Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After an emotional rollercoaster of a ride to kick off the 2020 season in Daytona last weekend, the driver and teams in the NASCAR Cup Series will look to buckle down as they head into the West Coast swing and Sunday’s running of the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. As the first intermediate track of the season, the 1.5-mile track just north of Sin City will give us the first signs of which teams to look out for as the season progresses, especially withRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Roush Fenway Racing announced Wednesday Ross Chastain will fill-in for Ryan Newman this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. RFR President Steve Newmark issued a statement regarding the motorsports community pouring their undeniable support for Newman, who is not only awake and alert, but released from Halifax Medical Center hours prior of the team announcing Chastain as their driver. Ryan Newman has been treated and released from Halifax Medical Center pic.twitter.com/J0twhGgQm7 — Roush Fenway (@roushfenway) February 19, 2020 This encouraging news came just two days afterRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – It was a victory for Joey Logano. It was a victory for Team Penske. It was a victory for NASCAR’s new higher-downforce, lower-horsepower competition package, which debuted in full flower on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In a pitched battle between teammates, Logano held off Brad Keselowski on the final lap of the Pennzoil 400 to score the second straight victory for Team Penske and the second straight for the new Ford Mustang, which was introduced into the Monster Energy NASCARRead 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 Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – Kevin Harvick knew he didn’t have the fastest car for Friday’s knockout qualifying session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But Harvick also predicted that the fastest car wouldn’t win the pole for Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at the 1.5-mile track (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). He was right. When the cars crossed the stripe as the seconds ticked down in the final round, it was Harvick who had the pole-winning lap at 180.517 mph (29.914 seconds), edging DaytonaRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series has been visiting Las Vegas Motor Speedway for more than two decades, but this weekend’s race at the track is likely one of the most anticipated at the facility in years with the introduction of the new aerodynamic package that will make its full debut on the 1.5-mile track. Though the new package was rolled out for the first time last week in Atlanta, it wasn’t the full package that includes the aero ducts in the front end of theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The NASCAR penalty hammer has dropped on Kevin Harvick and his No. 4 team at Stewart-Haas Racing after the team’s dominating win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last Sunday. The team was found to be in violation of Sections 20.4.8.1 (Rear Window Support and Structure) and 20.4.18 (Rocker Panel Extensions) in post-race teardown at the NASCAR R&D Center. A rear window support brace was found to have failed and did not meet NASCAR specifications for keeping the rear window glass rigid at all times. Also,Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS, Nev. – If you thought last Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta was an aberration on old asphalt, think again. Kevin Harvick was every bit as dominant on the newer asphalt at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, racking up impressive numbers in winning Sunday’s Pennzoil 400, the third event of the season. In winning his second straight race and his second at the 1.5-mile track, Harvick finished 2.906 seconds ahead of runner-up and Las Vegas native Kyle Busch. Third-place finisher KyleRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start for Jimmie Johnson and his No. 48 team, but the seven-time champion was able to rebound to a 12th place finish. After qualifying 14th, pre-race inspection issues, which saw the team fail inspection three times, led to the ejection of car chief Jesse Saunders and forced Johnson to start the race at the back of the field. “I’ve never been in this situation,” Johnson said. “Last weekend, there wereRead More

By NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS, Nev. – With a respite from strong gusts in the final round of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying on Friday at windswept Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Ryan Blaney posted the fastest lap of the day to earn the pole position for the third race of the season. After covering the 1.5-mile distance in 28.200 seconds (191.489 mph)-the fastest lap of the day-Blaney will lead the field to the green flag in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 (3:30Read More