Roush Fenway Racing President Steve Newmark held a press conference Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which he began by reading a statement from driver Ryan Newman. The statement in full is below.

“I’m sorry that I can’t be at the track in person, but I asked Steve to take a moment to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude for all the support that was shown last week to both me and my family. The outpouring of emotion from not only the NASCAR community, but across the country has been truly humbling.

“I want to personally thank everyone, including the man upstairs, for their support, encouragement and the numerous offers of assistance. We always say that the NASCAR community is one big family and never has that been more evident to me than after seeing this family rally together and provide the comfort and support that has been shown to my family and me over the past few days. The calls and visits from the NASCAR executives and my friends and competitors has been truly uplifting.

“I want to thank everyone involved in my care, especially the staff at Halifax Medical Center, where I am convinced I received the best care available. I’m confident the efforts of each of those trained professionals played a major role in where I’m sitting today. And to the entire NASCAR organization, led by Jim France, thanks for being by my side the entire time. You truly stepped up to support me unconditionally when it mattered most.

RELATED: O’Donnell shares incident timeline

“Most importantly, I have to thank the guys back at the Roush Fenway Racing shop that built me a car not only fast enough to lead the final seconds of the Daytona 500, but strong enough to do its job under great distress, allowing me to survive such an accident. I am truly indebted to each of you and it is unlikely I will ever be able to properly express to you how much the diligent effort with which you conduct your craftsmanship has affected me and my family. I hope you took pride in the photograph of me walking out of the hospital hand-in-hand with my daughters on Wednesday. Thank you. I can’t wait to get back in your race car.

“I was fortunate to avoid any internal organ damage or broken bones. I did sustain a head injury for which I’m currently being treated. The doctors have been pleased with my progression over the last few days.

“Again, I want to thank each of you, from my partners, teammates and competitors and each and every fan across the country. Thank you everyone for the unparalleled concern and unwavering support. And to the media, who has acted with such respect and class during this time.

“I have spoken with Jack Roush and he has assured me that the No. 6 car will be waiting and ready for my return. I’m looking forward to getting behind the wheel and battling for another race win in the Roush Fenway Ford.”

MORE: Ross Chastain fills in at Vegas

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The second race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series takes place today at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS). Unlike last weekend’s Daytona 500, where longshots provide plenty of value, this weekend’s race is all about the favorites.

Let’s take a look at the winners of the Las Vegas race since 2013, which encompasses the Gen-6 era of NASCAR (Note: since 2018 there have been two races per year at LVMS):

As you can see see, it’s taken a top-five regular season driver to win at Las Vegas. It looks a bit more lenient when you move to the full-season finish, but that’s because of how NASCAR’s playoff system works. With only 10 races, and multiple playoff elimination rounds since 2014, the smaller sample size means one or two bad finishes can make a driver’s season look a lot worse than it actually was.

To boil this down to a single point: it’s unlikely a driver who isn’t a top season-long performer wins.


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The bad news? Most of the top season-long drivers have very short odds to win, and aren’t worth betting. So how do we find value in the face of this information? The answer lies in uncertainty. This is the second race of the 2020 season, after all.

Here are two drivers whose odds are depressed relative to their championship potential.

Martin Truex Jr. +1000

Truex is one of the championship favorites, with odds anywhere from +400 to +600 pretty much industry-wide. Likewise, his odds to win today’s race range from as low as +560 at FanDuel to this number which you can find at Caesars properties in Las Vegas. Truex is +700 at PointsBet and DraftKings.

That’s a huge discount relative to his season-long expectations. And despite Toyota’s struggles this weekend, with every single Joe Gibbs driver failing inspection prior to opening practice thus forcing them to miss 15 minutes of practice time, there are reasons to be optimistic.

Truex has 11 wins in 36 races at the representative 1.5-mile tracks (that excludes Atlanta and Homestead) since he joined Toyota in 2016. That’s over a 30% win rate in a fairly large sample size! Additionally, he’s finished in the top six of the regular season point standings in each of those four years.

