Las Vegas Motor Speedway Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a thrilling race in Southern California last weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series will make the trip up Interstate 15 to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this week, with Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 marking the second leg of the West Coast swing. 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 banking put in place with the new banking rangingRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer October 16, 2011. Forever be a day of infamy amongst open wheel racing fans, writers, and personnel. That very day, 34 cars accepted the daunting challenge of taking the green flag for the championship race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Eleven laps later, tragedy occurred as over a dozen cars were involved in one of the most horrific accidents in history. Not only did the incident include Will Power, who was battling Dario Franchitti for the championship, but also involved that year’s Indianapolis 500 champion DanRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – As he crossed the Las Vegas Motor Speedway finish line to claim the South Point 400 trophy, Denny Hamlin screamed into his team radio, “Viva Las Vegas.” And indeed, it was that kind of night for the perennial championship contender, who led a race best 137 of the 267 laps to earn his first Las Vegas victory in 20 starts and take an automatic bid into the next round of the Playoffs. The 40-year old Virginian edged reigning NASCAR Cup SeriesRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – Josh Berry seized opportunity and drove away from the competition Saturday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Tabbed to substitute for injured JR Motorsports driver Michael Annett, the Tennessee late model champion Berry earned his second win of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season claiming an impressive 4.396-second victory in the Playoff opener. Berry, 30, led a 1-2-3 JR Motorsports team sweep in the Alsco Uniforms 302 – besting his teammates Justin Allgaier and Noah Gragson, whose second and third place finishesRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service For the second consecutive week the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series crowned a first-time winner. Christian Eckes, a 20-year old New York native, took the lead on a final restart with four laps remaining to claim his first trophy and lead a historic 1-2-3-4 finish for the ThorSport Racing team. Eckes teammate Ben Rhodes finished .272-seconds back, followed by Playoff driver Matt Crafton and veteran Johnny Sauter who completed the ThorSport four-of-a-kind at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Todd Gilliland finished fifth after leading aRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service The second round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs begins with Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (7 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and already the championship battle has proven to be both intense and unpredictable. Regular Season Champion, Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson continues to hold on to the points lead and returns to Las Vegas as the most recent race winner there, taking the victory handily in the March race by more than 3-seconds over Brad Keselowski. Larson isRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service In 2022, the NASCAR Cup Series will return to the Last Great Coliseum after visiting one of the first great coliseums for the first time. The series will make its first trip to the shores of the Mississippi under the shadow of the Gateway Arch. And the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will have a new look, with Homestead-Miami Speedway moving back into the postseason and each round featuring a shakeup of the participating tracks. For the first time in its history, the Clash, theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Last Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was a race to forget for Stewart-Haas Racing. This includes Kevin Harvick, who was the highest-finishing SHR entry with an appalling 20th. Harvick’s teammates Chase Briscoe, Cole Custer and Aric Almirola also struggled, finishing 21st, 25th and 38th respectively. When it’s a race where no SHR car led a lap nor end up on the lead lap, questions pile up. More so for Harvick, who led the field to the green flag. Even with the concerns, heplansRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Compared to most races since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Kyle Busch had a progressive afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, finishing third in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400. Busch’s road towards his first top-five of 2021 was a grind as he battled a super tight No. 18 Ethel M Chocolates Toyota Camry. Things began finally clicking was the final stage where he was on the move making progress while others struggled gaining ground. It certainly paid dividends with his result, but there’s still significant room for improvement. “WeRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Kyle Larson left little to chance Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway leading a race best 103 laps and pulling away to a convincing 3.156-second win over former NASCAR Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski to win the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube – his first victory in two years. Larson, 28, of Elk Grove, Calif. became the quickest winner in Hendrick Motorsports long and esteemed history, taking the checkered flag in only his fourth start in the team’s famous No. 5 Chevrolet. ItRead More