Las Vegas Motor Speedway Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Not even halfway through the opening race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and two drivers contending for the championship will leave Las Vegas with Lady Luck not on their side. On lap 147 in Sunday’s South Point 400, Kevin Harvick, who entered the day as the co-points leader suffered a blown tire in Turn 1 sending him hard into the outside wall and collecting fellow playoff driver Erik Jones in the process. The crash would relegate Harvick and Jones to 37th and 38th,Read More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – The NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was high action and great drama with a first time winner in Ross Chastain and the 12 championship eligible drivers entering the race maintaining their contention for the opening round of the Playoffs, which begin next week at Richmond, Va. Chastain’s Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet held off five-time season winner Justin Allgaier and fellow Playoff bound driver Cole Custer for his first career victory in 132 NASCAR XfinityRead More

By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – Two weeks ago at Darlington, Ross Chastain showcased his potential in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, leading 90 laps before falling out of the race in a dust-up with veteran Kevin Harvick. In Saturday’s DC Solar 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his second trip in Ganassi’s car, Chastain closed the deal, surviving three restarts in the final 20 laps to earn his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in his 132nd start. Chastain led 180 of 200 laps and sweptRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – It took three overtimes for Grant Enfinger to get his first victory of the season, with a win that represented a giant leap in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs. In the second race of the postseason, Enfinger went from eighth in the Playoff standings to a guaranteed berth in the second round when he held off charging Johnny Sauter in the third overtime to win the World of Westgate 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway by .142 seconds. BrettRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – Before Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Erik Jones considered himself a sleeper entering the first race of the Playoffs. That was before the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota announced his presence by winning the pole for Sunday’s opening postseason race, the South Point 400. Jones toured the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway in 28.705 seconds (188.121 mph) to earn his first Busch Pole Award of the season and the secondRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – Jimmie Johnson made a lot of eye contact with the reporters eager to gauge his Playoff expectations Thursday afternoon at the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Media Day. The sincerity in his voice and the passion of his words left no doubt. He is as motivated as he has ever been to end a first of its kind season-long winless streak. A championship run now would certainly change the narrative. Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman have qualified forRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – You can’t accuse Kevin Harvick of flying under the radar heading into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs—not a guy with seven victories in 26 regular-season races and speed in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Fords everywhere he goes. But Harvick isn’t approaching the postseason with the braggadocio of an odds-on favorite. “I’m just along for the show,” Harvick said during his appearance at a fan event at the South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa. “For us, we’ve had aRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Viva Las Vegas…again? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in the track’s history, Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be hosting a second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race this season as they kick off the 10-race Playoff stretch with Sunday’s running of the South Point 400. Las Vegas began its life on the NASCAR circuit as a 1.5-mile oval with 12 degrees of banking in 1998, but following the 2006 running of the race, the track underwent a massive reconfiguration that saw progressive bankingRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series headed to Las Vegas Motor Speedway to kick off the annual West Coast swing in March 2017 and by the time the checkered flag flew, NASCAR was definitely the talk of the town. Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex, Jr. started the day on the front row, with Keselowski getting the early jump over Truex, leading 65 of the first 70 laps. Truex took over the lead at lap 76 following a restart after Kevin Harvick crashed on the frontstretch andRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Kasey Kahne will sit out the next three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races, beginning in Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Also announced Tuesday was Regan Smith taking driving duties for Leavine Family Racing’s No. 95 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for at least those three events. The 18-time Cup winner sat out the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard due to lingering heat exhaustion, the first time he’s ever missed a Cup race in his entire 15-year career. Smith finished onRead More