Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Race results | Stage 1 results | Stage 2 results

LAS VEGAS – Holding off a hard-charging Johnny Sauter and Brett Moffitt in the closing laps of a thrilling NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, Kyle Busch claimed a milestone victory at his home track and kept alive the possibility of a three-race sweep at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Busch crossed the finish line .437 seconds ahead of Sauter, who outdueled Moffitt for the runner-up position. Last week’s winner at Atlanta, Moffitt held the lead until contact of his No. 16 Toyota with the lapped truck of Michel Disdier gave Busch the opportunity to charge to the outside and pass for the top spot.

Busch maintained the lead the rest of the way, except for two laps under caution for Disdier’s spin off Turn 4 on Lap 119. Busch won for the first time this season, the first time in a truck at Las Vegas and the 50th time in his career, leaving him one win short of the record held by NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr.

Busch has now won at LVMS in each of NASCAR’s top three touring series, and he has won a Truck Series race at every active track at which he has competed.

“It means a lot,” said Busch, who will race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series on Saturday and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday. “We’ve had some great runs in the races that we’ve had at Kyle Busch Motorsports. We’ve raced and won all across the country, but I’ve just never been able to get back to Las Vegas to run a race.

“This one’s pretty cool to be able to win in my hometown and finish my list of Truck Series facilities that I’ve raced at and I’ve won at. I couldn’t be prouder to do it with this Cessna Beechcraft Toyota Tundra – just a phenomenal race truck.”

Failure to launch on the restarts cost Sauter a chance to battle for the victory after the final restart on Lap 124 of 134.

RELATED: Sauter disappointed with second

“Tonight I was frustrated when I got out of the truck because of the restarts,” Sauter said. “My best one was the last one, so that was good.”

Just not quite good enough for the driver of the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet, who felt he could have caught the race winner given five or six more laps.

Sauter, however, was no more frustrated than Moffitt, whose issue wasn’t with Disdier. Moffitt was seething because the lapped truck of Myatt Snider raced him tenaciously after coming off pit road with fresh tires in the late stages of the race.

RELATED: Moffitt is miffed

“When the 13 (Snider) pulled out from the pits a couple laps down and side drafted us for the lead, and it allowed Kyle to close in, I tried to go to the bottom of a lapped car (Disdier) and he turned down into us,” Moffitt said.

“It’s just frustrating, because when you’re out of the race, you shouldn’t get in the way of the leaders. … It’s just a bittersweet race.”

Sauter added to his series lead, outpacing second-place Moffitt by 39 points. Fourth-place finisher Grant Enfinger is 40 points behind in third, one ahead of Noah Gragson, who ran 12th on Friday night.

Stewart Friesen led 31 laps — second only to Busch’s 55 — and placed fifth. Gragson and Friesen won the first and second stages of the race, respectively.

Posted on by Holly Cain

RELATED: Starting lineup for Vegas | Weekend schedule

Clint Bowyer is a man of high energy and high expectation.

And the veteran driver is hopeful that now two years into his tenure with the championship winning Stewart-Haas Racing organization, that keen spirit will continue to translate into high performance, too.

Bowyer, 39, arrived at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM) feeling optimistic after a third-place showing in Atlanta last Sunday. His fifth-place ranking in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup standings is his highest points position entering the Las Vegas race in five seasons.

It’s indicative of Bowyer’s absolute commitment to do something he hasn’t in six seasons: win a Cup race.

“Yeah, it was a good weekend for Ford and for our team, Stewart-Haas Racing and our 14 team in general,” Bowyer said of last week’s race in Atlanta – won by his SHR teammate Kevin Harvick.

“You can use races like that for confidence and momentum for this West Coast swing. It is taxing on everyone, a lot of fun but also a lot of work to come out here. To get the year started with a good run at Atlanta feels good.

“I am looking forward to being out here in Vegas. Hell, who doesn’t like being in Vegas?”

Bowyer, who’s driving the No. 14 Ford Fusion this week, is hoping Vegas deals him another good hand.

Last year he finished 10th after qualifying 13th in his Vegas debut for Stewart-Haas Racing – his first top-10 at the track in five years and his first with his new team.

It was the start of a nice spring run for Bowyer who had only one finish worse than 15th in the next nine races – highlighted by a third-place finish in California and a runner-up in the Bristol, Tennessee, night race three weeks after that.

