NASCAR Category

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Three races into the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, Kyle Larson is starting to assert himself as a bona fide championship contender. At 24 years old, the driver in his fourth full-time season on the circuit can’t even legally rent a car at most rental companies, but he is driving like a seasoned pro so far this year. Sunday in the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Larson rolled off from the fifth starting spot, and on the first run of theRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer After taking the victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend, Brad Keselowski and his No. 2 Miller Lite team were riding a wave of momentum into the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Speed in Keselowski’s Ford Fusion was evident as he was second fastest in the first practice, behind Martin Truex, Jr. In qualifying, Keselowski topped the speed charts, edging out Truex’s No. 78 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry by three-hundredths of a second. The second practice was a disappointment as Keselowski wasRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Kyle Busch looked to be on the way to a top-five finish in Sunday’s Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but after last lap contact between Busch and Joey Logano, Busch went for a spin that not only left him with a bad finish at his home track, but with his tempers flaring. As Brad Keselowski was dropping back with a wounded car after losing the lead, Busch and Logano both dove low under Keselowski’s Ford entering Turn 3 on the last lap, nearlyRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – In a race whose aftermath left hometown driver Kyle Busch with a bloody forehead, Martin Truex Jr. passed the faltering car of Brad Keselowski on the white-flag lap and cruised to a sweep of all three stages in Sunday’s Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. As Truex approached the checkered flag to win a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race for the first time this season and the first time at LVMS, Joey Logano’s Ford slid up into Kyle Busch’sRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor The second Stage of the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway played out the exact same way that Stage 1 did. A late caution gave the field an opportunity to hit pit road for fuel and tires, and just like with Stage 1 two competitors stayed on track to gamble for championship points. This time the drivers who stayed out were seven-time Series champion Jimmie Johnson and 2004 Series champ Kurt Busch. Just like in Segment 1 tires were proven to be of the utmost value.Read More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor There were varying strategies at the conclusion of Stage 1 of the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas. A caution with 10 laps remaining in the stage gave the field an opportunity to pit for tires and fuel before the break for Stage 2. However, Joey Logano (third spot at the time of the caution) and Jamie McMurray (11th at the time of the caution) opted to roll the dice and stay on the track in hopes that they could gain championship points. When the green flag cameRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – Saturday’s Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway wasn’t a drag race, but lane choice proved critical to Joey Logano’s 28th NASCAR XFINITY Series victory in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford. Choosing the top side for a restart on Lap 196 of 200, after Ty Dillon’s spin on Lap 192 necessitated the ninth and final caution of the afternoon, Logano cleared Kyle Larson off Turn 4 after an intense side-by-side battle and pulled away to win by .602 seconds.Read More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer The start to the NASCAR XFINITY Series season had been a brutal one for Justin Allgaier. The Riverton, Ill. native was caught up in one of the many wrecks in the season-opener at Daytona, completing only 28 laps and finishing 30th. The tough luck continued last weekend at Atlanta with a second straight 30th-place result. “When you’re up, you’re up, but when you’re down, you feel like you’re getting kicked in the teeth,” Allgaier said on the JRM Up Front podcast after Atlanta’s results. “We’reRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer As the NASCAR Xfinity Series rolled into Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Boyd Gaming 300, Darrell ‘Bubba’ Wallace Jr. was coming off a Top 10 finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway. When the field prepared to take the green, Wallace was feeling under the weather. In the first practice, Wallace’s No. 6 Leidos Ford Mustang was eighth on the speed charts. In the final practice, he was seventh fastest. In qualifying, Wallace was second fastest in the first round, and ended up placing his RoushRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – Brad Keselowski blew the first and second corners on his money lap in Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Then he blew away the rest of the field. Perhaps “blew away” is a bit of an exaggeration. Keselowski covered the 1.5-mile distance in 27.881 (193.680 mph) to edge Martin Truex Jr. (193.458 mph) for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Kobalt 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX) by .003 seconds. The Coors Light Pole AwardRead More