Las Vegas Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer “This Mustang Dark Horse is bitchin’!” Noah Gragson didn’t mince any words on how he felt about bringing home a superb sixth-place finish in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In a race where the four-car organization remained quiet or faltered, Gragson and his No. 10 squad put together a strong showing. Notably, Gragson’s charge towards his third career top-10 finish shined bright in the final 27 green flag laps where he was in a battle for a top-five finish,Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Aric Almirola is off to his best season start of his NASCAR Cup Series career following a sixth-place finish in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He’s the only driver to finish in the top-10 in all three races this year which puts him sixth in the championship standings. In the closing laps, Almirola was barely hanging onto 10th place until the race went into overtime after Erik Jones and Bubba Wallace crashed on the frontstretch. When the race boiled down to a two-lapRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Austin Cindric is prepared for the true test of this season’s NASCAR Xfinity Series campaign, beginning in this weekend’s Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Now in his third full season, the 21-year-old is more aware on what’s considered normal on any given race weekend. Despite saying that area is where he’s improved the most, Cindric believes it’s the most demanding aspect a race car driver can thrive to improve on. “It’s a hard challenge to describe because what was normal for me isRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Turn 1 at Texas Motor Speedway has become calamity corner this weekend, and it bit both Cole Custer and Brandon Jones on Lap 131 when they tangled while battling for the fourth spot during Saturday’s My Bariatric Solutions 300 and finished outside the top-30 for the first time this season. Prior to their encounter, both competitors had a dramatic race, due in most part they had near scares that could’ve possibly impacted their outcomes earlier. For Jones, who was having another strong run in his No. 19Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer A new chapter into NASCAR’s future has few perks as they’re further separating themselves from tradition once more. For what? To spice things up like its a game of Russian roulette? First off, I applaud the sport for making the Southern 500 at Darlington the playoff opener. A crown jewel event is the ultimate ideal start of the postseason and makes the most nostalgic weekend even sweeter. Their attempt of a doubleheader at Pocono sounds promising, but I’m not crazy about doubleheaders in major motorsports exceptRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Sporting his 1999 NASCAR Southwest Series championship-winning paint scheme in front of his home crowd, Kurt Busch’s homecoming was a success after a wise pit strategy put him in front for 23 of 267 laps, and scored a fifth-place finish in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Throughout the afternoon, Busch’s No. 1 Star Nursery Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 had his work cut out for after starting 28th and was outside the top-10 in the first two stages, with one of the adjustments made hisRead 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

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Hendrick Motorsports’ woes continued in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 Presented By Jiffy Lube at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after Chase Elliott was collected in a two-car crash on Lap 183. Entering Turn 4, Kurt Busch’s No. 41 Haas Automation Ford stepped out and darted right into Elliott, resulting in both cars slamming into the wall and ending their afternoons with disappointing results. Elliott, who finished 34th, said he was an innocent victim and wasn’t able to avoid Busch. “I think he just got loose in theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Known to be a demanding track for Xfinity Series rookies, Christopher Bell showcased to the field it doesn’t apply for all rookies after being the highest-finishing series regular in Saturday’s Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, finishing second and leading six of 200 laps. On the final restart, Bell had his eyes of becoming the 10th different winner in 10 races, but a blunder cost him an opportunity of one-upping race winner and rival Kyle Larson. “It would have been nice to getRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driven by Kyle Larson led the way during Friday morning’s pre-qualifying practice session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Larson ran five laps at the 1.5-mile circuit, eking out last week’s winner Kevin Harvick by 0.037 seconds with a lap time of 28.323 seconds, 190.658 mph. “This year, after having the test and after having the year we had last year that really helps your confidence,” said Larson ahead of the 55 minute session. “We know comingRead More