NASCAR heads to Vegas
February 25th 2009 18:31
Last week in this space we semi-predicted back-to-back wins for Matt Kenseth and also said to watch out for Jeff Gordon. Kenseth won and Gordon finished second and the finish wasn't that close.
Jimmie Johnson had a rough day on the track, never finding the right car set up, but still held on for a top 10 finish.
As we also predicted, Michael Waltrip wasn't a factor, finishing 15th in the race. It's safe to look for him about this spot or lower every week.
AJ Allmendinger is still looking for a full-time sponsor, but didn't do much to gain any confidence in any potential ones with his 29th place finish. He was driving fine and should have been a top ten finisher, but a pit stop penalty for a lugnut issue cost him a lap, and in a fairly caution free race, that's a killer. He still has a solid ride and good ownership with Petty, but unless he can bring home a couple more top 10s, hopefully starting this week.
And if you watch NASCAR for the wrecks, you were extremely bored last week. Kevin Harvick hitting the wall was the only yellow flag for an accident, and it wasn't even a big deal.
Looking at this week's Shelby 427 in Las Vegas, Kenseth will be trying to make history. No driver has won the first three races of the year. In fact, Kenseth is just the fifth driver to win the first two races. Strangely, none of those drivers went on to win the season championship
I don't think Kenseth will win in Vegas, but he should put up a strong showing, and it won't surprise me at all if he does win. He does have two wins in Vegas and a handful of top 10 finishes.
But this is about the race teams start figuring out what they need to do better with their cars, and start making some key adjustments.
So other than Kenseth, here's who to look for:
Johnson loves Vegas. And the defending NASCAR champion seems to be getting it together after a forgettable Daytona. He's won here twice and has five top 5 finishes.
Jeff Burton hasn't looked good so far this year, with an average finish of 30th, but Vegas is good to Burton. He has two wins and 7 top 10s here, and averages a top 10 finish here.
The Busch brothers. One, if not both, should be major players. Kyle is the smart pick with a couple of to p5 finishes here. But the Busch brothers are native Nevadans and they'd love to win in Vegas.
And finally I think Greg Biffle may have an impact here. He's ran here five times and has three top 10s.
I also like Brian Vickers as a wild card. After qualifying first last week, but having to move to the back of the field, Vickers still finished 10th. Not a bad finish, especially after being a lap down for a good portion of the race before getting the lap back under a caution.
And if you like wrecks, Vegas has em. There were 11 cautions last year and the race has seen at least six cautions since 2001.
Jimmie Johnson had a rough day on the track, never finding the right car set up, but still held on for a top 10 finish.
Jimmie Johnson seems to have found his groove and should be a factor this week.
As we also predicted, Michael Waltrip wasn't a factor, finishing 15th in the race. It's safe to look for him about this spot or lower every week.
AJ Allmendinger is still looking for a full-time sponsor, but didn't do much to gain any confidence in any potential ones with his 29th place finish. He was driving fine and should have been a top ten finisher, but a pit stop penalty for a lugnut issue cost him a lap, and in a fairly caution free race, that's a killer. He still has a solid ride and good ownership with Petty, but unless he can bring home a couple more top 10s, hopefully starting this week.
And if you watch NASCAR for the wrecks, you were extremely bored last week. Kevin Harvick hitting the wall was the only yellow flag for an accident, and it wasn't even a big deal.
Looking at this week's Shelby 427 in Las Vegas, Kenseth will be trying to make history. No driver has won the first three races of the year. In fact, Kenseth is just the fifth driver to win the first two races. Strangely, none of those drivers went on to win the season championship
I don't think Kenseth will win in Vegas, but he should put up a strong showing, and it won't surprise me at all if he does win. He does have two wins in Vegas and a handful of top 10 finishes.
But this is about the race teams start figuring out what they need to do better with their cars, and start making some key adjustments.
So other than Kenseth, here's who to look for:
Johnson loves Vegas. And the defending NASCAR champion seems to be getting it together after a forgettable Daytona. He's won here twice and has five top 5 finishes.
Jeff Burton hasn't looked good so far this year, with an average finish of 30th, but Vegas is good to Burton. He has two wins and 7 top 10s here, and averages a top 10 finish here.
The Busch brothers. One, if not both, should be major players. Kyle is the smart pick with a couple of to p5 finishes here. But the Busch brothers are native Nevadans and they'd love to win in Vegas.
And finally I think Greg Biffle may have an impact here. He's ran here five times and has three top 10s.
I also like Brian Vickers as a wild card. After qualifying first last week, but having to move to the back of the field, Vickers still finished 10th. Not a bad finish, especially after being a lap down for a good portion of the race before getting the lap back under a caution.
And if you like wrecks, Vegas has em. There were 11 cautions last year and the race has seen at least six cautions since 2001.
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