Truex Jr. catches break, wins Kobalt 400

Martin Truex Jr. knew the feeling. Cruising toward a win, bad luck – whether from late caution flags or a challenger with a better car – seemed to always find a way to leave him stranded without the winner’s trophy.

On a warm, sunny Sunday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, good fortune smiled down on the driver of the No. 78 Bass Pro Shops Toyota.

Truex surged to the lead when Brad Keselowski lost his momentum with two laps to go and won the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas. It was Toyota’s first win of the 2017 season and Truex was the first driver to sweep all three stages in a race under  NASCAR’s new scoring format.

“We had such a good car all day long and it felt like it slipped away from us there,” said Truex, who lost the lead to Keselowski on lap 244. “We got a little bit lucky with him having an issue and got the win. We’ve been on the other side of those things plenty of times and it definitely feels good to take advantage of someone else’s issue for once and go to Victory Lane.”

The winning sequence was set up following the longest green-flag run of the day at 86 laps when Danica Patrick’s car lost the engine at lap 253, setting off an impressive trail of smoke along the front stretch that bathed the grandstands. Keselowski, who won the pole and started with Truex Jr. on the front row, had no idea what happened with his car at the finish.

“It wouldn't turn and I lost brakes, so that’s a pretty good indicator,” said Keselowski, who was looking for his third win at Las Vegas in the last four years, but ended up fifth. “That’s racing, and that’s why you watch until the end and you never know what’s going to happen.”

Kyle Larson finished second for the second time on the weekend, beating out Chase Elliott and coming through with points for a second- and third-place run in the first two stages.

“The ends of the stages were really exciting because of the way the cautions fell and different pit strategies,” Larson said. “Hopefully we can keep the top-fives rolling and maybe get a win or two shortly.”

Adding to the finish, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano got into a brawl on pit road after the pair made contact on the final lap in a battle for fourth place. While Logano claimed fourth, Busch spun out and finished 22nd, the last car on the lead lap. Busch also left pit road with a cut on his forehead after he was separated from Logano by his adversary’s pit crew.

After two straight wins to open the season, Logano and Keselowski were the highest-finishing Fords on the day. Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer completed the top 10.

The race had six cautions for 34 laps, and the winning average speed was l36.032 mph. There were 14 lead changes among six drivers. Truex (150) and Keselowski (89) combined to lead 239 of the 267 laps.

Logano loves Las Vegas, wins Boyd Gaming 300

As he faced a stiff challenge from Kyle Larson, Joey Logano was almost baffled as to how to keep fellow driver Kyle Larson behind him during Saturday's XFINITY Series Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
After four restarts over the final 32 laps, Logano won the chess match and ended up with the checkered flag.
The Penske Racing driver led 106 of 200 laps and held off Larson by .602 seconds on a warm afternoon at the 1.5-mile oval. It was Logano's first win in his very first XFINITY race at LVMS and third straight win in the No. 12 Ford Fusion since Watkins Glen last season.
"It was hard to figure out what to do and what lane to pick for the restarts," Logano said. "We had a fast car and we were able to unload with a lot of speed. It's good to see the Penske cars coming back on the XFINITY side."
Logano led one lap off a restart in the early part of the 200-lap race, but didn't take control until his pit crew got him off pit road at the end of Stage 2. Larson was able to regain the lead briefly at lap 145, but Logano got back out in front one lap later and was able to hold on.
"Joey and I were pretty equal, but clean air was big," Larson said. "I had good restarts and almost cleared him, but he had the momentum in the end."
That momentum was well-earned, and Logano's crew chief, Brian Wilson, said past experience made the difference when the pressure picked up in the closing laps.
"For me, I was relying what had worked the past couple of times going in the high lane," Wilson said. "It's always tough. You have to look at who's pushing, what's been working, who's gonna be inside. We were fortunate because Joey's the best at restarts."
Logano, clearly in celebration mode, shrugged off his crew chief's praise with a chuckle.
"You wouldn't have said that if we didn't win today," he joked.
Larson was fourth after Stage 2, but lost several positions when he pitted for fuel.
"That was the change in our race," he said.
Defending race champion Kyle Busch, last week's winner at Atlanta, led the first 48 laps and barely held off Larson to win Stage 1, but finished seventh.
Justin Allgaier was the highest-finishing XFINITY regular, and he ended up fourth behind Daniel Suarez. Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, Elliott Sadler, Ryan Reed and Brad Keselowski completed the top 10.
The winning average speed was 118.525 mph, and there were nine cautions for 44 laps.

