Pistone: Las Vegas preview - Kobalt Tools 400 Race Preview

KOBALT TOOLS 400 RACE PREVIEW
Two weeks and two different winners.
The 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is off to a solid start and so far has produced good racing and interesting story lines.
All that goes on the line Sunday for race number three of the campaign at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Although NASCAR’s top division has competed at LVMS since 1998, the 1.5-mile track has only had its current incarnation for a few years. The 2006 makeover added progressive banking to Vegas and brought a new dimension to the track as well as better competition.
But the change didn’t deter Jimmie Johnson from continuing his Las Vegas success. Johnson won the 2005 and 2006 events on the old layout and found himself right back in victory lane the following season mastering the new configuration. He added another win in last year’s event after out battling teammate Jeff Gordon and comes into Sunday’s race as a winner of four of the last seven Las Vegas races.
After stumbling out of the blocks at Daytona when he got caught up in the race’s giant early crash, Johnson was back in form last week with a third place finish in Phoenix. That momentum should carry the five-time champion into Vegas as the clear cut favorite to roll into victory lane.
Johnson’s biggest competitors will come from his Hendrick Motorsports teammates. Gordon has finally knocked the monkey off his back after ending his 66 race winless streak in Phoenix last Sunday and surely remembers his 2010 Vegas disappointment. Mark Martin, who will run Saturday’s Nationwide Series race, has excelled at LVMS over the years. And Dale Earnhardt Jr. has shown new life in the early going with new crew chief Steve Letarte making a big difference in the attitude and performance of the driver in the No. 88 Chevrolet.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Data
Track Size: 1.5 miles
Race Length: 400.5 miles (267 laps)
Banking/Frontstretch: 9 degrees
Banking/Backstretch: 9 degrees

Race Facts
There have been 13 NASCAR Sprint Cup Serie s races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Four drivers have participated in all 13 races: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin.
Dale Jarrett won the inaugural pole.
Nine drivers have poles, led by Dale Jarrett, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch and Bobby Labonte (two each).
Eight different drivers have won, led by Jimmie Johnson (four). Johnson has won four of the last six races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, including last season’s event.
Only five of the 13 races have been won from a top-10 starting position.
Las Vegas-native Kyle Busch became the first driver to win from the pole, in 2009.
Five of the 13 races have been won from a starting position of 20th or worse.
The deepest in the field that a race winner has started was 25th, by Matt Kenseth in 2004.
There has been one green-white-checkered finish at Las Vegas: 2006 (270/267).
Jeff Burton won consecutive races in 1999 and 2000, and has finished in the top five in two of the last three races (fifth in 2008, third in 2009). Burton has been running at the finish in all 13 of his events.
In three of the last five races, the margin of victory was under one second.
Kyle Busch made his first start and Kasey Kahne won his first pole at Las Vegas, in the same event (2004).

Who’s Hot at Phoenix
Jimmie Johnson – The five-time champion has made a living out of performing well and winning at Las Vegas during his Sprint Cup Series career. Johnson has won four times at LVMS and carries an average finish of ten into Sunday’s race over the course of nine career starts.
Jeff Gordon – If momentum means anything no one has more of its right now than Gordon, who snapped his 66-race winless drought in Phoenix last week. Confidence abounds in the 24 camp and Gordon came within a call for four tires pit stop late in last year’s race from winning.
Jeff Burton – Motivation will be high for the veteran this week after two straight weeks two start the season with trouble in Daytona and Phoenix. A former two-time Vegas winner, Burton’s career average finish in 13 starts is just a shade below ten.

Who’s Not
Juan Pablo Montoya – His stock car career at Vegas has been mostly forgettable with a 27.6 average finish in four starts including last year’s embarrassing tangle with teammate Jamie McMurray.
David Ragan – Although intermediate-sized tracks like Las Vegas are Roush Fenway Racing’s bread and butter, the desert track has been vexing for Ragan. While he does a seventh place finish in four starts there are also runs of 42nd and 34th on his LVMS resume.
Kurt Busch – The Las Vegas native hasn’t been stellar at his home track. While younger brother Kyle won at LVMS in 2009, the best big brother Kurt has been able to muster is a couple of top tens in ten starts and an average finish of 21.9

Notebook
The first NASCAR race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was a NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race won by Ken Schrader on Nov. 2, 1996.
The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race was held on March 1, 1998, won by Mark Martin.
In 2006, the track was reconfigured to include progressive banking.
There have been 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in Nevada, one at Las Vegas Park Speedway in 1955 and the rest at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1998-Present).
19 drivers all-time in NASCAR’s three national series have their home state as Nevada.