NASCAR Las Vegas Sunday, September 19, 2021
LAS VEGAS NASCAR CUP SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Las Vegas March
Winner pit stops: Kyle Larson (6 Stops) 27, 83, 124 (Green), 163, 181, 225 (Green)
Longest green flag run: 83 Laps (185-267)
Top 5 Stage 1 & 2: Brad Keselowski (1st & 2nd), Ryan Blaney (3rd & 5th), Denny Hamlin (4th & 3rd)
Speeding: Tyler Reddick 22nd, Bubba Wallace 28th
Rear of field: None
Best HMS: Kyle Larson 1st
Best JGR: Kyle Busch 3rd
Best SHR: Kevin Harvick 20th
Best TPR: Brad Keselowski 2nd
Las Vegas 9/20:
Winner: Kurt Busch (6 Stops) 27, 83, 118, 163, 192, 237
Longest green flag run: 75 Laps (87-161)
Top 5 Stage 1 & 2: Denny Hamlin (1st & 2nd), Chase Elliott (4th & 1st)
Speeding: 3 – Jimmie Johnson (11th), Christopher Bell, William Byron
Rear of field: None – Only race last season
Best Hendrick Motorsports: Alex Bowman 5th
Best Joe Gibbs Racing: Denny Hamlin 3rd
Best Stewart-Haas Racing: Kevin Harvick 10th
Best Team Penske: Ryan Blaney 7th
Most wins on 1.5-mile tracks this season: 2 Kyle Larson
Most top 3 finishes on 1.5-mile tracks this season: 4 Kyle Busch
Most top 5 finishes on 1.5-mile tracks this season: 5 Kyle Busch
Kyle Busch only driver to finish top 10 all 6 races on 1.5-mile tracks this season
Best average finish on 1.5-mile tracks this season: 4.0 Kyle Busch
Most laps led on 1.5-mile tracks this season: 836 Kyle Larson
Kevin Harvick: No laps led on 1.5-mile tracks this season – 479 Laps led on 1.5-mile tracks last season
1-Kurt Busch: 750th career NASCAR Cup Series race – First race: Dover 9/24/00
18-Kyle Busch: 600th career NASCAR Cup Series race – First race: Las Vegas 3/7/04
Richard Petty only driver to win in 600th race – Richmond 2/25/73
5-Kyle Larson:
Las Vegas March winner – Started 3rd, finished 12th in Stage 1 & Stage 2 winner, 6 times for 103 laps led (most)
“Thank you so much, (Rick Hendrick), Jeff Gordon, everybody at Hendrick Motorsports
for the amazing opportunity I’ve been gifted. … This is definitely special.”
2-Brad Keselowski:
Finished 2nd at Las Vegas March – Started 10th, Stage 1 winner & finished 2nd in Stage 2, 27 laps led, 54 points scored (most)
18-Kyle Busch:
Finished 3rd at Las Vegas March – Started 14th, finished 14th in Stage 1 & 9th in Stage 2, avg. running position: 12th
“It’s all about building blocks”
11-Denny Hamlin:
Finished 4th at Las Vegas March – Started 6th, finished 4th in Stage 1 & 3rd in Stage 2, 47 laps led
12-Ryan Blaney:
Finished 5th at Las Vegas March – Started 26th, finished 3rd in Stage 1 & 5th in Stage 2, 1 lap led
19-Martin Truex Jr.:
Finished 6th at Las Vegas March – Started 4th, finished top 10 in Stage 1 & 2, 6 laps led
20-Christopher Bell:
Finished 7th at Las Vegas March – Started 16th, finished top 10 in Stage 1 & 2
24-William Byron:
Finished 8th at Las Vegas March – Started 2nd, finished 7th in Stage 1 & 4th in Stage 2, 25 laps led
22-Joey Logano:
Finished 9th at Las Vegas March – Started 15th, finished 9th in Stage 1 & 14th in Stage 2, 7 laps led
43-Erik Jones:
Finished 10th at Las Vegas March – Lap 94 wall contact
1-Kurt Busch: 1 Las Vegas win (9/20) – First Las Vegas win in 22nd try
1-Kurt Busch: Las Vegas 9/20 winner – First took lead on lap 235 of 268 (29 of final 34 laps led)
1-Kurt Busch: Las Vegas 9/20 winner – Finished 16th in Stage 1 & 17th in Stage 2
2-Brad Keselowski: 3 Wins last 11 Las Vegas races – Passed for final lead change 3 of last 10 Las Vegas races
