Roush team hates leaving Las Vegas

As much as Las Vegas is known for showgirls, bright lights, casinos and Wayne Newton, Las Vegas Motor Speedway should be known for Roush Racing.

The 1.5-mile track north of Las Vegas proper has held 20 races covering NASCAR's three top divisions. And vehicles owned by Jack Roush have won nine of those. Hendrick Motorsports, with three victories, is a distant second.

VIDEO  Drivers are excited about heading to Vegas this weekend  Three drivers are coming home this weekend in Vegas

In NASCAR's top division, Roush has won four of the six races at LVMS, including the first three and last year's event. Add in three Busch Series victories and two Craftsman Truck Series wins, and you have the makings of a lock.

"Roush Racing really seems to have this place figured out," said Kenseth, whose only victory during his 2003 championship season was at Las Vegas. "That was such a great victory for us last year. It was almost like the car drove itself because it had such good handling."

Roush Racing didn't win the first Busch or Truck race at Las Vegas, but it did win the first Cup race. And the second. And the third. Mark Martin won the first race there back in 1998, and though Martin is not known for hyperbole, he still gushes over that victory.

"The win there in '98 is one of the most memorable I have," Martin said. "It was a lot like the win in the Coca-Cola 600 a couple of years ago, in the fact that we had a new team. It was a brand new track and a brand new team, and we were looking to see what we could do.

"I'll never forget leaving that night, after all the media stuff was done. We were flying out in the helicopter and I looked down over the track and realized what we had accomplished. It was kind of overwhelming. I've had a lot of success in NASCAR, but I've always been so busy looking to next week that I seldom stop to look at what we are doing. You could look down and see that track and realize that it wasn't some quarter-mile dirt track that we had just won on."

No, Las Vegas has developed into one of the most popular stops on the Nextel Cup Series, and this weekend's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 is no different. The purse is big, the anticipation is high, and the drivers are excited.

	Mark Martin

Of course, if you drive for Roush Racing, you might be a little more excited.

"Las Vegas Motor Speedway is predominantly a track that is all about handling," Kurt Busch said. "From the start of the race to the checkered flag the track changes dramatically because it's a flat track that will have a substantial amount of rubber built up on it. Roush has always done a good job of preparing the most versatile cars that are capable of adapting to those changes."

That's one explanation for Roush's success.

"I think it's just a product of having the best drivers," said Greg Biffle, who won a Truck race for Roush in 1999. "Really though, Roush has done well at Las Vegas in all three major series, and I think much of that success comes from finding the right balance through the information sharing that goes on within our company.

"In the past, pit strategy has played a pivotal role in the outcome of Vegas races, and for Roush to have so many wins there just shows that he's got the right people in place making the calls."

Good cars, good drivers, good strategy - a winning formula. And it was one discovered early in Las Vegas' history.

"Well, it's still a relatively new track, and we came out there from the beginning and we were strong," Kenseth said. "Once you have a good base of notes and setups that you know work, it just took off for us. There's also a confidence factor that comes into play where you know as a team that you're going to be strong at a certain track or type of track - kind of like DEI at the restrictor plate tracks. I think we have the same kind of success if you're talking about Las Vegas Motor Speedway."

	Jeff Burton

Besides the victories by Martin and Kenseth, Jeff Burton won in 1999 and repeated in 2000. Burton is tops in laps led with 204, while Martin is second with 186. Burton and Martin are also the only Cup drivers with five top-10 finishes.

Want more proof? Martin and Burton have finished third or better three times apiece, while Martin finished in the top five in each of the first five races.

In the Busch Series, Burton has one twice, with Martin winning once. Joe Ruttman also won a Truck race at LVMS for Roush.

But if there's any Roush driver who could use a boost through Las Vegas, it's Burton. His No. 99 team still doesn't have a full-time sponsor, and Burton has blown engines in both of his races this season. He's behind three drivers - Jimmy Spencer, Dave Blaney and Mike Skinner - who have raced only once in 2004.

"I was really, really down Sunday after Rockingham because we're in a position that we shouldn't be in," Burton said. "We have performed much better than we did at this time last year, or at this time the year before, or at this time the year before that. But if you just look at results, it doesn't show it, and that's what you have to do. You have to understand where you are, and if it's good or bad you have to accept it and go make it better, and that's what we do.

	Kurt Busch hasn't cracked the top 10 at Las Vegas. Credit: Autostock

"But we were all down Sunday, and I want the team to be down when something like that happens. I don't want them to be happy and upbeat when we've finished 37th. I want them to be mad and upset, but by Monday we have to be back on track thinking about what to do to make things better. That's where we are."

And the team's confidence should be higher knowing it is going to Las Vegas.

"I expect to have a chance to win at Vegas, and this team expects to have a chance to win at Vegas," Burton said. "My confidence level is high based on the way we've run the first two races, so I have a high level of confidence that we're gonna go to Vegas and run well. I also have a high level of uncertainty about the result that we're gonna get at Vegas because I've had two really good cars at two racetracks and haven't been able to finish it off for one reason or the other.

"So, certainly, if you've been in that situation you look at it and you realize that having a good racecar is only part of the puzzle. I've known that all along, but if we don't go to Vegas and have ourselves in a position to win that race, I'm gonna be highly disappointed."

He won't be the only Roush Racing driver who feels that way.