His practice times weren’t amazing, but none of the Toyota drivers’ times were. Notably, he was equal to, or better than, teammate Kyle Busch in every long-run metric in final practice. Busch is a +450 race favorite at Caesars, and a +650 bet to win at his most generous odds at FanDuel. I’d bet Truex down to +750, so keep an eye out for the best number.

Kyle Larson +1200

Larson’s price to win the Pennzoil is equal to, or shorter than his championship odds across the industry. The one exception I’ve found is at William Hill, where he’s 12-1 to win the race, but 10-1 to win the title. This 12-1 race-winning line is also the most generous number I’ve found in Vegas or elsewhere.

If you read my DFS piece, you’ll see why I like Larson as a potential race-dominator, and dominance translates to wins. If Larson performs at an elite level this year — which is certainly well within his range of outcomes — that means it could all start with Las Vegas. His impressive consistency in final practice is a positive sign, as well as Chevy’s overall strong showing in Happy Hour.

We’re going for thin value here among one of the favorites, because betting longshots is not a very profitable venture at LVMS. Larson has value down to +1100.

A nagging rain halted Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race after 50 of a scheduled 200 laps, pushing its finish to Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The Boyd Gaming 300 is scheduled to resume Sunday (FS2, PRN, SiriusXM), one hour after after the NASCAR Cup Series’ Pennzoil 400, which is set for a 3:30 p.m. ET start. The approximate start time for the restart is 7:30 p.m. ET.

RELATED: Race leaderboard

Joe Graf Jr., making just his fifth career Xfinity start, was scored as the leader at the time of the red flag in the Bobby Dotter-owned No. 08 Chevrolet. Chase Briscoe, who has led a race-high 27 laps and won Stage 1, was second on the leaderboard in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 98 Ford.

The race started after an approximately 90-minute delay for rain showers that also washed out pole qualifying earlier in the day. Myatt Snider started from the pole position on the basis of 2019 team owner points, but dropped to the rear of the field for the start after a crash in Friday practice forced his Richard Childress Racing team to a backup No. 21 Chevrolet.

Daniel Hemric crashed out of fourth place after 19 laps to prompt the first caution period. His No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet broke loose exiting Turn 4 and made contact with the outside retaining wall on the frontstretch. Hemric briefly continued but was officially out after completing just 34 laps.

Briscoe took the lead off pit road for a restart on Lap 23, after the first caution. On Lap 35, Ross Chastain passed Brandon Jones for the second spot and held it through the end of the stage.

NASCAR continued track-drying efforts until 9:45 p.m. ET, when another rain shower hit the track and forced the postponement.

Once the Las Vegas 300-miler gets in the books, the Xfinity Series’ next race is scheduled Saturday, Feb. 29 at Auto Club Speedway.

Contributing: Wire reports

NASCAR officials issued L1-level penalties to three Cup Series teams Saturday after the nose of each car did not meet specifications in prerace inspection at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The teams and drivers affected are:

  • The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin.
  • The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for defending Cup Series champ Kyle Busch
  • The No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota — a Gibbs-affiliated car — for Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Christopher Bell

The penalties include 10-point deductions in both the team owners’ and drivers’ standings. Additionally, all three cars will drop to the rear of the field during pace laps for Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM).

Busch was set to start from the pole position after Saturday rain washed away Busch Pole Qualifying for the Cup Series. He’ll be officially credited with the first starting spot, but will take the green flag at the back of the 38-car field. Hamlin was set to start fourth, with Bell 22nd.

“I think I knocked the wall down about Lap 11 last time here starting in the middle of the pack,” Busch said. “Maybe I’ll just start half a lap down and be clean air and run the pack down and catch them and blow by them one at a time, I don’t know. I’ll strategize that overnight.”

The Camrys of Busch, Hamlin and Bell, along with those of JGR teammates Truex and Erik Jones, were docked practice time on Friday for attempting to change the shape of the front fenders with body filler.

