SAM'S TOWN 300 - LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Nationwide Series Race #3 of 34 for the 2011 season
Last Race - Phoenix
Next Race - Bristol
Martin wins at Las Vegas: #32-Mark Martin won the Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the 49th win of his career. #31-Justin Allgaier finished second. #22-Brad Keselowski was in the lead at the white flag, but cut a tire down and hit the wall on the final lap. He stayed on track and finished 3rd. #7-Danica Patrick finished 4th, her career best and the best ever finish by a woman in the series. The rest of the top 10: #16-Trevor Bayne, #60-Carl Edwards, #20-Denny Hamlin, #6-Ricky Stenhouse, #38-Jason Leffler, and #09-Kenny Wallace (his second consecutive top 10). There were 6 cautions for 27 laps and 11 lead changes among 6 leaders. The estimated attendance was 60,000 Complete results are posted on the Las Vegas race results page.(3-5-2011)
Las Vegas Race Fast Facts:
Mark Martin(i) won the 15th Annual Sam's Town 300, his 49th victory in 231 NASCAR Nationwide Series races. He is the seventh oldest driver to win a Nationwide Series race at 52 years 55 days. This is his 96th national series win.
This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in 2011.
This is his fourth victory and sixth top-10 finish in six races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway .
Justin Allgaier (second) posted his third top-10 finish in three races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway . It is his second top-10 finish in 2011.
Brad Keselowski(i) (third) posted his second top-10 finish in five races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway .
Ryan Truex (19th) was the highest finishing rookie.
Reed Sorenson leads the point standings by 2 points over Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
In finishing fourth, Danica Patrick becomes the first female to score a top-five finish in a Nationwide Series race. She is the highest finishing female in a NASCAR national series event. Sara Christian finished 5th at Heidlberg, Pa. on Oct. 2, 1949 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
(NASCAR Statistics)(3-5-2011)
Lucky Dogs - Who got a lap back on each caution at Las Vegas and their finish
Caution 1: #87-Conway, 43rd
Caution 2: #2-Sadler, 12th
Caution 3: #62-Annett, 13th
Caution 4: #11-Scott, 14th
Caution 5: #38-Leffler, 9th
Caution 6: #7-Patrick, 4th
(NASCAR PR)(3-05-2011)
Driver standings following Las Vegas:
1) #30-Reed Sorenson, 111
2) #6-Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 109, -2
3) #38-Jason Leffler, 106, -5
4) #7-Danica Patrick, 98, -13
5) #31-Justin Allgaier, 95, -16
6) #16-Trevor Bayne, 87, -24
7) #88-Aric Almirola, 85, -26
8) #09Kenny Wallace, 84, -27
9) #19-Mike Bliss, 82, -29
10) #87-Joe Nemechek, 79, -32
Complete standings are posted on the driver standings page.(3-5-2011)
Owner Standings following Las Vegas are posted. The top 30 from 2010 will remain locked in at Bristol.(3-5--2011)
Edwards on pole at Las Vegas: #60-Carl Edwards won the Coors Light Pole for the Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a speed of 181.824mph. #18-Kyle Bush will start second. The rest of the top 10: #6-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., #33-Kevin Harvick, #32-Mark Martin, #2-Elliott Sadler, #16-Trevor Bayne, #30-Reed Sorenson, #20-Denny Hamlin, and #31-Justin Allgaier. Joe Nemechek was in the #97. Because there are 43 cars entered, there were no DNQs. The starting lineup is posted on the Las Vegas starting lineup page.(3-5-2011)
Las Vegas Qualifying Notes:
Carl Edwards(i) won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 15th Annual Sam's Town 300 with a lap of 29.699 seconds, 181.824 mph.
This is his 22nd pole in 214 NASCAR Nationwide Series races. He moves from 8th all-time to tie 5th with Kyle Busch, David Green and Kevin Harvick.
This is his first pole and third top-10 start in 2011.
This is his second pole in seven races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway . His previous pole came in 2005.
Kyle Busch(i) (second) posted his third top-10 start of 2011 and his sixth in eight races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway .
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (third) posted his second top-10 start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway . It is his second in three races this season.