2-Brad Keselowski: 3 Las Vegas wins (Leads active drivers) – Finished 2nd in 2 of last 5 Las Vegas races
2-Brad Keselowski: Finished 13th or better last 12 Las Vegas races – Finished 7th or better 11 of last 12 Las Vegas races
4-Kevin Harvick won 2 of last 10 Las Vegas races – 1 in SHR Chevrolet & 1 in SHR Ford
4-Kevin Harvick: Finished 20th at Las Vegas March (Started 1st & no laps led) – Finished 6th or better previous 3 races this season
4-Kevin Harvick led most laps 3 of last 7 Las Vegas races – 1 Win (3/18)
5-Kyle Larson: Finished 12th or better last 7 Las Vegas races – 1 Win (March) & 6 Top 10 finishes
10-Aric Almirola: Finished last a Las Vegas March
11-Denny Hamlin: Winless in 19 Las Vegas races – 186 Las Vegas laps led
11-Denny Hamlin: 2 Straight Las Vegas top 5 finishes – No top 5 finishes previous 7 Las Vegas races
11-Denny Hamlin led most laps 2020 Las Vegas Playoff race (121) – Finished 3rd
12-Ryan Blaney: Finished 11th or better last 4 Las Vegas races – 3 Top 10 finishes
18-Kyle Busch: 2009 Las Vegas winner – 7 Las Vegas top 3 finishes
18-Kyle Busch: Finished 3rd at Las Vegas March – First top 5 finish this season
19-Martin Truex Jr. won 2 of last 8 Las Vegas races – 1 in Furniture Row Racing Toyota & 1 in Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
19-Martin Truex Jr.: 2 Wins last 8 Las Vegas races – 7 Top 10 finishes last 8 Las Vegas races
20-Christopher Bell: 1 Top 20 finish in 3 Las Vegas races – Finished 7th in March
21-Matt DiBenedetto: Finished 16th at Las Vegas March – Finished 2nd in previous 2 Las Vegas races
22-Joey Logano: 2 Wins last 5 Las Vegas races
22-Joey Logano: 10 Top 10 finishes in last 11 Las Vegas races – Finished 14th (9/20)
24-William Byron: 2 Las Vegas top 10 finishes – Finished 16th or worse other 5 Las Vegas races
43-Erik Jones: 3 Las Vegas top 10 finishes – 2 Straight Las Vegas top 10 finishes
15 Different winners in 27 NASCAR Cup Series Las Vegas races (10 Champions)
11 Different winners in 18 NASCAR Cup Series Las Vegas races on reconfigured track
Brad Keselowski leads all with 3 wins on reconfigured Las Vegas track
Champions won 12 of last 13 Las Vegas races – 7 Drivers
Only 1 Las Vegas winner after winning pole – Kyle Busch (2009) – Started from the rear (Engine change)
Kyle Busch (2009), Jeff Gordon (2015) & Kyle Busch (2/20) started rear of field after rolling off grid first
Last 3 drivers starting first failed to lead any laps
Last to win back-to-back Las Vegas races: Jimmie Johnson (2005-’07) – Kyle Larson won last Las Vegas race
Defending series champion won Las Vegas 6 times
Worst official starting position of winner: 25th – Matt Kenseth (2004)
*Kyle Busch won in 2009 after starting from rear of field
Leader of most laps failed to win 5 of last 6 Las Vegas races
Most consecutive laps led from start at Las Vegas: 52 – Jeff Gordon (2010)
No driver leading 1st lap won Las Vegas NASCAR Cup Series race
Most consecutive laps led in a Las Vegas race: 72 – Kevin Harvick (3/18)
Kevin Harvick led most consecutive laps 4 of last 7 Las Vegas races
2 Las Vegas NASCAR Cup Series races settled by last lap pass
Closest Las Vegas margin-of-victory: .045 Seconds Jimmie Johnson over Matt Kenseth (2006)
Las Vegas winner went on to win championship in same season 6 times
Best Las Vegas finish by Rookie of the Year contender: 2nd – Kasey Kahne (2004) & Kyle Busch (2005)
3 Las Vegas Overtime finishes (2006, 9/18 & 9/20)
Stage 1 winner failed to win last 6 Las Vegas races