He was ranked eighth overall after Bristol – his highest ranking of the season and his highest ranking since a seventh-place finish in the 2015 season opening Daytona 500.

It was a promising start for Bowyer’s tenure at SHR and he capped it with back-to-back runner-up finishes later in the season at the Sonoma, California, road course and then the Daytona International Speedway high banks.

His last Monster Energy Series win was the Charlotte night race in October 2012 – the third of three victories he had that year propelling him to a career-best runner-up final ranking in the series’ championship points.

Bowyer hasn’t forgotten what it feels like to win or to chase a season title and he is both genuinely hopeful and reasonably optimistic that this will be the season when he hoists a race trophy high again.

He is with a championship-caliber team, driving a competitive car. And personal motivation has never been an issue. In fact, it has propelled him in a career of both great triumph and great challenge.

So while other drivers may be gradually rolling into the third race of the 2018 season — easy on expectation – Bowyer couldn’t be more ready to put it into high gear. The green flag has dropped and he’s got races to win, a title to contend.

“It is funny,” Bowyer said. “We say after Daytona, ‘That isn’t the real season.’ Then if you have a bad run in Atlanta, ‘Well, that isn’t really the regular season either.’ If you run good at Atlanta you are going to say, ‘Hell yes, that is what you will see all year long.’

“This repave out here [at Las Vegas], the grip level and the tire that we run is similar to the feel I guess in the car that you will have at a lot of tracks. It is a lot different. Atlanta, you are slipping and sliding around. You come here and the car is instantly a lot faster.

“The grip level and comfort in the sidewall of the tire and stiffness of the tire is a whole different animal. Throw in the wind aspect of it and even going to that short track at Phoenix next week, you will have that same type of feel with the tire.

“There is a little bit of truth to that. But it still feels good to run good though.”

Posted on by Brad Norman

RELATED: Las Vegas paint schemes | Weekend schedule

LAS VEGAS — At 25 years old, Chris Buescher isn’t quite sure where fans categorize him on NASCAR’s age scale. But the 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion knows talented young drivers will occupy hauler spots for quite some time.

“I would say I’m barely in it at this point,” Buescher jokingly told NASCAR.com of the sport’s current youth movement. “I’m getting older in a hurry, but when we talk about the youth movement and everyone coming up, it’s the people that I’ve been racing with growing up. It’s all the same groups between ARCA, legends cars, late models … we’ve raced with (Ryan) Blaney and Chase (Elliott) and (Darrell) Wallace.

“We’ve all been a part of similar racing backgrounds. It’s pretty neat to say that many of us have made it to this point. … You look at the different generations of it and to say that we are the next group coming in is pretty neat.”

The driver of the No. 37 Chevrolet is in his second year with JTG Daugherty Racing and teammate AJ Allmendinger, an opportunity years in the marking. Kick-starting the 2018 season with a top-five finish (the third of his Monster Energy Series career) in the Daytona 500 is one way to remind those watching that he still has a lot he wants to accomplish in his career.

MORE: At the shop with JTG Daugherty

However, Buescher also understands it’s important for the sport to continue to develop drivers, because without the opportunities given to him, he may not be piloting a car in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

“I think we all hope that we can get to that point and say that we’ve stuck around for 10 or 20 years,” Buescher said. “At the same time, you’re always going to have some movements. It did get to a point for a couple years where it did just get locked down. It became a full house and it was rolling. It’s changed in a hurry. With as many people as we’ve had retire and getting out, it’s really opened up a lot of opportunities. That’s what has made it easier to find our way here … the goal is to get our fans in the same age category as we are and bring them through the next 10 or 20 years as well.” 

If you look around Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend, these aren’t the same faces you saw getting behind the wheel a decade ago … or five years ago. A self-proclaimed “anti-change” agent, Buescher believes what’s happening on and off the track is something fans are — and should be — excited for.

Buescher is embracing the change with enthusiasm. It’s surprising to him, too.

“I think we’ve seen some great things on track and some initiatives that have brought back some excitement to the sport,” Buescher said. “Like stage racing has really been a positive; fans have really embraced that including a lot of hardcore, old-school fans.

“You’re still going to have the people that would typically be (like) me and just can’t stand the changes, but I think overall it’s been a really good thing to try and get people rejuvenated.”

