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Former series champ holds off Kyle Busch’s charge in Sin City
RELATED: Full race results | Series standings
LAS VEGAS – In the closing laps of Saturday’s Boyd Gaming 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch was close enough to make Brad Keselowski uncomfortable.
It didn’t help that Keselowski’s engine sputtered when the voltage in his battery dropped dangerously low.
But Keselowski built a big enough lead after a restart on Lap 168 of 200 to ward off Busch’s charge in the closing stages of the race.
Keselowski’s first win of the season, his first at LVMS and the 28th of his career left Busch, a Las Vegas native, frustrated in his 11th futile attempt to win a Nationwide Series race on home turf. Busch was runner-up for the second straight year and third time overall.
“Kyle’s one of the best in the business, and he deserves a win here, and he’s been real close, just like we have,” said Keselowski, who was leading on the final lap in 2011 before a blown tire knocked him back to third.
“These races aren’t getting any easier to win. I drove as hard as I could every lap, knowing that Kyle was coming there, especially at the end. We were having some troubles with the engine there, and I knew it was just a matter of time before he caught me. I was just trying to get through as much traffic as I could and extend that time and was counting down the laps. It felt good that everything worked out at the end.”
Kyle Larson ran third, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and rookie Chase Elliott. Matt Kenseth, Brian Scott, Trevor Bayne, Chris Buescher and Regan Smith completed the top 10, leaving Smith and Bayne tied for the series points lead.
Following the race, NASCAR confiscated the right rear shock from Keselowski’s No. 22, and the shock would be taken to the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, N.C., for further review. Also, Elliott’s No. 9 was too low in post-race inspection.
Any penalties would be announced this week and fall under NASCAR’s new Deterrence System.
Busch dropped to the rear for the start of the race, because his crew made an unapproved adjustment to the No. 54 Toyota after impound, replacing a frayed alternator belt. By Lap 12, however, Busch had cracked the top 10 and continued to advance through a 56-lap green-flag run to start the race.
When NASCAR slowed the field with a debris caution, Busch was third, having gained two positions during an exchange of pit stops under green.
But Keselowski was dominant during the middle third of the race, and after a restart on Lap 75 — a result of the second caution for Dylan Kwasniewski’s brush with the Turn 3 wall on Lap 70 — he drove away from Busch, who was running second.
A second cycle of green-flag stops put Busch in the lead on Lap 131. By then, there were seven cars on the lead lap.
Busch had a half-second lead when NASCAR called the third caution on Lap 148 because of debris in Turn 2. During pit stops under yellow, Keselowski overshot his pit stall, dropped three positions and restarted fifth on Lap 152, with Busch leading the field to green.
Seven laps later, after an intense battle for the lead, Kenseth spun in Turn 4 trying to keep pace with Busch but adroitly kept the No. 20 Toyota off the wall and saved the car from damage.
Keselowski rocketed into the lead moments after the subsequent restart on Lap 162 and held it the rest of the way. Busch picked the outside lane for that restart and immediately dropped positions to Keselowski and Elliott but didn’t consider that choice a decisive factor.
“I stepped on the gas, and it felt like I was holding a parachute, the way those guys went by me,” Busch said. “I was third before I even got to Turn 1. Junior was pushing me there for a little bit. I don’t know happened, if he fell off me or what, but… it just wouldn’t go.”
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. sends praise Elliott’s way; No. 9 left front comes in too low post-race
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LAS VEGAS — While much of the NASCAR Nationwide Series rookie class was dealing with a day of hard knocks and tough lessons at the super fast Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Chase Elliott proved himself up for every challenge and among the class of the entire field finishing fifth behind four Sprint Cup drivers in Saturday’s Boyd Gaming 300.
It’s the 18-year old’s first career top-five finish in the Nationwide Series and moves him to fifth in the championship standings only 14 points behind leader and JR Motorsports teammate Regan Smith. The left front of Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet, however, came in too low during post-race inspection. NASCAR also confiscated the right rear shock from race winner Brad Keselowski‘s No. 22 Ford and will take it to the Research & Development Center in Concord, N.C., for further review.
Elliott, son of 1988 Cup champion Bill Elliott, was second running alongside Keselowski on a restart with 33 laps remaining but spun his tires getting up to speed. It created a frantic final laps and Elliott had his work cut out for him to stay among the top-five where he had run all afternoon.
While several other high profile rookies like Ty Dillon and hometown favorite Dylan Kwasniewski were dealing with pit road speeding penalties and hitting the walls, Elliott’s position up front allowed him to glean what he could from the veterans, including his team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished fourth.
