NASCAR Las Vegas Sunday, February 24, 2019

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES LAS VEGAS STATS HIGHLIGHTS

• NASCAR GOES WEST!
• KEVIN HARVICK WON 2 OF THE 3 RACES ON THE WEST COAST SWING – LAS VEGAS & ISM RACEWAY
• MARTIN TRUEX JR. FINISHED TOP 5 ALL 3 RACES INCLUDING A WIN AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY
• KYLE BUSCH FINISHED TOP 3 ALL 3 RACES INCLUDING RUNNER-UP FINISHES AT LAS VEGAS & ISM RACEWAY
• KYLE BUSCH & MARTIN TRUEX JR. WERE ONLY DRIVERS TO FINISH TOP 5 ALL 3 RACES
• KYLE BUSCH, MARTIN TRUEX JR. & ERIK JONES WERE ONLY DRIVERS TO FINISH TOP 10 ALL 3 RACES
• HISTORY:
• 3/3/57: JACK SMITH WON DIRT RACE AT CONCORD IN A ’57 CHEVY (2ND CAREER WIN)
• 3/3/63: RICHARD PETTY WON AT ASHEVILLE-WEAVERVILLE SPEEDWAY (5TH STRAIGHT PETTY ENTERPRISES SHORT TRACK WIN)
• 3/3/74: RICHARD PETTY WON ROCKINGHAM (156TH WIN FOR PETTY)
• 3/3/85: NEIL BONNETT WON ROCKINGHAM (8 INCH MARGIN-OF-VICTORY OVER HARRY GANT)
• 3/3/91: KYLE PETTY WON ROCKINGHAM (380 OF 492 LAPS LED)
• 3/3/96: JEFF GORDON WON RICHMOND (FIRST OF 10 WINS IN 1996 FOR GORDON)
• 3/3/02: STERLING MARLIN WON LAS VEGAS (9TH OF 10 CAREER WINS)
• 3/3/13: CARL EDWARDS WON PHOENIX (ENDED 70-RACE WINLESS STREAK)
• Las Vegas 3/18: Kevin Harvick won Stage 1, Stage 2 & led 214 laps – 2nd straight win (Atlanta & Las Vegas)
• 3/7/18: Penalized 20 driver, 20 team owner points, crew chief Rodney Childers fined $50,000 and car chief
• Robert “Cheddar” Smith suspended 2 races
• Rear window braces did not keep rear window glass rigid. Rocker panel extension not aluminum.
• Las Vegas 9/18: Brad Keselowski won 500th race for Team Penske – 3rd straight win for Keselowski –
• 59th Team Penske win for Keselowski tying him with Mark Donohue – 60th Team Penske win at Atlanta
• First time all 3 Team Penske drivers finished top 5
• Las Vegas temperatures:
• 58 Degrees 3/18
• 101 Degrees 9/18 / Track: 125 degrees
• Las Vegas 3/18
• Only 2 pit road speeding penalties – Denny Hamlin finished 17th & AJ Allmendinger finished 30th
• Kevin Harvick led race-high 214 laps (80%) – Joey Logano led 2nd most 25 laps
• Team Penske drivers finished 5th, 6th & 7th – Blaney, Keselowski & Logano
• 12 Different winners in 22 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Las Vegas races (8 are champions)
• Jimmie Johnson: Winless last 9 Las Vegas races – 4 Wins previous 6 races
• Kyle Busch passed for final lead change 2 of last 4 Las Vegas races
• Brad Keselowski: 3 Wins last 6 Las Vegas races – Passed for final lead change 2 of last 5 Las Vegas races
• Kevin Harvick won 2 of last 5 Las Vegas races – 1 in SHR Chevrolet & 1 in SHR Ford
• Kyle Larson passed for final lead change last Las Vegas race – Finished 2nd
• Chase Elliott failed to finish 3 of 4 Las Vegas races (All due to crashes) – Average finish: 27.8 (Worst track)
• Ryan Blaney finished 7th or better last 4 Las Vegas races – 8.4 Average finish best of active drivers
• Last 8 Las Vegas races won by 5 champion drivers
• Defending series champion won Las Vegas 5 times – Jimmie Johnson twice
• Las Vegas winner went on to win championship in same season 6 times
• Jimmie Johnson led most laps 3 Las Vegas races – 1 Win (2005)
• Martin Truex Jr. led most laps 2 of last 3 Las Vegas races – 1 Win (2017)
• Kevin Harvick led 80% of laps winning Las Vegas 3/18 – 214 of 267
• Most consecutive laps led from start: 52 – Jeff Gordon (2010)
• Most consecutive laps led in a Las Vegas race: 72 – Kevin Harvick (3/18)
• 2 Las Vegas Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races settled by last lap pass
• 2 Las Vegas Overtime finishes (2006 & 9/18)
• Jeff Burton won only shortened Las Vegas race (2000) – 148 of 267 laps
• 13 of top 14 Las Vegas finishers in 1998 were Fords – Dale Earnhardt finished 8th in Chevrolet
• Closest Las Vegas margin-of-victory: .045 Seconds Jimmie Johnson over Matt Kenseth (2006)
• No driver leading 1st lap ever won Las Vegas Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race
• Best Las Vegas finish by Rookie of the Year contender: 2nd – Kasey Kahne (2004) & Kyle Busch (2005)
• Erik Jones won pole last Las Vegas race – No laps led & finished 40th (Crash)
• Only 1 Las Vegas winner after winning pole – Kyle Busch (2009) – Started from the rear (Engine change)
• Kyle Busch (2009) & Jeff Gordon (2015) started rear of field after winning pole
• Roush Fenway Racing leads all teams with 7 Las Vegas wins – Winless last 8 races
• Worst official starting position of winner: 25th – Matt Kenseth (2004)
• *Kyle Busch won in 2009 after starting from rear of field
• Most consecutive Las Vegas wins: Jimmie Johnson won 3 straight (2005, ’06 & ’07)
• Most Las Vegas wins: 4 Jimmie Johnson
• Most Las Vegas 2nd-place finishes: 3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Winless)
• Most Las Vegas top 3 finishes: 6 Jimmie Johnson
• Most Las Vegas top 10 finishes: 10 Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth & Mark Martin
• Best Las Vegas average finish: 7.7 Dale Earnhardt
• Most Las Vegas laps led: 595 Jimmie Johnson

