teammate experienced just about 60 laps ago.
Kurt Busch runs over some debris, cuts down a tire and crashes hard into the inside SAFER barrier on the backstretch on Lap 256 to bring out the 7th caution. Stewart still leads followed by Johnson, Biffle, Kenseth and Edwards. Back to green on Lap 259.
2:50 p.m. – Under caution for the 6^th time on Lap 246 for a blown engine in the No. 83 Toyota driven by Landon Cassill. Joey Logano, running 23rd , gets the free pass. Stewart leads followed by Keselowski, Biffle, Johnson and Kenseth. The green flag flies on Lap 251.
2:45 p.m. – Yellow #5 flies for debris on Lap 230. Stewart leads the field down pit road. Clint Bowyer and Brad Keselowski stay out and take over first and second. Stewart takes on fuel only and restarts 3^rd . Kenseth and Biffle are 4^th and 5^th . Green flag on Lap 234. Stewart goes underneath the white line and takes 'em three wide to Turn 1 to take the lead from Bowyer.
2:30 p.m. - Allmendinger drives the No. 22 Penske Dodge to the garage on Lap 198 with an engine problem. Dinger is reporting low fuel pressure. Debris on the backstretch brings out the fourth caution of the afternoon on Lap 206. Trevor Bayne is running 19^th and collects the free pass back onto the lead lap. The field drives down pit road for service. Stewart wins the race off pit road with a two-tire stop. Earnhardt jumps all the way to 2^nd with a two-tire stop. Jamie McMurray runs 3^rd followed by Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth. Kyle Busch is running 6^th and Biffle, Johnson, Menard and Truex rounding out the top 10. Back to green on Lap 210.
2:10 p.m. - The field makes a round of green flag pit stops and Stewart cycles back into the lead on Lap 180 with Johnson, Kenseth, Biffle and Paul Menard running 2nd through 5th .
1:55 p.m. - Stewart takes the lead from Johnson on Lap 134 on the restart after the third caution. Kurt Busch makes an unscheduled stop under green on Lap 148 for a flat tire. He loses three laps and falls back to 32nd. On Lap 155, the top five are Stewart, Johnson, Kenseth, Biffle and Harvick. Earnhardt has worked his way back up to 10th.
1:45 p.m. - Jeff Gordon comes down pit road for a scheduled stop on Lap 120. Harvick and others hit pit road on Lap 123. Johnson gives up the lead for his stop on Lap 125. Johnson retains the lead after everybody pits. The 3rd caution waves on Lap 128 for a blown engine in Travis Kvapil's Toyota. Kyle Busch, who was running behind Kvapil at the time, appears to get loose and scrapes the wall.
The top five under caution are Johnson, Stewart, Kenseth, Biffle and Harvick. Harvick is reporting his seat belts are cutting of the circulation and making his left leg numb. Denny Hamlin gets the free pass. The green flag waves on Lap 134.
1:20 p.m. - Kenseth takes the lead from Harvick on Lap 80 and holds onto it until Johnson flexes the right muscle in his back up Chevy and flashes by to take the lead on Lap 100. Stewart runs 3^rd with Biffle and Harvick rounding out the top five. Kyle Busch is running 13^th and Earnhardt is still stuck in traffic in 14^th . After his win at Phoenix last week, Denny Hamlin is struggling with an ill handling car in 26th, the last driver on the lead lap.
1:10 p.m. - Under caution for the second time on Lap 74 for a crash in Turn 4 involving David Reutimann. Everyone pits for service. Most of the leaders opt for two tires. Harvick beats the field off pit road followed by Kenseth, Biffle, Johnson and Stewart. David Ragan stayed on the track and to lead a lap before making his stop. Earnhardt takes four tires and will restart 16^th . Kurt Busch gets the free pass and is the last driver on the lead lap in 27^th . Back to green on Lap 78.
12:40 p.m. – Earnhardt gives up the lead for the first time to come to pit road for a scheduled stop. Timmy Hill spins in Turn 1 and brings out the first caution of the day. Earnhardt is down and away before the pace car gets to the start/finish line. The rest of the field pits under caution. Kurt Busch was on pit road when the caution flew. but failed to get out in front of the pace car so he'll lose a lap. David Ragan gets the free pass. Green flag on Lap 50 with Earnhardt in the lead followed by Harvick, Biffle, Kenseth and Tony Stewart. Kyle Busch has worked his way up to 10th and Jimmie Johnson is running 13th.
