Track Description:
One of the most progressive and beautiful tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit, Las Vegas Motor Speedway hosted its first Cup race in 1998. Later that season, the track was sold by founders Bill Bennett and Ralph Englestad to Speedway Motorsports Inc., the track company controlled by octogenarian mogul O. Bruton Smith. Bruton being Bruton, he had the track totally reconfigured in mid-2006, changing it to the “quad oval” design he has used successfully at Charlotte, Texas and Atlanta. The corners now carry 20 degrees of banking, which makes for some entertaining racing. As he is at so many other tracks, Jimmie Johnson is a monster at LVMS. NASCAR’s only five-time Sprint Cup champion won three times in a row at Sin City, capturing victories from 2005-07. After a two-year slump that saw Johnson finish 29th in 2008 and 24th in ’09, he rebounded to win here last season. Jeff Burton of Richard Childress Racing is a two-time Vegas winner, and over 13 races has put together a rock-solid finishing average of 10.75. His teammate Kevin Harvick is stout here as well, finishing second to Johnson last and establishing an average finish of 12.80, well up in the field. Denny Hamlin, who narrowly edged out Harvick for second place in the Chase for the Sprint Cup last year, is marginally better here, too, with his average finish being 12.60. You’d think Las Vegas native Kurt Busch would be one of the favorites here, right? Wrong. Busch’s average finish in 10 Las Vegas starts is an abysmal 21.90, something he surely will try to rectify this season. David Ragan has fared even worse, averaging a 27.25 result in four starts for Roush Fenway Racing.