RELATED: At last, Buescher feels at home

Buescher is further embracing his age and fan base by running Natural Light as the primary sponsor on his Camaro ZL1 this weekend. This year’s sponsorship comes with a twist — Natural Light is giving away $1 million to help pay down college loans to 25 people who post a photo to social media holding a green “$” tab found in marked Natural Light packs.

“When you talk about a NASCAR weekend and what it’s about, it’s for people to come out and hang out. They tailgate and party and camp,” Buescher said. “It’s something that Natty Light obviously is a huge part of and people can get on board with that. Especially with college students being able to come out for three or four days on a weekend. I think it’s just a good matchup and where we think that we are headed in the next several years. If we can bring those people in now and try to get excited about what we have going on the race track every weekend.

“It’s an exciting sport. There’s a lot going on.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Complete lineup for Las Vegas

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 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM).

Kevin Harvick was second fastest in the money round at 190.248 mph. Kurt Busch, Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate completed a Ford sweep of the top three starting positions after a lap at 190.067 mph.

“Our team did a great job of getting us ready from round to round,” said Blaney, who scored his first pole with Team Penske and the third of his career.

On his first-round lap, Blaney felt a huge gust of wind as he approached Turn 1, but the wind abated during his runs in the second and final rounds.

“I got blown off into Turn 1 in the first round, but then in the next two rounds I didn’t really feel it,” Blaney said. “The last one, we didn’t get a big gust of wind, and I was able to put together a pretty decent lap.

“I thought our Ford was pretty good over three rounds. The second and third rounds were really good. They (the team) made really good changes to our race car and got us where we needed to be. It’s nice to know we have some good speed, and now it’s about getting it racing well. We’ll work on that Saturday. Hopefully we’ll be set up for Sunday.” 

WATCH: In-car camera shows windy, bumpy ride

Reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion and defending race winner Martin Truex Jr. will start fourth in the No. 78 Furniture Row racing Toyota, followed by Kyle Larson in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.

Chase Elliott, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brad Keselowski, Erik Jones and Joey Logano, respectively, filled positions six through 10 on the grid.

Harvick said the wind presented issues for the drivers getting into Turn 3.

“I think it really helped us through (Turns) 1 and 2,” Harvick said. “I think you usually see a lot more issues into 1 and 2 than what we had today, and I think that’s the wind and the direction it was blowing with all the added sideforce that you had.

“You had to be really careful getting into Turn 3, just enough to get the car up the race track with the wind blowing in that direction.”

Kurt Busch claimed the 12th and final position in the final round, one spot ahead of his brother, Kyle Busch, who will start 13th. Kurt then improved to third when it counted.

Posted on by Holly Cain

Conceding the weather conditions may vary between this week’s spring race weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the track’s inaugural playoff race date coming September 16, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers still remained confident Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube (3:30 p.m. ET. FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) would serve as a good reference point for the all-important return trip this fall.

RELATED: Complete Las Vegas schedule

Speaking with the media Friday morning prior to opening Monster Energy Series practice, Kyle Larson was confident and optimistic that this #NASCARGoesWest stop would absolutely benefit the playoff drivers down the road.

“I think any time you race at a track, whether it’s cool or hot, it relates,” the Chip Ganassi Racing driver said, noting he didn’t expect the different seasons to be a huge factor.

“I mean there is definitely some added importance to this race with it being in the Playoffs. I mean hopefully we have a strong race and if not, you know what you need to go back and work on to be better when you come back here later in the year to benefit your playoff run.

“Not that this race when it was just a stand-alone event or one race wasn’t important, but any time you can race at a track that you are going to come back at in the final 10 it’s got some added importance to it.” 

As was Larson, veteran Kevin Harvick was a playoff driver in 2017 and has qualified for NASCAR’s Championship 4, in three of the last four years resulting in a series championship in 2014. This season’s playoffs slate has a decidedly new look including for the first time, that vital playoffs opener at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

WATCH: Larson says #NASCARGoes West races reveal top cars, teams

It will be the first time the Monster Energy Series teams have competed in Vegas later than the March springtime date. Harvick said he expects the additional race date to affect the importance of this weekend for his Stewart-Haas Racing organization and others.