12:30 p.m. - Brendan Gaughan flattens the right side of the No. 33 Chevrolet while running 26th on Lap 7. Gaughan stays on the track but falls all the way back to 41^st . No caution and the field remains under green. On Lap 15, Earnhardt stretches his lead to 2.8 seconds over Logano, Harvick, Truex and Kurt Busch. Gaughan comes to pit road on Lap 17.
12:10 p.m. – Comedian and actor Tim Allen delivers his own version of the command to start engines with, "Hey drivers, light these bad boys up!" Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Regan Smith and Juan Pablo Montoya drop to the back during the parade laps and that puts Dale Earnhardt, Jr. alongside Kahne on the front row. The green flag waves and we're underway. Earnhardt takes advantage of his position and jumps out to the lead. The rest of the top 5 on Lap 1: Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr.
11:45 a.m. – Jimmie Johnson leads all drivers with four Sprint Cup Series victories at LVMS while Jeff Gordon leads all drivers with 455 laps led. Johnson's victories were consecutive with the first in 2005. Kasey Kahne leads the field to green with his 3^rd pole in nine attempts. His best finish here was a second in 2004 in his first start at the track. Garage insiders are pointing to Kevin Harvick as the driver to beat today. Harvick starts third and has a best finish of second two seasons ago.
11:30 a.m. – Timmy Hill is making his Sprint Cup Series debut in today's race. The nineteen-year old driver was the 2011 Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year and failed to make the field last week at Phoenix by just 0.030-second. "This is an awesome feeling," said Hill. "It means so much. These guys work so hard and for it to finally come together is awesome. These guys worked so hard to get this car back to where it needs to be."
11:00 a.m. – The 2013 Dodge Charger was unveiled in Victory Lane. "This endeavor goes beyond the trend the Nationwide Series Challenger started with a Dodge Charge that amazingly embodies many of the design features of the street version in the racecar," said SRT Brand and Motorsports president and CEO Ralph Giles.
NASCAR gave engineers and designers a freer rein in the front, rear, sides and greenhouse area to allow more character lines from the street car to be carried over to the racing version. Penske Racing recently announced the team's switch back to Ford for 2013 and that leaves the big question of who will be driving the new Dodge next season and beyond. The only other Dodge in the garage this season is Robby Gordon's No. 7.
10:00 a.m. – The competitors are headed to the drivers' meeting. Four drivers will drop to the rear of the field for the start of today's race. Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Regan Smith and Juan Pablo Montoya will play catch up from the get go. Busch and Johnson are wheeling backup cars.
Juan Pablo Montoya has a fresh engine and Regan Smith's team changed the transmission in their Chevrolet. Kyle, brother Kurt and Brendan Gaughan will battle for home track bragging rights. Kyle has one series victory here while Kurt's best finish is a third. Gaughan has one series start with a 22^nd place finish.
7:30 a.m. – Good morning from Las Vegas Motor Speedway! It's the calm before the storm as the crews prepare their pit stalls for today's Sprint Cup Kobalt Tools 400. Pace car driver Brett Bodine is giving media members a new respect for what happens on the track with pace car rides complete with simulated pit stops.
The Neon Garage is open and the fans are beginning to stream in. The Speedway Children's Charity Track Walk starts at 8 a.m. The drivers' meeting is at 10 a.m. Pia Toscana sings the National Anthem at 12:01 p.m. and Tim Allen gives the command to start engines at 12:08 p.m. Stay tuned for all the action as it happens.
6:15 p.m. - That'll do it for Day 2 at LVMS. We'll be back tomorrow for the main event. Comedian and actor Tim Allen will give the command to start engines for the Sprint Cup Kobalt Tools 400 shortly after noon.
6:10 p.m. – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. recorded his first victory of the season and second top-10 finish in three races at LVMS. Stenhouse took the lead on pit road and led the final 55 laps to become the first series regular to win in 16 events at the speedway. "I definitely feel like we had the car to beat," said Stenhouse. "I found a line that I liked to run and the car was coming around to it. (Crew chief) Mike Kelley made some awesome pit calls there and I think we just had the car to beat."
