Las Vegas is the home of the Busch Brothers, Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M’s Toyota) and Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge), who grew up racing on the “bull-ring” dirt track across the street from Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The Busch brothers had much success at the dirt track, but surprisingly, neither have won a NASCAR national series race at LVMS.

Both have kicked the ‘09 season off to a good start. Kurt Busch is third in the series standings with a 10th-place finish at Daytona, and a fifth-place finish at Auto Club Speedway. Kurt has posted one top five and two top 10s in eight starts at LVMS. He has a Driver Rating of 89.9 and an Average Running Position of 13.354 at the 1.5-mile oval.

Kyle Busch is 18th in the series standings after finishing 41st in the Daytona 500 and third in the Auto Club 500.

He became the first driver ever to win a NASCAR Nationwide Series and a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in the same day this past Saturday, sweeping the doubleheader at Auto Club Speedway.

Kyle will attempt to carry his momentum to Las Vegas this weekend. He has two top fives, three top 10s and a pole (2008) at LVMS. Loop Data has him ranked first at the track in Average Running Position with (6.777), third in Driver Rating (109.8), second in Quality Passes with (174) and second in Laps in Top 15 (93.1%).

For the first five races of the season, the top 35 teams from the final 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car owner points get guaranteed starting spots. After the first five weeks, the guaranteed berths are based on the 2009 owner point standings. Already, there are some concerned teams out there.

For example:

Robby Gordon (No. 7 Jim Beam Toyota) Is currently 33rd in car owner points. As a car owner and driver, he has all the weight on his shoulders to stay in the top 35.

Gordon posted a 31st at Daytona and a 12th at Auto Club Speedway. His best finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was 12th in 2006.

Ryan Newman (No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet) joined Stewart-Haas Racing and car owner/driver Tony Stewart (No. 14 Old Spice Chevrolet) this season. He is currently 34th in car owner points after posting a 36th at Daytona and 28th at Auto Club Speedway. Newman has amounted one top five, four top 10s, and a pole in eight starts at LVMS.

Continue reading “Bubble Drivers in Danger”

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Home Could Be Sweeter
Like the Busch brothers, Las Vegas native Brendan Gaughan has struggled at his “home track.”

Gaughan will be making his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He has raced 10 times there in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, including a win from the pole in 2003. But that was his one shining moment to date; his average finish is 22.1 in his other nine races.

Kyle Busch leads the series standings after two races and won last week at Auto Club Speedway, while Gaughan finished ninth at ACS, is eighth in the rankings and leads the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings.

High-Stakes Finishes Common At LVMS
Thrilling finishes have been the norm in the Sam’s Town 300 over the last few years. In four of the last five races, the average margin of victory has been a half second or less and includes the closest MOV at the track – .119 second in 2004 when Kevin Harvick edged Kasey Kahne. Others are:

2008: Mark Martin holds off Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer in a green-white-checkered restart by .586 seconds.
2007: After near constant frontstretch contact on the final lap, Burton saved it to win by .101 seconds while Busch spun across the finish line in second.
2006: Kasey Kahne managed to escape from Matt Kenseth and Harvick on a green-white-checkered restart to win by .316 second.
2005: Martin overtook David Stremme with eight laps to go and ended up besting Harvick to win by 1.4 seconds.

Continue reading “Las Vegas Nationwide Series Storylines”

Odds Look Good for Kenseth To Pad His Points Lead
Matt Kenseth and his car owner Jack Roush headed to Auto Club Speedway as Daytona 500 champions, and looked like they had a prime chance to win again based on his history at that 2-mile oval. Kenseth went on to win the Auto Club 500 for the third time, giving Roush Fenway Racing a five-year winning streak in that event.

Las Vegas looks just as promising for Kenseth, the 2003 series champion who has jetted to an early lead in the series standings. He has two Las Vegas victories and a fourth-best Driver Rating of 107.8 there. Roush has a series-high six car owner victories there, in the 11 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at the 1.5-mile track.

Gordon Second In Points, Eyeing Victory Lane
Kenseth isn’t the only past series champion who looks to be back in form. Four-time champion Jeff Gordon comes to Vegas second in points – 81 behind Kenseth – after a runner-up effort at Auto Club Speedway. Gordon is eager to break his winless streak, now at 43 consecutive races – not counting his non-points victory at Daytona two weeks ago, in one of the Daytona’s 500’s two qualifying races.

It’s A Busch Brothers Homecoming
Kurt Busch, the 2004 series champion, continues the trend of former titlists off to a fast start, as he comes into Vegas third in the series standings. Meanwhile, his younger brother Kyle is fresh off winning both the NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Camping World Truck races at Auto Club Speedway.

Suffice to say they’d like to excel this weekend since Las Vegas is their hometown. And here’s a surprising footnote: Neither has won a NASCAR national series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Continue reading “Las Vegas Cup Series Storylines”