“The big difference was unloading with a fast race car,’’ said Elliott, who drives the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevy. “That goes farther than you think, especially for a rookie and a guy that’s never been on this mile-and-a-half race track.
“There’s some things I learned what not to do, obviously restarting on the outside of the front row with Brad [Keselowski], he took me to school there and taught me a lesson. But I’ll just put that in the memory bank.
“I felt like we were capable of running with those guys. I don’t know if we had what it took to win the race, Brad was just really really good. I feel like our car was capable of being in the top-five and we finished fifth so not a terrible day.”
His team owner Earnhardt would agree.
The two spoke on pit road after climbing out of their Chevrolets, their conversation ending with Earnhardt patting him on the shoulder and saying, “good job man.” Later Earnhardt sent Elliott a congratulatory message via Twitter to his half-million plus followers.
“He’s [Elliott] better than he knows he is, it’s what we’re all sitting here talking about,’’ Earnhardt said. “First of all, I’ve never really spent much time around Bill Elliott, but I got a chance to work with him the last couple weeks. He’s older than me so I respect my elders, but man, I was really impressed how good a spotter he was. And he says it ain’t the first race he’s ever watched.
“He’s just really smart. That’s just him having that kind of intuition all through Chase’s career has really helped Chase along to where he’s a lot better than most rookies are when they come into this series. I’m real happy for him.
“I’m not surprised. The guy’s got a ton of talent. He’s gonna go a long ways. He’s just got a great mentor in his father. It’s really made a big difference in his life.”
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Rookie edges Keselowski, claims Coors Light Pole Award
RELATED: NASCAR Nationwide Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying results
Rookie Ty Dillon stormed to his first Coors Light Pole Award in the NASCAR Nationwide Series on Saturday, topping the qualifying chart at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Dillon, driving the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, turned a fast lap of 182.278 mph around the 1.5-mile track. He’ll start first in Saturday’s Boyd Gaming 300 (4 p.m. ET, ESPN2), the third race of the season for the series.
Brad Keselowski, the Nationwide pole winner the previous weekend at Phoenix International Raceway, was second-fastest at 181.702 mph in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Larson and Brian Scott — all in Chevrolets — completed the top five in the series’ first full, rain-unaffected qualifying session using the three-round, multicar format that debuted this season.
Matt Crafton turned in a dramatic, last-second qualifying pass in the 10-minute second round to place himself in the final group of 12. His lap bumped Elliott Sadler out of the final, five-minute session. The reigning NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion didn’t fare as well in the final group, managing just the 11th starting position for his fourth career Nationwide Series start.
J.J. Yeley was 25th-fastest and the first driver cut after the first, 25-minute round.
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Ganassi driver edges Dillon atop Sin City leaderboard
RELATED: Final practice results | Play NASCAR Fantasy Live | Sign up for RaceView today
Jamie McMurray set the pace in final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
McMurray, driving the No. 1 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing, turned a fast lap of 186.942 mph on the 1.5-mile track as speeds dropped off considerably from Coors Light Pole Qualifying the day before.
Rookie Austin Dillon was second-fastest in the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevy at 186.896 mph, just seven thousandths of a second off McMurray’s time. Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne and Kevin Harvick — last weekend’s winner at Phoenix International Raceway — completed the top five on the practice leaderboard ahead of Sunday’s Kobalt 400 (3 p.m. ET, FOX).
Rookie Kyle Larson, McMurray’s teammate in the No. 42 Chevy, was sixth-fastest. He turned the most laps (62) of any driver in the 63-minute session.
Defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, a four-time Las Vegas winner, was seventh-fastest in final practice. Series points leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. was ninth-fastest, Coors Light Pole Award winner Joey Logano 15th-fastest and defending race winner Matt Kenseth 19th-fastest.
The practice session was extended by three minutes after a late caution period when Parker Kligerman‘s No. 30 Toyota slowed in a trail of smoke off Turn 2.
Vickers tops next-to-last practice in Vegas | Practice 2 results
Brian Vickers roared to the top of the speed charts in the next-to-last NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice session Saturday morning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Vickers, driving the No. 55 Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, turned a lap of 188.950 mph. He was just ahead of MWR teammate Clint Bowyer, who ran 188.350 mph in the No. 15 Camry.
