Statistical Advance: Analyzing the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube

At Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

History

• The construction to build the superspeedway known today as Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) began in 1995. Speedway Motorsports Inc. acquired the property in 1998.
• The first NASCAR race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was a NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race won by Ken Schrader on Nov. 2, 1996.
• The first NASCAR Cup Series race was held on March 1, 1998. Dale Jarrett won the pole for the event and Mark Martin won the race.
• In 2006, the track was reconfigured to include progressive banking.
• In total there have been 24 NASCAR Cup Series races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
• The 1.5-mile track has hosted one race per season from 1998 to 2017; starting in 2018, Las Vegas has hosted two NASCAR Cup Series events per season.

Starts

• In total 160 different drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway; 126 in more than one.
• Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman lead the NASCAR Cup Series in starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with 21 starts each.
• A total of six drivers have made their NASCAR Cup Series career debut at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Stanton Barrett (1999), Kyle Busch (2004), Timmy Hill (2012), Jon Wood, Aric Almirola (2007) and Cole Custer (2018).
• Daniel Hemric (two starts) leads the NASCAR Cup Series in average starting position at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a 5.5.
• Joey Logano (13 starts) leads the NASCAR Cup Series among active drivers in average starting position at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a 8.9.

Top 10 in Average Starting Position at Las Vegas (All-Time & Active)

Poles

• A total of 17 different drivers have won a Busch Pole Award in the NASCAR Cup Series at Las Vegas.
• Kasey Kahne leads the series in poles at Las Vegas with three (2004, 2007 and 2012).
• Five drivers have multiple poles – Kasey Kahne (three), Bobby Labonte, Dale Jarrett, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch (two each).
• NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett won the series’ inaugural pole at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a speed of 168.224 mph (32.773 secs.).
• Kyle Busch is the only driver to win consecutive poles at LVMS (2008-2009).
• Youngest LVMS pole winner: Erik Jones (Sept. 16, 2018 – 22 years, 3 months, 17 days).
• Oldest LVMS pole winner: Dale Jarrett (Mar. 4, 2001 – 44 years, 3 months, 6 days).
• Only one NASCAR Cup Series driver has posted his first career pole at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Kasey Kahne (03/07/2004).
• Five manufactures have won a pole at Las Vegas in the NASCAR Cup Series, led by Ford with 11 and followed by Chevrolet (4), Dodge (4), Toyota (3) and Pontiac (1).

Wins

• A total of 13 different NASCAR Cup Series drivers have won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway; six are active this weekend.
• Jimmie Johnson leads the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with four victories (2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010).
• Of the 13 series winners at Las Vegas, six are active this weekend: Jimmie Johnson (4), Brad Keselowski (3), Kevin Harvick (2), Martin Truex Jr. (2), Kyle Busch (1) and Joey Logano (1).
• Seven drivers (all-time) have multiple NASCAR Cup Series wins at Las Vegas: Jimmie Johnson (four), Matt Kenseth (three), Brad Keselowski (three), Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Carl Edwards (each have two).
• Youngest Las Vegas winner: Kyle Busch (Mar. 01, 2009 – 23 years, 9 months, 27 days).
• Oldest Las Vegas winner: Sterling Marlin (Mar. 03, 2002 – 44 years, 7 months, 32 days).
• Three drivers have won consecutive races at Las Vegas: Jeff Burton (1999, 2000); Matt Kenseth (2003, 2004) and Jimmie Johnson, who is the only driver to win three consecutive races (2005, 2006 and 2007).
• Las Vegas-native Kyle Busch became the first and only driver to win from the pole at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series, he accomplished the feat on March 1, 2009.
• Five of the 24 Las Vegas races (20.8%) have been won from the front row: Kyle Busch, 2009 (pole); Carl Edwards, 2008 (second starting position); Brad Keselowski, 2014 (second starting position); Martin Truex Jr., 2017 (second starting position); Kevin Harvick, 2018 (second starting position).