Ryan Truex (16th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR Statistics)(3-5-2011)
Martin fastest in happy hour: #32-Mark Martin was quickest during happy hour at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a speed of 187.542mph. He was followed by: #2-Elliott Sadler, #30-Reed Sorenson, #18-Kyle BUsch, #31-Justin Allgaier, #38-Jason Leffler, #62-Michael Annett, #16-Trevor Bayne, #20-Denny Hamlin, and #22-Brad Keselowski. R3 Motosports entered the #03 team with Charles Lewandoski just before the session. #87-Nemchek spun coming off turn 2 and backed into the wall. The team will not be able to repair the car and Nemechek does not have a backup (Conway is in the backup car as the #97 and the numbers cannot be siwtched after going through inspection). Nemechek will have to find another car to use in the race. #7-Patrick spun but did not hit anything. Complete results are posted on the Las Vegas practice results page.(3-4-2011)
Edwards fastest in first Friday practice: #60-Carl Edwards was quickest during the first practice session Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a speed of 179.104mph. #6-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr was second, followed by: #18-Kyle Busch, #32-Mark Martin, #16-Trevor Bayne, #11-Brian Scott, #31-Justin Allgaier, #20-Denny Hamlin, #2-Elliott Sadler, and #33-Kevin Harvick. Complete results are posted on the Las Vegas practice results page.(3-4-2011)
Kyle Busch fastest in second Thursday practice: #18-Kyle Busch was quickest during second practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a speed of 178.094mph. He was followed by: #6-Ricky Stenhouse, #32-Mark Martin, #60-Carl Edwards, #20-Denny Hamlin, #16-Trevor Bayne, #30-Reed Sorenson, #11-Brian Scott, #33-Kevin Harvick, and #31-Justin Allgaier. #52-Daryl Harr wrecked early during practice. Jeremy Clements blew an engine. 34 drivers practiced. Complete results are posted on the Las Vegas practice results page.(3-3-2011)
Edwards fastest in opening practice: #60-Carl Edwards was the fastest in the first Thursday practice for the Sam's Town 300. His top speed was 177.819mph. #18-Kyle Busch was second. The rest of the top 10: #6-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., #20-Denny Hamlin, #16-Trevor Bayne, #32-Mark Martin, #11-Brian Scott, #30-Reed Sorenson, #88-Aric Almirola, and #2-Elliott Sadler. Just 29 driver practiced during the session. Complete results are posted on the Las Vegas practice results page.( 3-3-2011)
Entry List: There are 42 cars on the preliminary entry list for Saturday's Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Some notes:
Denny Hamlin will drive the JRG #20;
J.J. Yeley will be in the Baker Curb #27;
Mark Martin make his first start in the Turner #32;
Carl Long will drive the #41 for Rick Ware;
Tim Andrews will be in the #68;
Kevin Conway will drive the NEMCO #97.
(3-1-2011)
See the complete list on the Las Vegas entry list page.
Nationwide Series Live from Las Vegas on ABC: The NASCAR Nationwide Series makes its first appearance of the season on ABC this weekend with a 300-mile race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 5. The telecast begins with NASCAR Countdown at 2:30 p.m. ET, with flag-to-flag coverage of the race at 3 p.m. Marty Reid will call the action with analysis by Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree. Tim Brewer will report from the ESPN Craftsman Tech Garage, while pit reporters will be Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch and Vince Welch. NASCAR Countdown from the ESPN pit studio will be hosted by Allen Bestwick with analysis by Jarrett and Brad Daugherty. The studio team will interact with the booth during the telecast of the race.(ESPN)(2-28-2011)
Martin Returns To Series To Defend Wins Record
Mark Martin will make his return to the NASCAR Nationwide Series this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Martin is doing so on the cusp of Kyle Busch, a Las Vegas native, closing in on his all-time wins leads of 48.
Busch posted his 44th series victory at Phoenix last weekend and also his 13th series perfect Driver Rating (150.0). There have been a total of 26 Perfect Driver Rating performances in the NASCAR Nationwide Series since its inception in 2005, and Busch has posted half of those. Ironically, Martin posted the first perfect 150.0 in the series – at Auto Club Speedway in 2005.