6:00 p.m. – Mark Martin started 7^th , led 44 laps and finished 2^nd , 5.904 seconds behind winner Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. It marked Martin's first start in a Joe Gibbs Racing entry. "What a special treat it was to be able to join the Joe Gibbs organization," said Martin.
"It's just something that we've wanted to do for a long time and the stars didn't line up until now to do it." Martin has run seven Nationwide Series races at LVMS with seven top 10 finishes. His secret. "I get to drive really fast cars," he explained. "That's what it is – really fast race cars. Lucky me."
5:45 p.m. – Elliott Sadler held on to the points lead with a strong third place finish today. Sadler led the first 26 laps. It was Sadler's 2nd top 10 finish in six starts at LVMS. "We put in a lot of guts and effort today," said Sadler. "
We made a little bit of a mistake there at the beginning of the race. My splitter was hitting the race track. We decided at halfway to come in, raise the hood and put a round in the front to get my car back off the race track. We went all the way to the tail end of the field and drove all the way back to third." Sadler leads Austin Dillon by 15 points with three races in the books.
4:45 p.m. – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. wins the Sam's Town 300 by 5.9 seconds over Mark Martin. Elliott Sadler finishes third. Trevor Bayne is fourth and Las Vegas native Brendan Gaughan comes home fifth.
4:20 p.m. - Back under caution on Lap 158 for the 7^th time as Jeremy Clements and Tayler Monsam make contact while racing for the Lucky Dog spot. Mike Bliss gets the free pass. The leaders stay out. Danica Patrick pits for fuel and a chassis adjustment. Back to green on Lap 162. The top five are Stenhouse, Martin, Dillon, Bayne and Gaughan.
4:10 p.m. - Under caution for the 6th time on Lap 146. TJ Bell's Chevrolet is stalled on the track. The free pass goes to James Buescher and the leaders pit. Stenhouse gets off pit road first followed by Martin, Bayne, Dillon and Gaughan. The speeding police catch Kenny Wallace. He'll restart at the end of the longest line. Back to green on Lap 150.
4:00 p.m. – Bad news for Keselowski who has to pit for fuel. Seems the tank wasn't completely full after the last stop. Keselowski loses four laps on pit road as the car stalls and the team scrambles. Keselowski is finally down and away and gets popped for speeding. He'll serve a pass through penalty and lose another lap. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch is back in the race, 71 laps down.
3:40 p.m. – Brian Scott slams the outside wall hard and brings out Yellow #5 on Lap 97. It appears Trevor Bayne came up on the right side and took the air of Scott's car. Scott got loose, may have overcorrected and turned abruptly into the wall. "I tried to save it," said Scott. "It ended up hooking and went straight into the wall. I just got sucked around. I made an error. I just should have just spun it out." The leaders hit pit road. Mark Martin gets fuel only and takes the lead off pit road. Allgaier, Hornish, Keselowski and Stenhouse are second through fifth. The green flag waves on Lap 104.
3:15 p.m. – Yellow #4 on Lap 70 for Jennifer Jo Cobb, who spins and crashes her No. 13 Dodge in Turn 1. The leaders pit for service. Brendan Gaughan has to slam on his brakes to avoid Morgan Shepherd on pit road. Kahne leads the field of pit road followed by Keselowski, Scott, Stenhouse and Martin. Back to green on Lap 74.
2:55 p.m. – Yellow #3 flies on Lap 43 for a single car crash in Turn 1 involving Joey Gase. The leaders stay out. Danica Patrick and Justin Allgaier head to pit road. Top five under caution are Kahne, Scott, Stenhouse, Keselowski and Mark Martin. The field is back under green on Lap 48 and Scott takes the lead for the first time today.
2:40 p.m. - The second caution flies on Lap 26. Kyle Busch crashed off Turn 2 after contact with Hornish. Busch takes the Monster Energy Toyota to the garage. Pits stops for everyone as Sadler leads them down pit road. Kyle Fowler gets the free pass. Kahne beats Sadler off pit road to take the lead. Sadler is second. Martin, Scott and Allgaier start third through fifth. Busch is in the garage as the field takes the green flag on Lap 31.
