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RELATED: Practice 1 results | Top 10-lap averages
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Martin Truex Jr. set the pace in opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday.

 

Truex drove the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota to a best lap of 193.500 mph around the 1.5-mile track. The 85-minute session was the first on-track activity ahead of Sunday’s Kobalt 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM), the first of three races in the NASCAR Goes West swing.

 

Brad Keselowski, a winner last weekend at Atlanta, was second-fastest in the Team Penske No. 2 Ford at 192.995 mph. Keselowski is the defending race winner, having prevailed in two of the last three Vegas events for NASCAR’s premier series.

 

Jimmie Johnson, a four-time Vegas winner, clocked the third-fastest lap at 192.988 mph in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Matt Kenseth completed the top five.

 

Daytona 500 winner Kurt Busch, a Las Vegas native, was 20th-fastest in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Ford.

 

Coors Light Pole Qualifying to set the field is scheduled later Friday (7:45 p.m. ET, FS2).

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PRACTICE 1: RESULTS

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 5 Kasey Kahne 6 15 184.712
2 95 Michael McDowell 1 10 182.754
3 10 Danica Patrick 1 10 181.730
4 23 Gray Gaulding # 2 11 176.918



PRACTICE 2: RESULTS



Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 24 Chase Elliott 1 10 186.480
2 20 Matt Kenseth 8 17 186.095
3 4 Kevin Harvick 2 11 185.952
4 5 Kasey Kahne 1 10 185.801
5 1 Jamie McMurray 1 10 185.592
6 48 Jimmie Johnson 1 10 185.351
7 41 Kurt Busch 1 10 185.320
8 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1 10 184.937
9 31 Ryan Newman 1 10 184.610
10 3 Austin Dillon 14 23 183.629
11 34 Landon Cassill 22 31 180.114
12 32 Matt DiBenedetto 12 21 179.860

PRACTICE 3: RESULTS

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 21 Ryan Blaney 1 10 185.347
2 2 Brad Keselowski 1 10 184.938
3 78 Martin Truex Jr. 1 10 184.793
4 42 Kyle Larson 1 10 184.773
5 24 Chase Elliott 1 10 184.732
6 48 Jimmie Johnson 2 11 184.631
7 4 Kevin Harvick 1 10 184.556
8 18 Kyle Busch 18 27 184.446
9 5 Kasey Kahne 1 10 183.924
10 31 Ryan Newman 1 10 183.918
11 22 Joey Logano 22 31 183.790
12 77 Erik Jones # 1 10 183.626
13 20 Matt Kenseth 21 30 183.497
14 1 Jamie McMurray 26 35 183.140
15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 18 27 182.589
16 14 Clint Bowyer 1 10 182.533
17 41 Kurt Busch 19 28 182.325
18 3 Austin Dillon 19 28 181.912
19 11 Denny Hamlin 26 35 181.786
20 43 Aric Almirola 19 28 181.581
21 10 Danica Patrick 22 31 181.505
22 13 Ty Dillon # 21 30 181.186
23 37 Chris Buescher 13 22 180.767
24 6 Trevor Bayne 19 28 180.483
25 47 AJ Allmendinger 18 27 180.483
26 95 Michael McDowell 14 23 180.217
27 34 Landon Cassill 17 26 179.903
28 32 Matt DiBenedetto 1 10 179.228
29 38 David Ragan 19 28 177.772
30 23 Gray Gaulding # 25 34 176.913
31 51 * Timmy Hill(i) 3 12 168.210


*Car must run 10 consecutive laps on the track to be included in the above chart.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series; (#) indicates a rookie in the series.

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Pennzoil and Speedway Motorsports Incorporated’s (SMI) Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) on Friday announced Pennzoilu00ae motor oil as title sponsor of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at LVMS starting in 2018. The Pennzoil 400 will anchor a NASCAR tripleheader weekend ending with the main event at the 1.5-mile tri-oval race in early March, 2018.


"This race entitlement is an extension of our successful relationship with SMI that began in earnest seven years ago," said Rusty Barron, Vice President of Marketing, Shell Lubricants Americas. "We look forward to continuing to expand our relationships within NASCAR while working with another top-tier SMI track to give fans an action-packed weekend capped off with an adrenaline-inducing race experience."


The Pennzoil 400 is an expanded relationship with SMI and its motorsports properties as well as an extended business-to-business relationship with Sonic Automotive. In addition to key B2B elements, the entitlement offers Pennzoil exclusive, one-of-a-kind experiences to extend to its customers.


"Pennzoil is one of the most respected brands in the automotive industry. Like our speedways, Pennzoil has served generations of satisfied customers for decades," said Speedway Motorsports Chief Executive Officer Marcus Smith. "We are proud to have Pennzoil among our stable of blue-chip marketing sponsors at Speedway Motorsports through entitlement relationships with the Pennzoil Autofairs at Charlotte Motor Speedway and now with NASCAR in Las Vegas. We look forward to expanding the Pennzoil reach further toward new customers with the international audience of fans attracted annually to Las Vegas Motor Speedway."