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES LAS VEGAS STATS HIGHLIGHTS

• Most Las Vegas wins: 4 Mark Martin
• Most Las Vegas 2nd-place finishes: 3 Kyle Busch (2016 Winner)
• Most Las Vegas top 3 finishes: 6 Mark Martin
• Most Las Vegas top 5 finishes: 6 Kevin Harvick & Mark Martin
• Most Las Vegas top 10 finishes: 8 Justin Allgaier & Greg Biffle
• Most Las Vegas laps led: 521 Kyle Busch
• 17 Different winners in 23 NASCAR Xfinity Series Las Vegas races
• 11 Different winners last 11 NASCAR Xfinity Series Las Vegas races
• Last 8 winners were first-time Las Vegas winners
• Ross Chastain won Stage 1, 2 & race last Las Vegas race
• 5 of 23 Las Vegas races won from pole – 2 of last 5 won from pole
• Pole led no laps in 3 Las Vegas races
• Joe Gibbs Racing won 3 of last 4 Las Vegas poles
• Kyle Busch led 199 of 200 laps in 2016 (Led final 145 laps) – Bubba Wallace led lap 55
• Most laps led in a Las Vegas race: 199 – Kyle Busch (2016)
• Most consecutive Las Vegas laps led: 145 – Kyle Busch (2016)
• Last 7 Las Vegas winners led 106 or more laps
• Justin Allgaier passed for final lead change last Las Vegas race – Finished 2nd
• #42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet won last 2 Las Vegas races – Kyle Larson (3/18) & Ross Chastain (9/18)
• Worst start position of winner: 29th – Joe Nemechek (2003)
• 2 Won first career race at Las Vegas – Jeff Green (1997) & Ross Chastain (9/18)
• Most consecutive Las Vegas laps led from start: 89 – Kevin Harvick (2003)
• Winner first took lead at lap 146 or later in 5 Las Vegas races
• 2 Las Vegas Xfinity Series races settled by last lap pass
• 1 Driver won Las Vegas & championship in same season – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 2012
• Best Las Vegas finish by Rookie of the Year contender: 2nd – Greg Biffle (2001) & Christopher Bell (3/18)
• Final green run 7 or fewer laps last 3 Las Vegas races
• 3 Las Vegas NXS Overtime finishes
• 2 Swept Las Vegas NXS & MENCS races in same weekend – Jeff Burton (2000) & Brad Keselowski (2014)