NASCAR Cup Series Wins by Starting Positions at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

• The deepest in the field that a race winner has started is 25th, by Matt Kenseth in 2004.
• Eight of the 13 NASCAR Cup Series drivers who have won at Las Vegas participated in at least two or more races before visiting Victory Lane. Mark Martin (1998; inaugural event) is the only driver to win at Las Vegas in his first appearance.
• Ryan Newman leads the series among active drivers with the most starts at Las Vegas without visiting Victory Lane at 21 races; followed by Kurt Busch with 20.
• No NASCAR Cup Series drivers have won their first career race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
• The five drivers that have won the first two events of the NASCAR Cup Series season are: Matt Kenseth (2009), Jeff Gordon (1997), David Pearson (1976), Bob Welborn (1959) and Marvin Panch (1957).
• Five reigning NASCAR Cup Series champions have gone on to win at Las Vegas the following season: Matt Kenseth (2004), Jimmie Johnson (2007, 2010) – Johnson is the only driver to do it multiple times – Tony Stewart (2012), Kevin Harvick (2015), and Joey Logano (2019).
• Four drivers have won the Las Vegas race and the NASCAR Cup Series championship in the same season: Jeff Gordon (2001), Matt Kenseth (2003), Jimmie Johnson (2006, 2007 and 2010) and Martin Truex Jr. (2017).

• Seven different organizations have won in the NASCAR Cup Series at Las Vegas:
• Roush Fenway Racing leads the series in wins at Las Vegas with seven victories, followed by Hendrick Motorsports with five.
• Four manufacturers have visited Victory Lane in the NASCAR Cup Series at Las Vegas, led by Ford (12), Chevrolet (seven), Toyota (four) and Dodge (one).

Additional Finishing Positions

Second-Place Finishes:

• A total of 17 different NASCAR Cup Series drivers have finished runner-up at Las Vegas Motor Speedway; eight are active this weekend.
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. leads the series in runner-up finishes at Las Vegas with three.
• Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson lead all active drivers in second-place finishes in the NASCAR Cup Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with two each.

Top Fives:

• A total of 39 different NASCAR Cup Series drivers have finished inside the top-five at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
• Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick lead the series in top-five finishes at Las Vegas with seven each.

Top-10 Finishes:

• A total of 61 different NASCAR Cup Series drivers have finished inside the top-10 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
• Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin lead the series in top-10 finishes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with 10 each.
• Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman lead all active drivers in top-10 finishes at Las Vegas with 10 each.

Average Finishing Positions:

• NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt leads the series in average finishing position at Las Vegas with a 7.7.
• Joey Logano leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in average finish at LVMS with a 8.5.

Top 10 in Average Finishing Position at Las Vegas (All-Time & Active)

Lap Leader Stats

• At total of 76 different drivers have led laps in the NASCAR Cup Series at Las Vegas; led by Jimmie Johnson with 595 laps led in 20 starts
• The most laps led by the race winner in a NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas are 214 of the scheduled 267 (80.1%) by Kevin Harvick on March 4, 2018; he started second.
• The fewest laps led by the race winner in a NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas are one (the last lap) of the scheduled 267 (0.003%) by Jimmie Johnson on March 12, 2006; he started third.
• The most laps led by a driver that didn’t win in a NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas are 219 of the scheduled 267 (82%%) by Jeff Gordon on February 28, 2010; he started second.

Top 10 in Lap Leaders at Las Vegas (All-Time & Active)

Female Competitors

• Danica Patrick and Shawna Robinson are the only two female drivers to compete at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Track Specific Stats

• Twice the NASCAR Cup Series race has resulted with a NASCAR Overtime finish at Las Vegas:

• Only one NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas has ended early due to weather:

• Qualifying has only been cancelled once at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2013. As a result, Brad Keselowski started from the first starting position.
• The closest margin of victory in the NASCAR Cup Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was the March 12, 2006 race won by Jimmie Johnson over Matt Kenseth by a margin of 0.045 second.

Top Five Closest Margins of Victory in the NASCAR Cup Series at Las Vegas

NASCAR in Nevada

• There has been a total of 75 NASCAR national series races among two tracks in the state of Nevada.

• The first NASCAR national series race held in the state of Nevada was at Las Vegas Park Speedway on October 16, 1955. Las Vegas Park Speedway was a 1-mile dirt track, and the event was 200 laps. Norm Nelson won the race driving a Chrysler.

Nevada in NASCAR

• A total of 28 different drivers in NASCAR national series history have their home state recorded as Nevada.
• Five drivers with their home state recorded as Nevada have won at least one NASCAR national series race.

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