2:30 p.m. - Under caution for the first time on Lap 11 as Kyle Fowler spins off Turn 4. Benny Gordon gets out of shape trying to avoid Fowler and narrowly misses colliding with pit road. The leader stays on the track while several drivers pit, including Kyle Busch, Danica Patrick, Ricky Stenhouse, Brendan Gaughan and Brian Scott with many taking fuel only. The top five under caution are Sadler, Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski, Justin Allgaier and Sam Hornish, Jr.
2:20 p.m. – Elliot Sadler leads the flag to green for the Sam's Town 300 and jumps out to the early lead. A close call for Mark Martin who gets loose and slides back to tenth in the running order. At Lap 6, the top five are Elliott Sadler, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Brian Scott, Kasey Kahne and Austin Dillon.
1:30 p.m. – Cup Series practice is over and Joey Logano was the quickest at 182.790 mph. Mark Martin was second fastest at 182.698 with Kevin Harvick, Marcos Ambrose and Martin Truex, Jr. rounding out the top five. Greg Biffle's team had to go under the hood to fix a broken spark plug and make further assessments.
12:30 p.m. – We're just 10 minutes into the final Cup Series practice session and we've had already seen two incidents. Jimmie Johnson smacked the wall hard in the No. 48 Chevrolet and sent his team scrambling for the backup car. "I had to chase it up the track and once it got in the gray, it was over from there," said Johnson. "We have a great Kobalt Tools backup. I know we've got a real fast setup to put in this racecar."
Johnson will give up his sixth place starting spot for the race. Marcos Ambrose lost control coming off Turn 4 but managed to keep his car off the wall and will avoid going to a backup car. Juan Pablo Montoya went to his backup before qualifying yesterday but he'll lose his 29th place starting position after the team changed the engine in the No. 42 Chevrolet.
12:15 p.m. – Upon further review, Kyle Busch's team discovered the frame on the M&M's Toyota is bent a little too much for comfort and they've rolled out the backup car. The primary Toyota was damaged yesterday when Busch ran over some debris but the team was able to make repairs. "(Kyle) came off the truck this morning and he was fast, consistent," said Joe Gibbs Racing vice president of racing operations Jimmy Makar. He felt good in it. To give that up is a little bit disheartening but it will be alright."
The team plans to have the backup car ready in time for the final practice session. After the session, they'll put the primary engine in the car in preparation for tomorrow's event. Busch will give up his second place starting position and start at the rear of the field.
11:45 p.m. – Nationwide Series qualifying is in the books and Elliott Sadler will lead the field to green after posting a lap of 181.366 mph completed in 29.774 seconds. This is Sadler's first pole in six races at LVMS and is 12th in 167 series starts. Kasey Kahne will start alongside Sadler with Austin Dillon, Brian Scott and Brad Keselowski rounding out the top five. Danica Patrick held her own with a 179.283 mph lap and will line up 12th on the grid.
11:15 p.m. - Ryan Newman and sponsor Quicken Loans are offering fans a once in a lifetime opportunity to be in charge of a Sprint Cup Series team. The grand prize winner of the You're the Boss sweepstakes receives $10,000 cash, racing apparel and an all expenses paid trip to Charlotte, NC and a trip to the track as the honorary team owner of Stewart-Haas Racing.
"I thought my wife had that domain all locked up," joked Newman. "Their slogan is 'Engineering to Amaze' and as an engineer I can represent in the best way." Fans can visit quickenloans.com for more details and to enter the sweepstakes.
10:30 a.m. – The first Cup Series practice of the day just wrapped up. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. jumped to the top of the speed chart and stayed there with a fast lap of 184.957 mph. Hedrick Motorsports had all four cars in the top ten with pole winner Kasey Kahne second, Jimmie Johnson fourth fastest and Jeff Gordon ninth.
A.J. Allmendinger toured the track third fastest in the No. 22 Penske Dodge and Kyle Busch clocked in fifth before bouncing off the wall. The No. 18 Toyota sustained some damage to the right side and the crew is busy making repairs.
9:20 a.m. - Today's Sam's Town 300 features 200 laps around this 1.5-mile speedway. Prerace ceremonies start at 1:30 p.m. with VIP introductions and special awards. Speedway contest winner Bridgette Foster gets her chance to belt out the National Anthem just after 2 p.m. Former Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman will serve as today's Grand Marshal. It will take a custom Dodge Viper limo to carry Goodman, his showgirl entourage and his martini around the track.