Las Vegas in particular is a valued market for Pennzoil with significant brand activations around NASCAR, NHRA, and SEMA in recent years. The race consistently has had one of the highest TV ratings on the circuit and has traditionally enjoyed sell-out crowds in attendance.


"We’re thrilled to have Pennzoil as our new sponsor in our March Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event," said LVMS President Chris Powell. "Pennzoil is a storied name in NASCAR with its many years of support for our sport, and we’re really looking forward to a long-term relationship with everyone associated with the brand. The commitment that Pennzoil has recently made to its NASCAR program is a testament to its faith in the future of our sport, and we couldn’t have a better title sponsor with which to head into the third decade of racing here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway."


Pennzoil is the No. 1 synthetic motor oil brand in fast lubes in the U.S. and Las Vegas Motor Speedway was the perfect venue for the premium brand.


"Las Vegas has been a valued market for the Pennzoil brand in recent years," said Rusty Barron, Vice President of Marketing, Shell Lubricants Americas. "During that time Shell featured numerous promotions around the annual Las Vegas race including several Pennzoil-exclusive paint outs on the No. 22 race car, customer events at the track, charitable efforts with Paralyzed Veterans of America and in-market promotions with key vendors."


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LAS VEGAS — Brad Keselowski blew the first and second corners on his money lap in Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.



Then he blew away the rest of the field.



Perhaps "blew away" is a bit of an exaggeration. Keselowski covered the 1.5-mile distance in 27.881 (193.680 mph) to edge Martin Truex Jr. (193.458 mph) for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Kobalt 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) by .003 seconds.



The Coors Light Pole Award was Keselowski’s first of the season, his first in nine attempts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the 13th of his career.



With most drivers in the final round stronger through the first two corners before tightening up in Turns 3 and 4, it is conceivable that missing 1 and 2 actually helped Keselowski’s lap.



"I don’t know what the answer is," said Keselowski, the defending winner at Las Vegas and last week’s winner at Atlanta. "I’ll have to look through a bunch of data, and the smart guys — the engineers and crew chiefs — will probably point some of that stuff out to me. But, yeah, every time I looked at the tracker, the cars that were fast in 1 and 2 weren’t in 3 and 4, and we were the opposite.



"We were really good in 3 and 4… but we’ll take it either way."



Ryan Blaney qualified third after setting the fastest lap of the day (194.147 mph) in the second of the three rounds. Matt Kenseth will start fourth, followed by Kyle Larson and Joey Logano.



Like Keselowski, Truex missed Turns 1 and 2 on the lap that counted but was strong through Turns 3 and 4 in securing his front-row starting spot.



"I felt like we had a pretty well-put-together lap, but it wasn’t perfect," Truex said. "Not quite as good through Turns 1 and 2 with the bumps as I’d like to be, and it felt like we hit 3 and 4 good. I felt like the bumps in 1 and 2 got us.



"All in all, I felt like we just missed the pace a little bit. We were really strong in practice and thought (the track) would pick up quite a bit of speed tonight, and it didn’t. That threw us a little bit of a curve and kind of hurt our setup. It was a good recovery. We made a lot of changes as qualifying went on and got better at the end. That’s all you can ask for."



After a strong start to the season in Daytona and Atlanta, the Stewart-Haas Racing cars were sluggish in Friday’s time trials, with none of the four advancing to the final round. Series leader Kevin Harvick will start 19th on Sunday, two spots behind Daytona 500 winner Kurt Busch.



Clint Bowyer was the fastest of the SHR drivers, earning the 13th starting position after missing the final round by .001 seconds.


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RELATED: Full schedule for Las Vegas

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series are at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend.

 

Below are the stage lengths for each race. Click here to bookmark stage lengths for every race this season.

 

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (Race is Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET, FOX)

Stage 1: Ends on Lap 80
Stage 2: Ends on Lap 160
Final Stage: Scheduled to end on Lap 267

 

XFINITY Series (Race is Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, FS1)

Stage 1: Ends on Lap 45
Stage 2: Ends on Lap 90
Final Stage: Scheduled to end on Lap 200

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MORE: Meet the 2018 Hall of Fame nominees 

"It’s time."


Social media users did not mince words with Wednesday’s announcement that the late and great Davey Allison has been nominated for the NASCAR Hall of Fame.


It was a similar enthusiasm and fondness bestowed upon Allison from fans every time he climbed into a stock car. The oldest son of NASCAR legend and Hall of Famer Bobby Allison was a bona fide celebrity in the sport’s earlier glory days — before Twitter, Snapchat and Facebook. Before billion-dollar television deals. Before personal chefs and luxury motorhomes were standard issue.