Truex’s car failed inspection once on Saturday because of what the driver termed an issue with the “toe” (tire angle) but passed on the second attempt. Truex will retain his second-place starting spot on Sunday.

Contributing: Wire reports

It’s Race 2 of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season: The Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX/FOX Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). With qualifying rained out and the field set by 2019 owner points, is it worth stacking the deck with some big names or are there some hidden gems starting a little deeper in the field? RJ Kraft offers up his race-day lineup and bonus picks below.

RJ Kraft race-day lineup for Pennzoil 400:
1: Kevin Harvick
2: Kyle Larson
3: Ryan Blaney
4: Martin Truex Jr.
5: Joey Logano
Garage: Alex Bowman
Just missing the cut: Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, William Byron, Jimmie Johnson

To the rear: Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell (Read more about that here.)

RELATED: Lap averages, practice results and more | Fantasy preview coming into Las Vegas

Analysis: There was going to be very little that could keep Harvick out my lineup for this race. He was one of the best on 1.5-mile tracks last year, and I expect that to continue. Larson has a solid history at Las Vegas and had the third-best 15- and 20-lap averages in final practice. Team Penske has been a very strong group at Las Vegas in the past, and Blaney looks to have the strongest long-run car of that trio. While the lap averages aren’t too great for Truex, I just trust in his recent Vegas results and his camp’s knack for figuring it out. I weighed Logano vs. Keselowski pretty closely, and my deciding factor was crew chief Paul Wolfe and so with that, I am taking Logano over Keselowski. Their numbers in the last five Las Vegas races are pretty close, and I like that Logano has Wolfe atop the box.

I am making a concerted effort to stay away from Kyle Busch for this race, despite the No. 18 starting on the pole. I don’t like the averages or overall numbers at the track, and with the 2019 champion, I want to be extra selective about where he is deployed. With strong tracks for him coming up (Auto Club Speedway and Phoenix Raceway), I’d like to hold him back for those. I’m also staying away from Denny Hamlin for two reasons: I don’t like his Vegas stats and the following week has historically not been kind to recent Daytona 500 winners. There has been just one race winner (Matt Kenseth, 2009) and only five additional top-five finishes in the past 15 years for drivers immediately after that race win.

In the garage, I am stashing Bowman. He had great long-run averages in practice — highlighted by the best 20-lap average in final practice. A sneaky fact with Bowman as well: He earned the sixth-most points on 1.5-mile race tracks last year, including two top-11 finishes at Vegas.

Bonus picks: I am taking Harvick in Stage 1, Larson in Stage 2, with Harvick and Ford for the win.

NASCAR’s top competition official shared the first detailed look Saturday into the timeline and overview of the safety and medical response to Ryan Newman’s severe crash in the final lap of the Daytona 500.

Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer, gave minute-by-minute details of the actions taken after Newman’s No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford absorbed multiple impacts in the trioval area at Daytona International Speedway in Monday’s finish.

RELATED: Newman released from hospital

Overall, O’Donnell said the safety and medical personnel in place performed their duties as they were trained to do, but he also said competition officials would continue to learn and implement changes as needed as the investigation continues.

“Everything that goes on at the R&D Center on a day-to-day basis is put in place for a reason, and I’m not to say anything to high-five each other, it’s more about: This is our job,” O’Donnell said Saturday from Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “This is what we do and we’ve got 40 drivers in the garage area who expect us to do that each and every day. So we’ll continue to do that. I’m certainly proud of the folks that we have on our team, but I think you’d hear them all say that we can continue to improve, and we’ll do that.”

Newman lost control after a push from Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Ford during their final-lap contest for the lead. His car made contact with the outside retaining wall, then went airborne after a collision with Corey LaJoie’s No. 32 Ford. The Newman entry landed on its roof, skidding to a halt near the pit-road exit.

O’Donnell said the initial safety trucks arrived 19 seconds after Newman’s car had stopped and just two to three seconds after one of the last remaining finishers had passed the wreck site. O’Donnell said one of the three trauma doctors assigned to the Daytona safety team arrived at the car 33 seconds after it had stopped, and a paramedic entered the vehicle just two seconds later.