7:35 a.m. - Good morning from Las Vegas Motor Speedway! We're back for Day 2 and we've got a full day of NASCAR action on tap. The Sprint Cup cars will be on the track at 9:30 a.m. for the first of two practice sessions. After that, we'll set the field for today's Nationwide Sam's Town 300. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. set the pace in yesterday's final practice and he'll be the 43rd of 43 drivers to qualify.
Cup Series final practice starts at approximately 12:20 p.m. The Nationwide Series takes the green flag for today's 200-lap race at 2 p.m. Stick around after the checkered flag for the Speedway Children's Charities driver auction on the Midway. The Neon Garage opens at 9 a.m. Come on out and join us!
6:00 p.m.- That's a wrap on Day 1 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Tomorrow's schedule includes Nationwide Series qualifying, two rounds of Cup Series practice and the Sam's Town 300. The Cup drivers start practice at 9:30 am and we'll be back to keep you up to speed.
5:45 p.m. – Today's pole was the 23^rd of Kasey Kahne's career and his third at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. His most recent pole came in September 2011 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. "Qualifying is something I look forward to," said Kahne who predicts more records will fall this year, particularly on those tracks with newer surfaces. "The engines are getting better and the guys are always working on downforce. I think it's just a combination of a lot of different things."
5:15 p.m. – Kasey Kahne won the pole for the Kobalt 400 and set a new track record of 190.456. Kahne was one of fifteen drivers to surpass the old record of 188.884 mph set by Matt Kenseth in 2011. Kyle Busch will start alongside Kahne on the front row. Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. qualified third and fourth with Clint Bowyer rounding out the top five. Scott Riggs and Robby Gordon are the two drivers who failed to make the field.
4:50 p.m. – With seven drivers to go in qualifying, Kasey Kahne has knocked Kyle Busch off the pole with a 190.456 mph lap completed in 28.353 seconds. Rounding out the current top five are Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Martin Truex, Jr.
4:30 p.m. – We're just past halfway in today's qualifying session and Kyle Busch has just set a new track record of 190.040 mph taking 28.415 seconds to tour the mile-and-a half. "We'll see if it holds up," said Busch. "There are a lot of fast guys to go. Right there, that was a pretty decent lap. If I tried to get more out of it I probably would have overdrived and hurt the lap."
3:40 p.m. – The Nationwide Series just wrapped up their final practice and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. led the way with a lap of 180.626 mph. Austin Dillon was second quick at 180.282 mph in the No. 3 Chevrolet. Sadler, who was fastest in the early practice, was third overall. The teams will qualify tomorrow at 10:35 am.
3:30 p.m. – Speedway Motorsports, Inc. and Global Rallycross Championship have teamed up to present select GRC events in conjunction with IndyCar and NASCAR race weekends in Charloote, Texas, New Hampshire and Las Vegas in 2012. "It's the ultimate combination of action sports and motorsports where big air meets high speed," said Speedway Motorsports president and COO Marcus Smith. "These drivers combine racing, drifting and stunt jumps into a high-impact show with a jaw-dropping WOW factor." GRC competitors wheel compact cars that pull more than 600 horsepower and feature all-wheel drive for precision handling and lightning fast acceleration. The cars race around asphalt or dirt tracks that are about one mile long and feature snap directional changes, tight turns and a crossover 70-foot gap jump.
3:13 p.m. – Juan Pablo Montoya's team had to pull out the backup car for qualifying after a crash in Turn 1 on his first lap on the track. "It sucks," Montoya said. "I went into turn one and got a little tight over the bumps. I got on the gas and it just stepped out on me. I thought, 'My God,' and I was in the fence."
3:04 p.m. – Parents to be Kevin and Delana Harvick have chosen to refer to their newborn son as Otis, and according to Kevin, Ryan Newman's wife was the one who provided the inspiration. "We don't really want to tell anybody until it's time so we just came up with a code name. It's really Krissie Newman's fault to tell you the truth. She calls me that every once in awhile so we just called it baby Otis. At least is has some kind of name. You can refer to it as something. I keep wanting to call it 'it' and DeLana gets mad at me."
2:35 p.m. – The Nationwide competitors are back on track and Elliott Sadler continues to set the pace. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. is currently second and Brian Scott is in third. Kyle Busch's Monster Energy car has some damage on the right rear quarterpanel.