Brad Keselowski, who clinched the second position for Sunday’s Kobalt 400 (3 p.m. ET, FOX) in Coors Light Pole Qualifying on Friday, was third-best in the penultimate practice. Defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, a four-time winner on the 1.5-mile Vegas track, was fourth-fastest as Jamie McMurray completed the top five.
Joey Logano, who will start from the Coors Light Pole on Sunday, was 18th-fastest in the early Saturday practice. Defending race winner Matt Kenseth was 26th-fastest.
Cole Whitt triggered the only stoppage in the 50-minute session, walloping the Turn 2 retaining wall with his No. 26 Toyota and forcing his Swan Racing team to go to a reserve car for Sunday’s main event. He was evaluated and released from the infield care center.
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NASCAR VP says sanctioning body is listening to drivers’ concerns
RELATED: Sunday’s race lineup | Saturday’s practice results
LAS VEGAS — NASCAR officials say they don’t expect to make any changes to the new qualifying process before NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams arrive in Bristol next week for the Food City 500 race weekend.
Several drivers expressed concerns about close calls with slower cars idling around on the apron to cool their engines during Friday’s qualifying here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
It was the first time the three-segment format had been used on a 1.5-mile track as the field was set for Sunday’s Kobalt 400.
Because teams aren’t allowed to cool their engines through mechanical means while qualifying is taking place, they return to the track after making a qualifying attempt at a reduced speed to force air through the front of the car.
"We’re going to sit for a while, field all the questions and see what happens," Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition and racing development, said Saturday morning. "It’s a very small snapshot of qualifying so far."
Pemberton said officials had spoken with drivers that voiced concerns about the process. "We’re listening," he said. "We told them it’s too early to tell (if tweaks are necessary).
"Other than the cars running around on the bottom and you had one or two complain that it was a close call … again, we’re listening to them, but we want to take a better snapshot of it."
Under the new "knockout" qualifying format, all teams have 25 minutes to make one or more qualifying attempts. On tracks greater than 1.25 miles, the fastest 24 advance to a 10-minute second round, and the fastest 12 from that round advance to a third and final round of five minutes.
On tracks less than 1.25 miles, only two segments are used to determine the starting lineup — all cars in the first round (which lasts 30 minutes), with the fastest 12 advancing to the final 10-minute session.
There is a five-minute break between each round and teams are only allowed to make minor changes to the cars in between rounds.
"Next weekend (at Bristol) is going to be crazy," said Team Penske driver Joey Logano, who will start on the pole at Las Vegas. "At least this weekend we’ve got the apron, so we can run the apron all the way around here to cool them off. But next weekend we really don’t. You’ve got a half-mile track and you’re going to have all these cars out there at the same time."
Teams begin qualifying with the front of their cars taped up to create additional downforce. After making their initial run, they return to pit road to remove the tape in an effort to help cool the engine.
The closest incident Friday came when Logano nearly got into the slowing entry of Marcos Ambrose during the first qualifying segment. But, as Pemberton noted, Ambrose slowed quickly in front of Logano due to a water leak.
"It had nothing to do with a car (riding around on the bottom)," he said.
Pemberton said the delay in allowing Kasey Kahne‘s Hendrick Motorsports team to change a flat tire during qualifying was a result of the qualifying rules in place under the new format.
Kahne’s team was not allowed to change the flat, which occurred as he was cooling his car’s engine, until the completion of the round because he had already posted an official time during the segment.
"You can only change a flat tire during the break," Pemberton said. "It depends on whether you get laps on the board or not."
If a team has a flat before posting an official time, officials will allow the team to replace the tire at that time. Once a time had been recorded, teams can only make the change during the next break in between rounds.
"Everybody’s working through this stuff," Pemberton said. "There’s a lot that’s new, new to our officials, new to the race teams. Anytime there is a question, officials are told to call the tower (for confirmation)."
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Ty Dillon takes first pit stall off pit road
RELATED: Lineup for Las Vegas Nationwide Series race
The pit stall assignments are out for Saturday’s Boyd Gaming 300 (ESPN2 4 p.m. ET).
NASCAR Nationwide Series rookie Ty Dillon won his first Coors Light Pole of his Nationwide career at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, allowing him his pick of a great pit stall location.
Dillon chose the pit stall closest to the pit road exit (pit stall 2), with an open stall in front of him.
Brad Keselowski, who was second-fastest in qualifying, chose pit stall 15, a stall that will also not have a driver in front of him.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brian Scott and Chase Elliott also chose stalls with empty space in front of them.