“I think the thought process of knowing you are coming back here for a second-time is definitely a good thing, and definitely something that is relevant for us as we go through the weekend,” said Harvick, who won last Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“The progression of the year is always so drastic. By the time we come back in September and you look at the downforce and things the car makes at that time compared to the beginning of the year, if you look at what we raced here last year compared to what we will race today is all progression of the year.

“Coming back here, I think that direction will still stand and you will do some things different. Every track has its own trends and quirks about it that you want to have written down and noted. It is an important weekend to make sure you have a firm understanding of the direction of this particular race track knowing you are coming back for the Playoffs. It will be different.”

MORE: Top Las Vegas moments | Paint schemes

Driver Ryan Blaney agreed, saying his No. 12 Team Penske Ford team would definitely consider this race a good reference point for the fall event. But, he said that’s really true anywhere the series races twice — postseason implications or not.

“You try to learn every bit you can,” Blaney said. “You put it in your notebook. Even if the track is different you learn something or you don’t. The more and more you can build up your notebook and knowledge of things the better.

“We pay attention to every track whether we go there once or twice, Playoff or non-Playoff race. You try to get more knowledge. It is a little different coming back here but I think it won’t change that much. It will be fairly similar to how it is now.

“There might not be 30 mph winds,” he said. “But we will pay close attention to it like we do every week.”

Posted on by Pat DeCola

RELATED: Harvick storms Atlanta with dominant wins

When it comes to all-time combined national series wins, NASCAR has but three centenarians in its entire history.

It’s about to be four.

Kevin Harvick picked up a pair of wins — his 98th and 99th — in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series last weekend at Atlanta. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver now sits on the precipice of NASCAR history alongside Hall of Famers David Pearson and Richard Petty and fellow Monster Energy Series champ Kyle Busch.

MORE: All-time combined wins in NASCAR national series history

“It’s a fun stat and I think obviously for me, coming to Stewart-Haas Racing I guess re-energized me a little bit and enthused me about everything that is going on,” Harvick said Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio). “It’s definitely not a bad stat. Definitely something that is kind of fun to see.”

Harvick has a shot to match David Pearson’s career total of 106 — 105 of which were at the Cup level — with 38 races left between his Monster Energy Series and Xfinity Series slate in 2018. It’s worth noting that he won the Monster Energy Series race at Vegas in 2015.

As competitive as Harvick is, he’ll have to race for a real long time — or pop off an exceptionally unprecedented streak of victories — to match the other two drivers ahead of him. Busch has spread 183 wins across all three series with a whopping 91 at the Xfinity level, while Petty has that round 200 number of Cup wins.

“I think what Harvick and myself have been able to do with the amount of wins that we have in all three series is cool,” Busch said Friday. “I think you reach 100, that’s a big number to reach in this sport, in how difficult it is to win races these days, whether it’s Cup, Xfinity or Truck.

“I think that should be something to be proud of.”

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Full practice results

Kyle Larson topped the leaderboard in Friday’s first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway at 190.658 mph in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.

Right behind him was last week’s Atlanta winner in Kevin Harvick, who posted a best speed of 190.409 mph  in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.

Rounding out the top five were Paul Menard in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford (190.369 mph), Kyle Busch in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (190.342 mph) and William Byron in the No. 24 Chevrolet (190.282 mph).

MORE: Harvick eyes big milestone

Series points leader Joey Logano was 14th fastest.

Drivers faced heavy winds during this practice, with speeds in the Las Vegas area hovering around 23 mph according to weather.com. Watch Daniel Suarez’s in-car camera in the video above to see first-hand what the drivers were dealing with while turning laps on the 1.5-mile speedway in the desert.

The next on-track activity for the Monster Energy Series is qualifying at 7:15 p.m. ET on FS1.

Posted on by Team Release

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Team Penske announced today that BODYARMOR Sports Drink will be featured as the primary sponsor on the No. 12 Ford Fusion driven by Ryan Blaney for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, July 7. This marks the first-ever race team partnership for BODYARMOR, which began working with Blaney last season.

BODYARMOR Sports Drink will also be an associate sponsor on the No. 12 Ford Fusion for four additional Cup Series races during the 2018 season, beginning with the event at Kansas Speedway on May 12.