The decision to roll the car back onto its wheels was made at the 4:05 mark, O’Donnell said. The car was righted at the 6:56 mark, and the extrication team began cutting the car to ease Newman’s path out of the cockpit. The roof was removed at 11:10, O’Donnell said, and the 42-year-old driver was removed at 15:40 then transferred to the ambulance, which took him to Halifax Health Medical Center for further treatment.

O’Donnell said doctors and paramedics attended to Newman throughout the safety response, except for when the vehicle was rolled over back onto its wheels.

Roughly three hours after the crash, O’Donnell provided an update at the track through Roush Fenway stating Newman was in serious condition, but his injuries were not life-threatening. Tuesday, Roush Fenway indicated Newman was awake and speaking with doctors. Wednesday, less than 48 hours after the wreck, Newman was released and walked out of the hospital, holding hands with his daughters.

NASCAR officials did not provide updates on the nature of Newman’s injuries or his current medical condition, citing privacy laws. Roush Fenway Racing is scheduled to hold a press conference at the track Sunday at 12:45 p.m. ET.

John Bobo, NASCAR Vice President of Racing Operations, said Newman would need clearance by doctors before he would be able to return to competition. Xfinity Series regular Ross Chastain is filling in for Newman in the No. 6 Ford this weekend at Las Vegas.

Dr. John Patalak, NASCAR Senior Director of Safety Engineering, also provided a brief overview of the crash investigation process, which he said began at the race track with detailed pictures of the exterior and interior. Both the No. 6 and No. 32 cars were taken to the R&D Center for further review.

Patalak said competition officials would review the safety systems, specifically how they performed separately and collectively, then sync all the data sources — ECU, data recorders and telemetry — with all available video for a comprehensive picture of the crash.

From there, Patalak said, NASCAR officials would work with Roush Fenway and outside experts “as we continue to investigate and look forward to being able to provide more information sometime soon.” O’Donnell added that Newman’s feedback, his engineering expertise and his advocacy for safety would be key in determining next steps.

O’Donnell said he did not foresee changes to NASCAR’s overtime rules or caution-flag procedures, but he did say the superspeedway package used at Daytona and sister track Talladega Superspeedway would be evaluated. The next race with superspeedway rules is scheduled April 26 at Talladega.

“I think it’s fair to say it’s still early in terms of as we look through this, but we’re going to look at everything and anything in terms of the speeds,” said O’Donnell, referring to practice speeds that crept toward 205 mph at Daytona. “The liftoff, you’ve heard me say many times before, we never want a car to get airborne so we’ll look at how that occurred around the speeds. We’ll look at the racing procedures we have in place as well.

“All of those will be on the table as we look to head into Talladega, and if we need to make adjustments around the aero balance and speeds as it relates to safety, we’ll do that.”

LAS VEGAS — Kyle Busch earned his 57th career NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series win in Friday night’s Strat 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Per usual, the Victory Lane trip for “Rowdy” in the Gander Truck Series’ 600th race came with virtual boos from fans on social media, even NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson chimed in with an emoji that indicated Busch is “cherry-picking” the competition.

Despite the backlash, Busch had an unlikely competitor come to the rescue and defend his truck efforts – fellow NASCAR Cup Series driver and former rival Kevin Harvick.

Then Harvick put his money where his mouth is – literally – offering up a $50,000 bounty for any full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver who can find a truck ride and beat Busch in one of his next four events.

The ante was raised when Gander RV & Outdoors CEO Marcus Lemonis committed to matching Harvick’s bounty, putting a full total of $100,000 on the table. Busch didn’t hold back with his thoughts on it in the media center on Saturday morning.

“Well, there just better be an asterisk on it because if somebody crashes me, it doesn’t count,” Busch said. “Put money on a bounty on somebody and then bad things tend to happen. I don’t know. Make it whatever y’all want. It don’t matter to me.

“I’ve got great stuff, I’m a good driver. Bring it.”