Keselowski picks up where he left off, wins Vegas pole

After winning his second Kobalt 400 in the last three seasons, Brad Keselowski may have found a formula to keep the success going strong.

The defending race winner earned the pole for this year's Kobalt 400 on Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, blitzing through multiple corners at more than 200 mph before finishing in 27.881 seconds, a final speed of 193.680 mph.

Following his win at Atlanta last week, Keselowski said his first pole at Las Vegas came despite struggling to get his No. 2 Miller Lite Ford cleanly through turns 1 and 2.

"Every time I looked at the track, cars that were fast through 1 and 2 weren't in 3 and 4. We were the opposite," Keselowski said. "Matt Yocum asked me in the telecast what the key was here, and I told him you had to have a good 1 and 2. Boy, did I lie to him.

"It wasn't meant to be a lie, but we'll take it either way."

Keselowski said the success he's enjoyed of late at tracks like Las Vegas came together in the last five years.

"There are certain tracks that you go to where things kind of happen immediately, you understand the track, and you're good there," he said. "Vegas was this way where it took three or four times and takes having a good car and saying 'oh, that's how it should be.' You get trends, so to speak, learn the track nuances, and what you really need."

Truex, who beat Ryan Blaney by .007 seconds (193.458 mph) to join Keselowski on the front row for Sunday's race, said the lesser downforce has made a difference in the racing along with the presence of new Furniture Row Racing teammate Erik Jones, who qualified eighth.

"We qualified P2 with missing a little bit," he said. "I'm optimistic with the speed in our race cars. Two weeks is kind of hard to judge.

"Going to two cars has been seamless from my perspective. I don't feel we lost in any areas. (Crew chief) Chris (Gayle) and Erik have come out of the box strong, not making mistakes, being consistent and keeping speeds. For a brand-new team, rookie driver, rookie crew chief, that's been impressive. The two-team deal is working as good as we probably hoped it could."

After Blaney, the rest of the top 12 were Matt Kenseth, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, Jones, Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Daniel Suarez and Chase Elliott.

The cars of Truex, Jones and Kahne failed pre-qualifying inspection template station twice and lost 15 minutes of practice time. Jones' car also failed the weights and measures station three times and lost his pit selection for Sunday's race.

The Kobalt 400 will run two 80-lap stages and a 107-lap finish. The green flag drops just after 3:30 pm Eastern (12:30 Pacific) and airs live on Fox with radio coverage on Performance Racing Network.

Second race at Las Vegas signed, sealed, delivered

The moment was at least six years in the making, but the pride radiated across the faces of those from Las Vegas Motor Speedway who gathered for a major announcement one week ago at the Cashman Center.

With the help of a sponsorship agreement with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), the 1.5-mile oval will have a second NASCAR race weekend, starting with the 2018 season. The agreement will bring fans an opportunity to see one of the races in the fall as part of the 10-race Monster Energy Cup playoffs.
“This is something that’s been a long time in the making,” said Speedway Motorsports president Marcus Smith. “The support NASCAR receives from Las Vegas is phenomenal. Race fans have spoken very loudly, and they want a second race.”
To accommodate the change, SMI will remove the fall race weekend from its track at New Hampshire Motor Speedway as well as the stand-alone XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series races from Kentucky Speedway.
The combination of moves will create a pair of tripleheader weekends at Las Vegas, the only NASCAR track to hold the distinction.
“It means everything having grown up here, watching the track being built, winning championships at the Bullring, then winning in NASCAR,” said 2015 Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch, who was in attendance with older brother and fellow driver Kurt Busch. “Congratulations go out to the city, but most importantly, to the race fans.”
One side benefit the newly-formed tripleheader weekends gives Kyle Busch is the chance to race in the Truck Series. That race has run as a standalone in the fall during the Cup race at Dover.
“This is a fantastic day,” Kurt Busch added. “This town has a big sports atmosphere, and it takes a lot of people to pull it all together.”
Las Vegas Motor Speedway President Chris Powell said he won’t have to hear one of the two most frequently asked questions he’s heard over the last few years with the scheduling announcement.
“I’m always asked ‘is this job fun?’ and ‘when are you going to get a second race,’” he said. “The NHL is here. The NFL wants to be here, and we have two National League MVPs (Bryce Harper and Kris Bryant) who are from here. This will have an impact long into the future.”
That impact will be felt by XFINITY Series driver Brendan Gaughan, whose father, Michael, owns the South Point Hotel and Casino.
“It’s not lost on my family how important this is,” Gaughan said. “The fans are the winners. If you have a choice to go to any track in the country, there’s no other place. It’s a perfect fit.”
While nothing is finalized yet for how the races will be scheduled, Powell called it “likely” that both weekends will feature the Truck Series race Friday, XFINITY on Saturday, and Monster Energy Cup Series on Sunday.

