Nothing’s sweeter than a repeater, and we went back-to-back Jack! Matt Kenseth won the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 today [March 7th] at Las Vegas MotorSpeedway….and he was much the best. In what looked like an instant replay from Rockingham two weeks ago, the names of the top two finishers were the same….only the margin of victory was changed to protect the innocent.
Kenseth led 123 of the final 173 laps (including the last 38) to take his second win in a row (both on the season and at this speedway) and 9th of his Nextel Cup career. He’s now tied for 48th on the all-time win list with Paul Goldsmith, Ryan Newman, Cotton Owens, and Bob Welborn.
This was career win #68 for Roush Racing….and their 5th victory in the 7 events held at LVMS. Matt’s take of the over $6M in posted awards was $458,828.
Kasey Kahne was the bridesmaid again….beginning to see why there was such a legal fight over him, huh?
Rules….Schmoolz!! I for one see almost no difference in the racing. I guess we’re gonna be treated to another week of “This week will really show the effect of the new rules” stories, but how long do they think we’re gonna buy this stuff! When you look at the stats of the two non-plate races thus far, last year’s numbers are still better than ’04. We had 20 lead changes last year at Rockingham among 11 drivers…this year was 15 among 6. Vegas last year was 17 changes among 10 drivers….this year was 18 among 10. Big difference, huh? About the only major number that’s changing is the tire bill!
Gotta wonder if Fox was having technical problems today….sure took them a long time to get on the Dale Earnhardt Jr story. They didn’t seem to have any problem finding Fox employee Troy Aikman or John Elway tho….
Mark Martin (5th) had his best finish since he was runner-up at Pocono last July.
Elliott Sadler (6th) had his best finish since he was 5th at Martinsville last April.
Casey Mears (7th) had his career-best finish today. His previous best was 15th here in last year’s race.
Kyle Petty (12th) had his best finish since he was 11th at Talladega last April.
Scott Riggs (29th) had his career-best finish today. He was 31st at Rockingham two weeks ago for his previous best.
STREAKIN….Matt Kenseth has 5 Top-10’s in the last 6 races. Tony Stewart has 4 Top-10’s in the last 5 races.
The Rookie Report: For the second week in a row Kasey Kahne (2nd) is the top-finishing freshman. He was followed by Brendan Gaughan (22nd), Brian Vickers (23rd), Johnny Sauter (24th), Scott Riggs (29th), and Scott Wimmer (39th).
This Week’s Elevator….UP: Matt Kenseth (+24) is the Operator of the Week for the second race in a row. He was followed by Mark Martin (+22), Kyle Petty (+20), and Terry Labonte (+20). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Greg Biffle (-31), followed by Michael Waltrip (-23), Kyle Busch (-23), Ryan Newman (-22), and Brian Vickers (-20).
Kasey Kahne led today (twice for 43 laps) for the first time in his Cup career. Scott Riggs led one lap today for the first time in his Nextel Cup career.
Of the 50 drivers in the point standings, only four of them occupy the same position as last week….and the change at the top is indicative of the movement we get early in the season. Matt Kenseth assumes the points lead and Dale Earnhardt Jr falls six spots to 7th. Is it too early to look at the transfer spot? (Sounds like we’re covering the heat races….)
The big move forward in the standings this week goes to Kasey Kahne (21st to 8th), while Greg Biffle (14th to 27th) fell the comensurate number of spots.(StockCarFans.Com Nextel Cup Newsletter)(3-9-2004)