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Photo via Dikembe Mutombo’s Twitter account, @officialmutombo
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LAS VEGAS –Kevin Harvick and NBA Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo teamed up to unveil Mobil 1’s newest Annual Protection product on Thursday evening at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.


The official oil of NASCAR and the NBA, Mobil 1 Annual Protection is designed with the slogan "One year. One oil change," and will serve as an efficient product that allows consumers to skip the multiple oil change trips.


"Mobil 1 Annual Protection breaks conventional wisdom as it relates to changing your oil," said Michele Biamonte, automotive marketing manager for ExxonMobil. "We know consumers stay more busy than ever, and so Mobil 1 Annual Protection guarantees protection of your engine for one full year."


Mobil 1 Annual Protection will adorn Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford as its primary sponsor in this weekend’s Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. Sunday, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). In addition to Harvick’s No. 4 this weekend, Mobil 1 also will sponsor the other three Stewart-Haas Racing drivers throughout the season: Danica Patrick at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kurt Busch at Richmond International Raceway and Clint Bowyer at Texas Motor Speedway.



"The car looks great even though it’s green and I know a lot of people say green’s bad luck and I tell them, ‘Well just give me all the money in your pocket and I’ll take it for the rest of the day,’ " Harvick joked, gesturing to his Mobil 1 Annual Protection Ford on display. "… I got a little taste of being part of the (Mobil 1) family over the last couple years and to be able to put that on our engines, transmissions, rim gears every week for qualifying, I smile because I know the car’s going to run faster and I don’t have to do anything different than what I did in practice.




"…One year, one oil change — sounds pretty simple to me. I think when you look at the concept, it makes sense."



Even more simply: "Don’t change your oil," Mutombo said with his signature finger wag, met with a chorus of laughs.


For Mutombo, who filmed a series of Mobil 1 commercials with Harvick, the Mobil 1 connection gives him the opportunity to experience NASCAR firsthand this weekend at Las Vegas.


"Over my career, I’ve played in front of 20,000 people," Mutombo said. "But I’ve never seen a crowd of 60,000, 70,000 people. And seeing the tire being changed in 11 seconds, according to Kevin … I’m looking forward to seeing that up close. How can somebody change four tires in 11 seconds and get back on the track without losing 100 yards? … I’m looking to learn as much as I can."



But it’s not just the pit crew: the former NBA star also spoke to the athleticism of the drivers.



"I don’t know what (the drivers) eat in the morning to go around more than 100, 200 times," Motumbo said. "I cannot do that — I would get dizzy and collapse.



"… You have to be physically fit and mentally fit for you to just sit inside there and look around for 200 times, 300 times."

Harvick, Mutombo and the newly unveiled No. 4 Mobil 1 Annual Protection Ford will hit the track Sunday for the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

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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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RELATED: Full schedule for Las Vegas | Stage lengths for Las Vegas

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.