Keselowski wins Atlanta, Harvick's lead foot hurts

For all the complaining Kevin Harvick did about his pit crew last season -- they allegedly cost him shots at several wins -- the 2014 Sprint Cup champion got his own dose of unfortunately bad karma Sunday afternoon at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Despite leading 292 of the first 311 laps -- including the first two stages with the 20-point bonus -- Harvick got a bad case of lead foot at the worst time, getting called for a pit-road speeding penalty with 12 laps to go. Brad Keselowski pounced on the break, drove underneath Kyle Larson with six laps remaining, and went on to win the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.

Right place, right time for the second week in a row. Keselowski has some mojo on his side as Ford made it 2-for-2 in the win column. The Penske Racing driver is the defending champion of the Kobalt 400, which happens next Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway,

File this in the memory bank: Stages for the Boyd Gaming 300 end at lap 45 and 90, leaving 110 to the finish. For the Kobalt 400, the breaks happen at laps 80 and 160, leaving 107 for the race to the checkered flag.

There's also major news brewing in Las Vegas, which we'll discuss in just a moment.

Among the other highlights from Atlanta:

Kyle Busch won another XFINITY race. Yay. It was the 87th of his career in NASCAR's No. 2 series, and about the only thing different was how it was done.

Busch led the first seven laps after qualifying on the pole, but didn't lead again until the final 19 of the Rinnai 250. It's slightly out of the ordinary -- think total domination from the start -- but it's another win, just the same.

And the highest-finishing XFINITY regular was Elliott Sadler, who came in fifth. After Ryan Reed's win at Daytona, the regulars are 1-for-2 in the win column. If we can get past last year's total of 11, at least there will be some progress made.

Statistical downer of note: the top four in the running order at Atlanta were all Cup regulars -- Busch, Keselowski, Larson and Harvick. They combined to lead all of the 163 laps between them.

For the first time in the stage-racing system, one driver carried the day and swept his way to the checkered flag. Christopher Bell -- a series regular -- led 99 of 130 laps and won the Active Pest Control 200 on Saturday.

His boss and car owner, Kyle Busch (yes...him. Again.), led 25 laps, but finished 26th. That left only two other drivers who spent time in front. Grant Enfinger led four laps and runner-up Matt Crafton led two.

And now for the breaking news coming out of Las Vegas. Insert your own theme music for this segment here...

Remember all the past big talk that came with little action on the possibilities of a second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race date at LVMS? Well, hang on to this. Everything is starting to come together.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Friday that the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) is planning to hold a meeting with the 14-member board of directors Wednesday to consider a seven-year sponsorship at $2.5 million per year  add a "fall race" at the 1.5-mile oval.

And the best part is that when it's finalized with the LVCVA and NASCAR, the sponsorship would take full effect starting with the 2018 season.

In all likelihood, that means one track could lose a race date. Currently, 13 tracks have two race dates, and four -- Bristol, Charlotte, New Hampshire and Texas -- are owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which owns Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The big question comes in where a second race would fit in the fall. Call this a gut-instinct guess, but with LVMS already hosting a Camping World Truck Series race every October (Cup runs at Dover), that could be the ideal connection that makes the most sense.

Then again, I'm not Nostradamus, by any wild stretch of your imagination.

An even bigger question comes from the big picture, and that's whether or not two races at Vegas will work over the long haul. Auto Club Speedway tried it for several years, with its second date happening Labor Day weekend.

That turned out to be a big mistake, mainly since that time of year produces the warmest temperatures in Fontana, part of the inland part of Southern California where the 2-mile oval is located. Auto Club eventually dropped the second date, and it's made a difference in the quality of the events.