Fellow drivers Austin Dillon, Corey LaJoie, Brendan Gaughan, Landon Cassill and Timmy Hill all replied with interest to put up a fight.

Friday night’s race is one of only five races Busch is allowed to compete in during the 2020 Gander Truck Series season; others on his schedule include Atlanta Motor Speedway (March 14), Homestead-Miami Speedway (March 20), Texas Motor Speedway (March 27) and Kansas Speedway (May 30).

The No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Chase Elliott failed pre-qualifying inspection twice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday.

As a result, car chief Matt Barndt has been ejected for the weekend. Elliott will also lose 15 minutes of practice time next weekend at Auto Club Speedway.

RELATED: Rain impacts Saturday on-track Las Vegas schedule

The No. 9 car passed inspection on its third try, meaning Elliott avoided having to start from the rear in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX/FOX Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The NASCAR Cup Series is scheduled to qualify Saturday at 2:35 p.m. ET (FS1/FOX Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Elliott finished 17th in last week’s season-opening Daytona 500.

LAS VEGAS: Full schedule | At-track gallery | NASCAR on TV

Also, the No. 51 Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet of Garrett Smithley failed Saturday’s pre-qualifying inspection three times and will drop to the rear to start Sunday’s race. A crew member will be ejected, too. The entry will then be docked a total of 30 minutes next weekend at Auto Club.

LAS VEGAS – A persistent drizzle at Las Vegas Motor Speedway forced cancellation of Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session for Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The qualifying session for the Xfinity Series was also canceled, and rain interrupted the Boyd Gaming 300 Xfinity Series race, delaying the start and forcing a red-flag hold with 50 of a scheduled 200 laps complete.

As a result, the starting field has been set by the rule book, with the cars set to line up according to final 2019 owner points. That puts Kyle Busch on the pole, with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. on the outside of the front row.

MORE: Full Las Vegas lineup | Photos of each car

Because of inspection issues, however, Busch will drop to the rear for the start of the race. Racing to the front could be a huge issue for the reigning series champion, given handling issues that plagued the No. 18 Toyota during Friday’s practice sessions.

Joining Busch at the rear of the field will be teammate and Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, as well as Christopher Bell of Leavine Family Racing. The Toyotas of those three drivers failed pre-qualifying inspection for attempting to manipulate the noses of the cars, which did not fit specifications.

MORE: Three Toyotas to start from rear

NASCAR levied L1 penalties on the three teams, resulting in the loss of 10 owner and driver points for each.

The Camrys of Busch, Hamlin and Bell, along with those of JGR teammates Truex and Erik Jones, were docked practice time Friday for attempting to change the shape of the front fenders with bondo.

Truex’s car failed inspection once Saturday because of what the driver termed an issue with the “toe” (tire angle) but passed on the second attempt. Truex will retain his second-place starting spot Sunday.

LAS VEGAS: Full schedule | At-track gallery | NASCAR on TV

Kevin Harvick will inherit the pole position when Busch drops to the rear. Hamlin would have started fourth but for his infraction. Bell was slated to start 22nd.

The No. 9 Chevrolet of Chase Elliott failed pre-qualifying inspection twice, leading to the ejection from the track of car chief Matt Barndt. Elliott will retain his 10th-place starting spot but lose 15 minutes of practice time next weekend at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

Busch said his team would try to incorporate aspects of Truex’s setup into the No. 18 car to try to improve the handling after the frustrating practice Friday.

“We rolled out there first in final practice, and I was wide open for 15, 16 straight laps,” Busch said. “Kevin Harvick started probably a half straightaway behind me, and he ran me down, and he ran the fastest lap average in those laps he was running me down. My laps were only 15th on average, and he was first, but then he couldn’t pass me – he couldn’t do anything to pass me.

“I don’t know what that says for the race and what’s going to happen in the race. We were definitely not as fast as we wanted to be, and the car was not driving near what it needed to. When we got back in traffic, it was a real handful. We’re going to have our work cut out for us.”