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Take 5: Hot topics coming out of Las Vegas
By Chase Wilhelm | Published: February 24, 2020 5
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22 GOES 2-FOR-2: It's not a shock that new driver-crew chief combination Joey Logano and Paul Wolfe earned their first victory in just their second race. The win was Logano's second consecutive trip to Victory Lane in the winter race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which also continues Wolfe's success at the track after three victories there with Brad Keselowski. On Friday, Logano said he was just going to let Wolfe do his job the first portion of the season without much input. Well, it's working so far.
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STATEMENT DAY FOR CHEVROLET: Chevrolet drivers are competing with a new Camaro nose and rear bumper after body changes were approved in the offseason. Judging by Sunday's race, it appears the enhancements were a critical step in the right direction in its first 1.5-mile speedway test. While Chase Elliott swept both stages and led 70 laps, Chevy drivers made up six of the top-10 finishing positions, led by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in third. Others included Austin Dillon (fourth), Jimmie Johnson (fifth), Bubba Wallace (sixth), Kyle Larson (ninth) and Ty Dillon (10th).
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TOUGH TIME FOR TOYOTA: On the opposite side of the manufacturer spectrum, it was a race to forget for Toyota's drivers. Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell were forced to start in the back after inspection failures, and their fortunes barely improved from there. Martin Truex Jr. started second and gave Elliott a run for stage wins, but all that changed when Truex hit the wall on Lap 176 and finished 20th. Busch was the highest-finishing Toyota with a 15th-place result, while Hamlin came home 17th. Bell went for a spin later in the race and finished 33rd.
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HOLD-YOUR-BREATH RESTARTS: If you haven't taken a look at NASCAR.com's GEICO Restart Zone, Monday's Las Vegas review is a good time to start. With track position so crucial, NASCAR Cup Series drivers were laying it all on the line every time the green flag flew again. Along with the three- and four-wide racing going into Turn 1, drivers were pushing and shoving their way to every position possible. Ty Dillon summed it up best after restarting 19th late but earning a 10th-place finish.
"It's nuts," Dillon said. "It's three- to four-wide every single restart and you just have to kind of find a lane that's got a little bit of momentum. What's crazy is it's never the same."
"It's nuts," Dillon said. "It's three- to four-wide every single restart and you just have to kind of find a lane that's got a little bit of momentum. What's crazy is it's never the same."
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Matt Sullivan | Getty Images
SWEET TO SOUR: Chase Elliott quickly worked his way up from his 10th starting position on Sunday, taking his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to the front for the Stage 1 victory and eventually completing the sweep with a second stage win. But Elliott's day took a turn for the worst when a flat left-rear tire on Lap 220 sent him spinning into the Turn 1 wall, leading to a 26th-place finish. Crew chief Alan Gustafson tried to warn Elliott that the tire was going down, but those efforts fell short due to miscommunication on the radio.