But never mind takes from me. Here's what Kevin Harvick, the 2016 Kobalt 400 winner, said on the matter of a second race date at Vegas in multiple stories, including espn.com and motorsport.com:

"I love Vegas and I think it's a great sponsor," Harvick said. "I think it would be good. But sometimes you can turn one great (race) into two mediocres. That's just something you have to be careful of and look at and really evaluate.

"Vegas is a great place to race. I enjoy going there. If it did wind up with a second race, I would be fine with that, but I would be cautious to look at a California-type situation where you have one great event that we had there and when we had two, it wasn't so great."

Any good thing worth doing is worth doing well, and Las Vegas can make two NASCAR Cup dates work. Once it's set, only the ticket-buying public will know if it was the right thing to do.

Tom Zulewski would be at a second Las Vegas NASCAR Cup weekend in a heartbeat and hopes it happens. Follow him on Twitter @TommyZee81 or email tominator19@yahoo.com.

As the Gear Box opens, the racing has turned

Before we begin our first official entry of the 2017 season, I owe you, the readers of this blog, an apology.

I've wondered to myself if this blog was worth continuing. Everyone's about needing numbers to show how their audience has grown, and I've spent the offseason wondering if what I've written here was good enough going against the tidal wave of blogs and material from other NASCAR-themed outlets.

At the end of the day, I figured why not continue? With all the changes that happened with NASCAR in the offseason -- new title sponsor, new points system that rewards racing from the drop of the green flag -- it would be a disservice if I just pulled the plug.

Besides, my hometown paper stopped caring about NASCAR three years ago even though there are multiple events worth covering within a two-hour drive to the south in Las Vegas.

Someone's got to pick up the slack, right? Might as well be me, so let's get this season started.

-With the first full weekend of the new "stage racing" format in the books from Daytona, we can safely say there were a lot of things that opened some eyes, got some heads scratching and made the people say "whoa."

The biggest shocker of all came in Sunday's Daytona 500. For the first time in the race's 59 years, the winner led only one lap -- the most important one.

In his 17th try, Kurt Busch made his move at the right time and held off Ryan Blaney to win his first Daytona 500. Busch didn't get to Dale Earnhardt's mark of 20, but how it all came together was a mind-bending moment.

First, there was the stage racing, where points were earned by the top 10 (from 10 down to one) in the running order after lap 60 and again at lap 120. Kyle Busch was at the head of the field after Stage 1, and Kevin Harvick was on top after Stage 2.

Nice for them. 10 bonus points already in the bag. So where did they finish? Kyle cut a tire and ended up 38th, while Harvick got caught up in one of the multitude of wrecks and came home 22nd.

Thanks to his stage efforts (second after Stage 1, leading after Stage 2), Harvick earned 19 additional points and leaves Daytona fourth in the standings.

But here's where it's going to take some time to figure it all out: Harvick actually has 42 points -- 15 for his finish, 19 for his stage finishes, but the other eight points escape me. If you are reading and can answer at my Twitter handle or email that will appear at the end of this column, it is much appreciated.

And Kurt Busch has 56 points with this math breakdown -- 40 for first place, 5 for race win, 8 for third place after Stage 2. Three points missing.

By the time we get through Atlanta, I should have it all figured out. I hope.

-In the XFINITY and Camping World Truck races, it was more of the same. Drivers who won the first two stages were nowhere near the front at the end.

At the Powershares QQQ 300, Elliott Sadler was in front after both early stages, but finished 24th. The 20 points for the stage wins gave him the magic bullet all the way up to third in the overall points.

Race winner Ryan Reed -- who earned his second Daytona victory -- earned seven extra points for being fourth after Stage 2. He's got a nine-point cushion over Las Vegas native Brendan Gaughan, who finished fifth.

-On the trucks side, Johnny Sauter was one lap from sweeping all three stages Friday night, but got caught in a 12-car pileup and finished 15th, one lap down.

Sauter's 20 bonus points pushed him to second in the points, but rookie Kaz Grala bagged his first victory and is on top of the standings.

And to think...there are 35 more weekends of this to make sense of it all. I'll be here doing my best to sort it all out,

Tom Zulewski will be at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the 13th consecutive year covering the Boyd Gaming 300 and Kobalt 400 in two weeks. Follow him on Twitter @TommyZee81 or email tominator19@yahoo.com.

And then there were 4...the Championship 4

With all apologies to the superhero bunch, the way NASCAR got its Fantastic Four after this weekend's racing at Phoenix International Raceway was certainly surprising.