Martin will be running a limited schedule this season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for Turner Motorsports (Las Vegas, Auto Club Speedway, Michigan and Kentucky).
Some notes going into Saturday’s Sam’s Town 300:
Veteran Faces In Championship Contention
Reed Sorenson continues to be setting the pace, owning a five-point lead over second-place Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and seven points ahead of third-place, Jason Leffler. Sorenson has made three starts at Las Vegas, posting two top 10s.
Three veterans vying for the championship, Joe Nemechek, Mike Bliss and Kenny Wallace are all currently in the top 10 in points; fifth, seventh and ninth respectively. The three veterans have combined for 1,035 series starts, 27 wins and two NASCAR national series championships.
Nemechek, the 1992 series champion, won at Las Vegas in 2003. He is coming off back-to-back finishes of 15th at Daytona and Phoenix. Nemechek has made 12 starts at Las Vegas posting one win, five top fives and seven top 10s.
Bliss, the 2002 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion, has posted a 13th-place finish at Daytona and a 20th-place finish at Phoenix. Bliss has made five starts at Las Vegas, scoring one top five and a pole (2004).
Wallace climbed 10 spots in the driver standings this past week after his 10th-place result at Phoenix. That’s his best finish since last August at Iowa. When Wallace starts at Las Vegas, he’ll be 10 away from becoming second driver to reach 500 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts. He heads to Las Vegas this weekend having made eight starts, posting one top-10 finish.
Stenhouse Sidesteps Sophomore Slump
Roush Fenway Racing driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the 2010 Sunoco Rookie of the Year, is five points back from standings leader, Reed Sorenson.
Stenhouse had a slow start to the 2010 season before rebounding to earn Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors. The opposite is true in 2011, where he has opened up with two top-10 finishes, at Daytona (eighth) and Phoenix (seventh).
Stenhouse is looking to become the first driver since Greg Biffle to follow up a rookie of the year nod with a series championship. Biffle won the rookie honor in 2001 and series championship in 2002.
NNS ETC.
Owner standings update: 13 points separate first to fifth. Joe Gibbs’ No. 18 driven by Kyle Busch is first with 86 points, one ahead of second-place DeLana Harvick’s No. 33 driven by Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick. … Danica Patrick is fourth in the series driver standings. She finished 36th at Vegas last season. … This is the new car’s first trip to Las Vegas, and teams will be going in a day early (Thurs., March 3) for additional practice time at 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. and 3-5 p.m. The garage opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 6 p.m. Fans get in free and a NASCAR Nationwide Series driver autograph session will be held from 1:30-2:30 p.m. … 300th Nationwide start for KHI: This weekend's race at Las Vegas will mark KHI's 300th start in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Since entering the series in 2004, KHI has collected 10 wins and 12 poles.
Nationwide Series -- Race No. 3 – Sam's Town 300
Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval) – Las Vegas, Nev.
Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials
Number of Tires:
Nationwide: Left-side -- 700, Right-side -- 700
Set limits:
Nationwide: 2 sets for open test day and a maximum of 6 sets for Friday practice/qualifying/race
Tire Codes:
Left-side -- D-4374; Right-side -- D-4412
Tire Circumference:
Left-side -- 87.3 in.; Right-side -- 88.4 in.
Technical Inspection Inflation:
Left Front -- 34 psi; Left Rear -- 34 psi;
Right Front -- 62 psi; Right Rear -- 58 psi
Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front -- 30 psi; Left Rear -- 30 psi;
Right Front -- 58 psi; Right Rear -- 54 psi
Notes: Teams in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series will run the same tire codes at Las Vegas this weekend . . . this is the first time this left-side tire code (D-4374) has been run, though teams in both of these series did run this right-side code (D4412) at Daytona two weeks ago . . . compared to what was run at Las Vegas last season, this left-side tire features both construction and compound changes to give the cars more grip, as well as a minor right-side construction change to bring it into line with what is run at other mile-and-a-half tracks . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Las Vegas . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.