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Six-time Sprint Cup Series champion says communication remains key
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LAS VEGAS, Nev. — If you accept the consensus among NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers and crew chiefs, the new competition package introduced this year for the Gen-6 race car provides more latitude with setups and heightened adjustability.
According to six-time series champion Jimmie Johnson, that also makes it more complicated.
And communication between driver and crew chief remains critically important.
"The one thing that we have found right now with the ride heights like they are and the options you can run for springs … you can make a change to a spring in the car and affect your ride heights and completely change the way the geometry works in the car," Johnson said Friday, prior to the weekend’s first Sprint Cup Series practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
"As you look at it initially, you think ‘OK, this will free the car up.’ You send it onto the race track, you come back you are plowing tight. It’s like ‘Wait a second. What’s going on?’ You have to look three or four layers deeper to understand the way everything works together and they are like ‘Oh, I see, it changed ride heights, which changed this, now I see why the car is tight.’"
Accordingly, the interlocking nature of variables in the setup makes the crew chief’s job more difficult.
"There are more steps involved with making a decision now," Johnson said. "I feel like communication still is key, but the thought process on the pit box is more important than it’s ever been, because a simple change affects more things now."
NO HOME GAME
Kyle Busch is a Las Vegas native, but that doesn’t guarantee a warm reception from fans at LVMS for the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
"This is a vacation destination for a lot of race fans, so there are a lot of out-of-towners that do come here," said Busch, whose talent and brash demeanor have aroused the passions of fans both for and against him. "It’s not 100,000 from Las Vegas will be sitting in these grandstands.
"I’ll bet you it’s like 20 or 30 [thousand], but it’s just part of the deal. Plus, I’ll tell you this — when I was coming up through the ranks, I won a lot and probably won too much and didn’t make very many friends. So I’m not sure I have many pulling for me anyway, because I kicked their butt too much."
PRACTICAL SOLUTION
Matt Kenseth and wife Katie have a third daughter on the way, due in about three weeks.
The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota hasn’t lined up a relief driver, as Paul Menard has done this weekend. Reigning NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton will drive for Menard if wife Jennifer Menard goes into labor this weekend with the couple’s first child.
Last week, Paul Wolfe, Brad Keselowski’s crew chief, missed the Sprint Cup race in Phoenix after flying home to witness the birth of his son, Caden Paul Wolfe.
Kenseth has another solution for his wife’s impending blessed event.
Asked whether he had a backup plan, Kenseth quipped, "Not really. I just told her to have her on a Monday."
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Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski will take the front row on Sunday
MORE: Lineup for Kobalt 400
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LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Team Penske has this system down cold.
A week after Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski grabbed both front-row starting spots in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series knockout qualifying at Phoenix International Raceway, the Penske Ford teammates repeated the feat — in reverse order — Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
In the first three-session version of the group knockout time trials introduced into the series this season, Logano won the pole for Sunday’s Kobalt 400 in track-record fashion in the five-minute third round with a lap at 193.278 mph.
The Coors Light Pole Award was Logano’s first of the season, his first at Las Vegas and the eighth of his career.
"We’re all still learning what the best strategy is, when to go, when to cool your motor off, when to do all this stuff," Logano said of the new qualifying format. "We have an idea what we want to do. We’ve studied it as much as we can.
“But every time we do this we learn something that we may want to do different next time… All you can do is find the biggest hole that you can [between cars] and make sure you lay down the best lap you can. That’s what I get paid to do."
In the first qualifying round, which lasted 25 minutes and narrowed the field of drivers eligible for the pole from 48 drivers to 24, every driver who advanced to the 10-minute second round broke Kasey Kahne’s 2012 qualifying record of 190.456 mph.
Brian Vickers, who will start ninth, was fastest in the first round at 192.995 mph, but Logano topped that mark with his money lap in the final session.
Clint Bowyer qualified third at 192.713 mph, followed by rookie Austin Dillon (192.678 mph) and reigning series champion Jimmie Johnson (192.596 mph), who ran a lap identical to that of sixth-place starter Ricky Stenhouse Jr. but got the higher position based on last year’s owner points.
Keselowski credited his equipment with much of Team Penske’s recent success.
"When you’ve got fast cars, it makes your life a lot easier, and Team Penske has done a great job of finding that speed in qualifying trim," Keselowski said. "We need a little but more in race trim. I think we saw that last week in Phoenix (where Keselowski finished third) and on the first day of testing (Thursday) here in Vegas.