In no particular order, here are a few thoughts on the whole darn thing...

-You just had to sit and shake your head over Matt Kenseth's misfortune. Here he was, a lap and a few 100 yards away from earning his spot to race for the title. Then Michael McDowell's tire decided to give out.

Once they restarted, Kenseth got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time when he tried to go to the low side as Alex Bowman -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s substitute driver in the No. 88 -- tried to grab the spot.

The end result: Kenseth spun and hopes for a shot at a second championship went out with his tattered No. 20 Toyota Camry.

When all was said and done after 12 extra laps, Joey Logano survived the second overtime round and took the checkered flag by just over a half-second in front of Kyle Busch. With his finish, Busch claimed the last spot in the foursome that will run for the title.

The final margin was six points better than teammate Denny Hamlin, who finished seventh and led four laps.

So after all the hype and worry for the non-fans, Joe Gibbs Racing managed to get two cars in the Championship 4. Busch gets to defend his title and Carl Edwards -- thanks to his win at Texas last week -- gets to make a bid to purge the nightmare of the 2011 title hunt from his soul.

There won't be any ties this time around. Finish in front of your challengers, hold the big trophy.

-Let's face facts here: We're all pretty much thankful that Cup driver participation will be limited in the XFINITY Series next season. After what happened for the inaugural Chase, it's easy to understand why.

For the fourth time in the six Chase races, a Cup regular won. For the 10th time in his 17 starts (half the schedule), Kyle Busch ended up in Victory Lane at the Ticket Galaxy 200.

It was Busch's third win in the last four races he's entered, and it was dominating as usual. He led 190 of the 200 laps at Phoenix and finished the year with 2,052 laps led out of a possible 2,995.

That's 69 percent of the total, folks. Is it any wonder why his presence was so reviled by the skeptics? Personally, it's hard to stomach a race when someone is so off-the-charts dominant.

Not quite like the days when the race winner won by laps, but it's pretty close.

Rant aside, the Championship Four for Homestead will be Elliott Sadler, Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones and Justin Allgaier. The group finished with nine of the 11 victories earned by series regulars. The other two were by part-timers in Justin Marks (Mid-Ohio) and Sam Hornish Jr. (Iowa 1).

With Allgaier in the mix for the title, we could very well finish with a champion that didn't win a race for the year. The odds are long, but it will leave a bad mark on the series if it happens.

-The Camping World Truck Series has drivers from four different race teams who will run for the title Friday night at Homestead. Johnny Sauter (GMS Racing), Matt Crafton (ThorSport), Christopher Bell (Kyle Busch Motorsports) and Timothy Peters (Red Horse Racing) are the ones who made it through the inaugural Chase for NASCAR's No. 3 series.

On the surface, Sauter could easily be pegged as the favorite following back-to-back wins at Martinsville and Texas. He added a runner-up effort at Phoenix, so serious momentum is on his side.

Matt Crafton -- Sauter's former teammate at ThorSport -- already has two truck titles on his resume and would move into second place on the all-time series list behind Ron Hornaday's four if he beats his challengers at Homestead.

Crafton was runner-up to Sauter at Texas and finished third at Phoenix. As he looks for title No. 3, it's not about racing for points now.

Christopher Bell kept KBM in the title hunt and made up for the loss of teammate and pre-Chase favorite William Byron. Byron's Chase hopes went up in smoke when he lost an engine and finished 27th at Phoenix.

And like the XFINITY Series, we could crown a champ who didn't win a race. Peters finished with four top-5s in the six Chase races, so that will serve him and Red Horse Racing well.

Will the champion be required to take the checkered flag to win the title? It's a mystery that will be fun to explore this weekend, particularly on the XFINITY and Truck side. Unknowns are good, but holding great big trophies will be much better.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @TommyZee81 or email tominator19@yahoo.com.

THIS WEEK'S RACES
Homestead-Miami Speedway (1.5-mile D-shaped oval), Homestead, Florida.
-SPRINT CUP: Ford EcoBoost 400, Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT, NBC. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.
Race distance: 400.5 miles, 267 laps.
2015 champion: Kyle Busch.
-XFINITY SERIES: Ford EcoBoost 300, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.
Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.
2015 champion: Kyle Larson
-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Ford EcoBoost 200, Friday, 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.
Race distance: 201 miles, 134 laps.
2015 champion: Matt Crafton.