Kenseth’s second victory in 2004 marks the first time that the defending champion has scored back-to-back victories in his 151-race career.
Kenseth became the first driver since Jeff Gordon (Martinsville and Atlanta, October 2003) to score back-to-back victories. Kenseth became the second driver to score two victories at Las Vegas, joining teammate Jeff Burton (1999 and 2000). Kenseth won this race one year ago.
Today’s victory marked the fifth victory for Jack Roush in seven races at Las Vegas.
Kenseth is the only driver to start the 2004 season with top-10 finishes in each of the first three races of the season. Kenseth finished ninth at Daytona and won at Rockingham.
This is Kenseth’s second top-10 finish in five races at Las Vegas.
Kenseth took over the point lead and won the NASACAR NEXTEL Leader bonus worth $30,000. This is the first time that the race winner was also the point leader since Sterling Marlin at Darlington in March 2002. This race was the second victory for Ford in 2004. Chevrolet has one victory this season.
More Notebook Items:
Rookie Kasey Kahne (second) scored his second runner-up finish in as many races. It marked the best finish by a rookie in the seven races at Las Vegas.
This is the third straight race in 2004 that a rookie has finished in the top three. Scott Wimmer finished third at Daytona. Kahne finished second at Rockingham and at Las Vegas.
Tony Stewart (third) scored his second top-10 finish in 2004. It is his fourth top-five finish in six races at Las Vegas.
Jamie McMurray (fourth) scored his second top-10 finish in 2004. It was his first top-10 finish in two races at Las Vegas.
Mark Martin (fifth) scored his first top-10 finish in 2004. It was his best finish since he finished second at Pocono in June 2003, 26 races ago. This was his sixth top-10 finish in seven races at Las Vegas, more than any other driver.
Casey Mears (seventh) scored his career-best NEXTEL Cup finish. This was Mears first top-10 finish in two races at Las Vegas. Mears finished 15th here in 2003 his rookie season.
Kurt Busch (ninth) scored his second top-10 finish in 2004. Busch scored his first top-10 finish in four races at Las Vegas.
Terry Labonte (17th) has been running at the finish in the last 45 races, a streak that began at Charlotte in October 2002.
The six caution periods in today’s UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400 tied the Las Vegas record (2001, 2002 and 2003) and the 37 caution laps set a new record at Las Vegas.(NASCAR Stats Service)(3-8-2004)