"We’ll get a better idea and read for that [on Saturday] when we get back in race trim [for practice], but for qualifying trim, I think we’ve got our cars really refined well for this package, and I’m very proud of where we are."
Blake Koch, Landon Cassill, Dave Blaney, Joe Nemechek and JJ Yeley failed to qualify for the 43-car field.
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Kwasniewski returns to his hometown of Las Vegas in hopes of emerging a winner
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LAS VEGAS – Dylan Kwasniewski started attending NASCAR races at his hometown Las Vegas Motor Speedway when he was nine years old, his first race spent atop family friend Robby Gordon’s pit box. For most of the past half decade he raced Super Late Models and Modifieds at the "Bullring" — the short track located in the mighty speedway’s shadow.
This weekend, the 18-year old Kwasniewski has arrived and emerged. He’ll make his big track debut in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series’ Boyd Gaming 300.
"It’s pretty surreal, the only laps I’ve ever had on here were with the [Richard] Petty Experience [driving school]," Kwasniewski said.
"Hopefully I’ll have the advantage of having my hometown crowd cheering me on, with family and friends here watching.
"It’s just going to be a good experience no matter what the finish will be, to be here racing against these guys at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it’s a dream come true."
"Hopefully," he added with a laugh. "We’ll have some speed and not suck in front of my hometown."
Kwasniewski had speed in the No. 31 Rockstar Chevrolet for sure, turning in the 15th fastest lap at one point during NASCAR Nationwide Series opening practice on the 1.5-mile high banks.
But 10 minutes later, he slammed the Turn 4 wall, badly damaging his Chevy, but not daunting his determination.
The Turner Scott Motorsports team quickly had a back-up car prepared for him and he was among the top-20 fastest in the second practice.
"It sucks," a disappointed Kwasniewski said as watched his crew get the back-up car ready. "We were loose and I should have just pulled it in and instead ended up overcorrecting. You’ve got to push it and I just pushed it too hard.
"We’ll bounce back and it’s not going to stop me from going back out and trying my hardest again."
A two-time NASCAR K&N Series champion, Kwasniewski is already proving his mettle in the Nationwide Series among a stellar group of seven high profile rookies. He won the pole position in the Daytona season opener – his first ever race in the series – and sits fifth in points after two races with finishes of eighth and 13th.
"I knew if we could get out of Daytona with the car in tact we’d be on track," Kwasniewski said. "I am surprised I’m doing this well, but I’d like to be doing better than I am.
"I’m my toughest critic. I want to be better than whatever I’m doing, even if I’m second I want to win. My team at Turner Scott Motorsports is a lot of great guys and we’re gelling right now. I want to improve each time I go out."
That mindset doesn’t surprise his biggest fan: his mom Jennifer.
"My husband had a saying, it takes Dylan three races and one wreck before he settles in," Jen Kwasniewski said with a smile.
And, why not Las Vegas as the prime setting for her son’s maiden win in a NASCAR national series. About 50 family friends will be in the grandstands cheering on Kwasniewski’s debut. And probably a lot of Kwasniewski’s former crew members and competitors from the neighboring Bullring as well.
"The guys I raced at the Bullring think it’s cool I’m getting to race here because it could pave the way for them as well," Kwasniewski said. "[Las Vegas natives] Kyle and Kurt [Busch] did that for us. Hopefully I can pave the way as well."
Mother and son moved to Charlotte this year to be closer to NASCAR’s hub and Kwasniewski’s team. But both say they’ve enjoyed the trip back out West, and are savoring the significance.
"Coming back to Vegas I decided to experience it for what it is," Kwasniewski said grinning. "I went to a show, took a helicopter tour, which is pretty cool. I’d never done any of those things even though I lived in Las Vegas a long time. I decided to live it up, live like I’m a tourist.
"I get to stay in my friend’s house, sleep in a comfortable bed and yet also be a tourist for the first time. See my friends who I haven’t seen in a long time. … It’s cool to wind down, relax in my home city. It’s good to just feel comfortable in the place I know best."
And it’s been a long time coming.
"This is where it all started, this is probably the dream my husband saw the first time he brought Dylan to a race here," Jennifer Kwasniewski said of her late husband Randy, a former CEO and President of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
In addition to his obvious talent behind the steering wheel, Kwasniewski has boy-band good looks and the kind of friendly, polite demeanor that makes a parent proud. All the indications are that he’s got a neon-bright future ahead in NASCAR.
And this weekend that comes full circle on the big oval in his hometown.
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