Hendrick Motorsports led 150 of 267 laps at Las Vegas March (56%)
All 4 Joe Gibbs Racing drivers finished 7th or better at Las Vegas March
All 4 Stewart-Haas Racing drivers finished 20th or worse at Las Vegas March – No laps led
Team Penske drivers finished 9th or better at Las Vegas March – 35 Laps led
Hendrick Motorsports: 6 Las Vegas wins – 2nd to Roush (7)
Roush Fenway Racing leads all teams with 7 Las Vegas wins – Winless last 13 races
Team Penske won 3 of last 6 Las Vegas races – Brad Keselowski 9/18 and Joey Logano 3/19 & 2/20
Paul Wolfe won 4 of last 11 Las Vegas races as crew chief (3 Keselowski & 1 Logano)
Jeff Burton won only shortened Las Vegas race (2000) – 148 of 267 laps
Jeff Burton finished 2nd, 1st & 1st in first 3 Las Vegas races
Jeff & Ward Burton finished 1-2 in 1999 Las Vegas race
No Las Vegas race postponed
13 of top 14 Las Vegas finishers in 1998 were Fords – Dale Earnhardt finished 8th in Chevrolet
LAS VEGAS NASCAR XFINITY SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS
16-AJ Allmendinger
Las Vegas March winner – Started 10th, finished 4th in Stage 1 & 2nd in Stage 2, 44 laps led
“It’s emotional because you don’t know when you’re gonna do this again”
18-Daniel Hemric
Finished 2nd at Las Vegas March – Started 3rd, finished 3rd in Stage 1 & Stage 2 winner, 8 times led for 74 laps (most)
“You hate to have one get away like that”
19-Brandon Jones
Finished 3rd at Las Vegas March – Started 4th, finished 5th in Stage 1 & 4th in Stage 2, 28 laps led
22-Austin Cindric
Finished 4th at Las Vegas March – Stage 1 winner, 43 laps led, lap 54 tire down, lap 174 spun H. Burton
9-Noah Gragson:
Finished 5th at Las Vegas March – Started 34th, finished 8th in Stage 1 & 7th in Stage 2
1-Michael Annett:
Finished 6th at Las Vegas March – Started 13th, finished 6th in Stage 1 & 2, lap 56 involved in crash
11-Justin Haley:
Finished 8th at Las Vegas March – Started 6th, lap 72 spin
20-Harrison Burton:
Finished 9th at Las Vegas March – Started 22nd, finished 20th in Stage 1 & 8th in Stage 2, lap 174 spun by Cindric
10-Jeb Burton:
Finished 10th at Las Vegas March – Lap 153 removing equipment penalty & final caution free pass
20 Different winners in 28 NASCAR Xfinity Series Las Vegas races
15 Different winners in 18 NASCAR Xfinity Series Las Vegas races on reconfigured track
Chase Briscoe only repeat winner last 8 Las Vegas races (2 Wins) – 6 Others 1 win each
5 of 28 Las Vegas races won from pole
Pole led no laps in 6 Las Vegas races
Kyle Busch led 199 of 200 laps at Las Vegas in 2016 (Led final 145 laps) – Bubba Wallace led lap 55
Worst start position of Las Vegas winner: 29th – Joe Nemechek (2003)
2 Won first career race at Las Vegas – Jeff Green (1997) & Ross Chastain (9/18)
Most laps led in a Las Vegas race: 199 – Kyle Busch (2016)
Most consecutive Las Vegas laps led: 145 – Kyle Busch (2016)
Most laps led in Las Vegas race by non-winner: 154 – Christopher Bell (9/19)
Most consecutive Las Vegas laps led from start: 89 – Kevin Harvick (2003)
2 Las Vegas Xfinity Series races settled by last lap pass
2 Won Las Vegas & championship in same season – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 2012 & Tyler Reddick 9/19
Best Las Vegas finish by Rookie of the Year contender:
2nd – Greg Biffle (2001), Christopher Bell (3/18) & John Hunter Nemechek (3/19)
4 Las Vegas NXS Overtime finishes – Longest race: 213 laps (3/19)
2 Swept Las Vegas NXS & NCS races in same weekend – Jeff Burton (2000) & Brad Keselowski (2014)