Allison, who died in a helicopter crash at Talladega Superspeedway in 1993 at the age of 32, is a highly-achieved descendent of the "Alabama Gang" — a group of drivers hailing from Hueytown, Ala., so talented that the very thought they were entered in a race stirred an intense rivalry among competitors.


It feels fitting that Allison’s addition to the 20-person list of NASCAR Hall of Fame nominees also includes his former team owner Robert Yates and a member of the original Alabama Gang, Red Farmer.


PHOTOS: More from NASCAR Hall’s five newest nominees


Newer NASCAR fans have certainly heard about Allison’s talent — his 1992 Daytona 500 victory, his run at that season’s championship — the "old school" group as they like to be referred to. It was a time of "simpler" days in the sport, though intensely competitive.


And Allison, in particular, bridged a gap between the older fans who grew up cheering on his father, Bobby, and a new group ready to root for Allison in a changing of the guard.


Allison represented everything competition was supposed to be about — eager to go door-to-door with greats representing multiple generations such as Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Harry Gant.


And of course, greats like his dad, Bobby, who he finished second to in the 1988 Daytona 500, one of the most memorable race outcomes in NASCAR history. At 50, Bobby Allison became the event’s oldest winner. At 26, his son firmly established himself as the next generation of raw talent and Allison can-do. 


Four years later, Davey Allison was celebrating in Daytona 500 Victory Lane himself. It was a big moment kicking off the best full season of his career, although the title run ultimately ended in a collision in the Atlanta season finale, giving the season trophy to Alan Kulwicki. Allison had led the standings most of the season and into the last race.


But he was such a fierce competitor: Losing out on the trophy in November only made the other drivers more fearful in February, certain of the extra motivation that would be steering Yates’ fast and famous No. 28 Texaco Ford.


Allison won multiple races every full year of competition, the 1987 Rookie of the Year title and 14 pole positions. One of the most amazing statistics is that he won one Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race for every 10 starts he made — 19 total in 191 races.


The numbers are so jaw-dropping both Allison’s fans and those fans of his rivals wonder what kind of numbers he would have posted if he had had a full career.


No need to wonder, though. His work is being recognized as it should.


Allison is rightfully nominated for consideration into the NASCAR Hall of Fame and will be a serious candidate come decision time in May.


"OH. MY. WORD!" Allison’s widow, Liz, posted on Facebook.


"Beyond excited and so very grateful to those who voted for Davey. He would be so honored to have made this list and to be a nominee along with all of the nominees. No words to describe the emotions right now. So darn proud for him!!"


As are so many.

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NEW YORK and DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR and SiriusXM today announced a six-year renewal to extend their broadcasting and marketing agreement through 2022. SiriusXM will continue to deliver 24/7 racing content to millions of listeners across North America, including live broadcasts of every race, plus daily NASCAR talk and interviews with voices across the industry through its exclusive SiriusXM NASCAR Radio channel. NASCAR content is available to SiriusXM subscribers in their car, at home or on the go on satellite radios, on the SiriusXM app and online at SiriusXM.com.

 

SiriusXM and NASCAR’s agreement extension marks another important milestone in the history of collaboration between the two organizations, as 2017 is NASCAR’s 16th season on satellite radio and listeners will have uninterrupted access to the sport for more than two decades. SiriusXM will also retain exclusive category rights to utilize NASCAR branding and trademarks for advertising and promotion.

 

“We have more than a successful decade of partnership already under our belts with SiriusXM and look forward to continuing our relationship over the next six years,” said Steve Herbst, senior vice president, broadcasting and production at NASCAR. “SiriusXM provides robust coverage of both our live events and breaking news, acting as a trusted resource for our sport and helping NASCAR content to reach new, diverse audiences nationwide.”

 

“For the last 15 years we’ve proudly delivered the excitement of NASCAR to fans nationwide, providing them with a level of coverage unmatched by anyone in audio entertainment, and we are very pleased to continue our relationship for years to come,” said Steve Cohen, SiriusXM’s SVP of Sports Programming. “NASCAR has always had one of the most loyal fan bases in sports, and it continues to innovate to constantly improve the racing on the track. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will continue to give fans, no matter where they are in the country, a terrific platform to follow and discuss the new format put in place this season, and stay connected with their favorite drivers as they vie for the championship.”

 

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to the track this weekend with the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, live March 12 at 3:30 p.m. ET on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

 

SiriusXM NASCAR Radio airs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and delivers in-depth racing coverage and inside access to NASCAR news, including live broadcasts of every Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Seriesu2122, NASCAR XFINITY Seriesu2122 and NASCAR Camping World Truck Seriesu2122 event. Fans can call in to the channel to share their opinions and be a part of the daily discussion, and can also access SiriusXM NASCAR Radio programming when they want it on SiriusXM On Demand. The channel’s roster of expert hosts features current and former drivers, crew chiefs, crew members and a host of NASCAR insiders. For more info on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s programming and personalities go to www.SiriusXM.com/NASCAR.