2:20 p.m. – Matt Kenseth's No. 17 Ford is sporting Zest-y colors this weekend. On the eve of his 40^th birthday, Kenseth stopped by the media center to introduce new sponsor Zest. "I've already heard how people want me to clean up the competition and I've been hearing all kinds of fun stuff." And what about the birthday plans? "I'm gonna spend it at the race track trying to get our Zest Ford Fusion dialed in to hopefully have a good day on Sunday. Then I'm taking the team out for dinner tomorrow night." High Ridge Brands president and CEO Jim Daniels added, "Hopefully he'll be singing the Zestfully clean jingle in the winner's circle on Sunday." Not that we've got to see.
1:44 p.m. - Despite growing up in Las Vegas, Kyle Busch admits he's not much of a gambler. "I think the best I'm come out of Vegas was probably a thousand bucks ahead," Busch said. "The worse I've come out of Vegas was eight hundred bucks behind. I'm a small gambler. I'm not on Denny Hamlin's scale. I think he gets free hotel rooms every time he comes out here – that's how well he does." Hamlin, by the way, tweeted a picture of his hotel room's backyard on Thursday…a lavish spot indeed, complete with putting green.
1:05 p.m. – Kyle Busch and Jeff Burton are back on track after repairs. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has jumped to the top of the speed chart with a lap at 187.643 mph. Clint Bowyer is second fastest followed by Carl Edwards, defending champion Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson. Busch's first lap back out was a tick over 184 mph and is currently 23rd fastest.
12:39 p.m. - The Stratosphere Casino Hotel & Tower has signed a multi-year deal with LVMS to continue sponsorship of pole day. The announcement was made today by Las Vegas Motor Speedway president Chris Powell and Stratosphere General Manager, Paul Hobson at the speedway. The partnership extends an agreement between the two companies that began in 2011.
12:27 p.m. – The green flag is back out and so far, Brad Keselowski has the fastest lap of 186.329 mph. Five time champion Jimmie Johnson is second fastest at 185.656 mph. Jeff Burton's car has damage to the front end. Burton says he ran over brake rotor pieces (possibly from Montoya's car).
12:20 p.m. – We're under a red flag condition as smoke pours out of the No. 93 Burger King Toyota driven by Travis Kvapil. Meanwhile, hometown hero Kyle Bush ran over some debris on the track and is busy helping his team beat out some minor damage to the left front of his M&M's car.
12:05 p.m. – We're just five minutes into the first Sprint Cup Series practice and we've had our first incident of the day. Juan Pablo Montoya hit the wall before completing his first lap and the team has gone to the hauler for the backup No. 42 Clorox Chevrolet.
12:00 p.m. – The first practice session is in the books and Elliott Sadler led the Nationwide Series drivers with a fast lap of 179.545 mph. He was the only driver to break the 179 mph barrier. Mark Martin, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Cole Whitt and Brian Scott rounded out the top five. The teams will regroup for their final practice at 2:00 pm.
11:30 a.m. - Practice is underway for the Nationwide Series. Trevor Bayne was the first Nationwide Series driver on the track in the No. 60 Roush-Fenway Ford and so far, Mark Martin is fastest in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota at 178.453 mph.
Elliott Sadler is second fastest at 178.383 mph in the OneMain Financial Chevrolet. Rounding out the top five are Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Cole Whitt and Brian Scott.
10:41 a.m. - LVMS is giving fans two great reasons to purchase tickets for the 2013 NASCAR weekend early.
Those who purchase tickets this weekend receive a free Kobalt Tools T-Hammer tool kit and one 2013 Neon Garage pass good for Friday or Saturday for each seat. Next season's race weekend is tentatively scheduled for March 8-10 but the dates are subject to change.
10:25 a.m - Good morning from Las Vegas Motor Speedway! We've got clear blue skies and the forecast is for temperatures in the low 70s, so if you're in the neighborhood, come on out and join us for a full day of racing.
Today's schedule includes two rounds of Nationwide Series practice, one round of Sprint Cup Series practice and qualifying for Sunday's Kobalt 400. The Nationwide drivers are just minutes away from their first practice session and the Sprint Cup cars will fire them up at high noon. Stay tuned for all the action as it happens.