RELATED: New Glass Case of Emotion podcast

“We are excited to have BODYARMOR join Team Penske and bring a new brand with a lot of energy and vision to our organization,” said Roger Penske. “As we have grown our NASCAR Cup Series program to three full-time entries in 2018 we look forward to new opportunities with Ryan and new partners like BODYARMOR.”

In addition to its sponsorship with Team Penske, BODYARMOR Sports Drink has also launched its “BODYARMOR Heroes” promotion. Consumers across the country will be able to honor a military hero of their choosing by posting to social media using the #BODYARMORHeroes hashtag with a photo and short description of their hero through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The winner will have his or her hero’s image and likeness featured on Blaney’s No.12 BODYARMOR Ford Fusion for the July 7 race in Daytona. The military hero will also get the opportunity to attend the race and meet Blaney.

“BODYARMOR is thrilled to be partnering with Team Penske this year – and extremely proud to be launching the BODYARMOR heroes program which will honor our country’s real-life military heroes by working with them on our race activation,” said Michael Fedele. “BODYARMOR Sports Drink is a go-to option for anyone in need of superior hydration and we are excited to be hydrating Ryan and his team on and off the track again this year.”

BODYARMOR Sports Drink, the better-for-you hydration option with natural flavors and sweeteners, and potassium-packed electrolytes, first joined forces with Blaney last year when the brand partnered with the Team Penske driver before the start of the 2017 season.

“It’s great to build on the relationship with BODYARMOR and have them as part of the development of the No. 12 Ford team,” said Blaney. “BODYARMOR has partnered with some great athletes in many different sports and we look forward to adding to that legacy and increasing the presence of their brand through our team in NASCAR.”

STANDINGS: Blaney ranks second

At just 24 years old, Blaney is a key pillar of NASCAR’s youth movement. Last season, he captured his first Cup Series pole at Kansas Speedway and his first Cup Series win at Pocono Raceway and earned a spot in the NASCAR Playoffs for the first time in his young career. Already in 2018, Blaney has shined — earning a victory in one of the Duels at Daytona and leading a race-high 118 laps in the season-opening Daytona 500. Blaney currently sits second in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings.

BODYARMOR is the fastest growing sports drink in its category. The consumer demand for a better-for-you sports drink has made BODYARMOR the number three sports drink in the U.S. Along with Blaney, BODYARMOR has amassed a superstar roster of professional athletes who are also investors in the company, including James Harden, Mike Trout, Anthony Rizzo, Andrew Luck and Dustin Johnson, among others. Kobe Bryant is the number three shareholder in BODYARMOR.

The 2018 season continues this weekend with the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 4.

Posted on by Staff Report

The NASCAR community will honor pioneer Wendell Scott, whose first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start came 57 years ago, this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Scott was the first African-American driver to win a premier series race. A trailblazer, Scott is recognized during the first race weekend of March, which coincides with his first start — March 4, 1961. NASCAR has created an original commemorative decal that is available to be placed as a B-post decal on all national series vehicles.

Scott made 495 starts during his career and posted 147 top-10 finishes before retiring in 1973. Scott died in 1990. He won in NASCAR’s top national touring series on Dec. 1, 1963, on a 1-mile dirt track in Jacksonville, Florida.

Scott was posthumously inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015.

Posted on by Track Release

On Thursday, March 15th, NASCAR champion Kevin Harvick is returning to his hometown to race for the first time at Kern County Raceway in the NASCAR K & N Pro Series season opener.

Harvick will also be the Grand Marshal of the NASCAR Late Model 50 lap race on the same night, prior to the start of the K&N Pro Series 175 lapper.   Harvick won his first stock car championship in the Late Model division at Mesa Marin Raceway in 1993, while still attending North High.

“The Happy Harvick 50” will feature the top NASCAR Late Model drivers in the region. Harvick will give the command to start the engines for the 50 lapper, and present the trophy to the winner of the race.

The 2018 season opener for Kern County Raceway is set for Thursday, March 15th, featuring the NASCAR K&N Pro Series and NASCAR Late Models, tickets are on sale now at www.kernraceway.com.

Kevin Harvick will be racing in the “Bakersfield 175 presented by NAPA Auto Parts” his first race ever at the state of the art half mile, gates open 4:30pm, and racing begins at 7pm.

Kern County Raceway is proud to partner with Budweiser, Bulwark FR, Coors Light, Jim Burke Ford, and Whelen Engineering.