It’s a triple header weekend as NASCAR begins their annual west cost swing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The Monster Energy Cup Series caps off the weekend with the Penzoil 400. This week 37 teams brought cars to Las Vegas.
After three rounds of qualifying, winning his third Monster Cup pole is Ryan Blaney.
The starting lineup for the Penzoil 400:
Ryan Blaney
Kevin Harvick
Kurt Busch
Martin Truex Jr
Kyle Larson
Chase Elliott
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Brad Keselowski
Erik Jones
Joey Logano
Clint Bowyer
Paul Menard
Kyle Busch
Jimmie Johnson – moved to the back of the field for inspection issues
Michael McDowell
Austin Dillon
William Byron
Daniel Suarez
Denny Hamlin
Alex Bowman
Kasey Kahne
Jamie McMurray
David Ragan
Trevor Bayne
Ryan Newman
Darrell Wallace Jr
AJ Allendinger
Chris Buescher
Aric Amirola
Cole custer
Ty Dillon
Matt DiBenedetto
Ross Chastain – moved to the back of the field for inspection issues
Cole Whitt
Gray Gaulding
Jeffrey Earnhardt
Joey Gase
After failing pre-qualifying inspection three times, the car chiefs for the number 15 car driven by Ross Chastain and the number 48 car driven by Jimmie Johnson have been suspended from today’s race and the driver’s have been moved to the back of the field.
Stages one and two of today’s race are 80 laps each with stage three lasting 107 laps for a total of 267 laps around the one and a half mile track.
After three days of fierce winds, the wind has died down and the sun has come out.
Pole sitter Ryan Blaney brings the field down for the green flag start of the race and edges out in front for the lead.
Ryan Blaney leads laps one with Kevin Harvick in second.
Lap two Kevin Harvick passes Ryan Blaney for the lead, Kurt Busch is in third, Martin Truex Jr is in fourth, and Kyle Larson is in fifth.
Lap six Kevin Harvick has pulled out to a lead of nearly a second on Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr, Kurt Busch, and Kyle Larson round out the top five.
Lap nine Kevin Harvick has a lead of over a second on Ryan Blaney. Several drivers are reporting a loose condition.
Lap 15 Kevin Harvick has pulled out to a lead of nearly two seconds on Ryan Blaney. Martin Truex Jr, Kurt Busch, and Kyle Larson round out the top five.
Lap 18 Kevin Harvick’s lead is now over two seconds on Martin Truex Jr. Thirty six of the 37 cars in the race are on the lead lap.
Lap 21 Jimmie Johnson has only moved up to 27th after having to start the race from the back of the field.
Lap 22 Kevin Harvick has increased his lead to nearly three seconds on Martin Truex Jr.
Lap 30 Kevin Harvick has a lead of over two and a half seconds on Martin Truex Jr with Ryan Blaney, Kurt Busch, and Kyle Larson rounding out the top five. There are 28 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 35 Kevin Harvick has pulled out to a lead of over three seconds on Martin Truex Jr. Daniel Suarez brings his car down pit road for an unscheduled pit stop.
Lap 37 there are 25 cars on the lead lap. Seven time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson is one lap down.
Drivers are beginning a cycle of green flag pit stops.
Lap 40, since he has not made a pit stop, Michael McDowell leads the race. He has a two second lead on David Ragan.
Lap 47 Michael McDowell continues to lead the race with David Ragan in second; they are the only two drivers who have yet to make a pit stop. Kevin Harvick in in third place less than three seconds behind
Lap 50 Kevin Harvick passes Michael McDowell to retake the lead. There are 25 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 52 Kevin Harvick has pulled out to a lead of over a second and a half over Martin Truex Jr.
Pit crews are again reporting issues with the air guns used to change the tires.
Lap 55 there are 22 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 59 Kevin Harvick has a lead of nearly four seconds on Martin Truex Jr; Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, and Brad Keselowski round out the top five.
Martin Truex Jr’s team is reporting that they did not get a full load of fuel during their pit stop and are asking Truex to conserve fuel.
Lap 62 Kevin Harvick now has a lead of over four seconds on Martin Truex Jr with Kyle Larson over six seconds back in third.
Lap 65 Kevin Harvick is dominating the race with a lead of over five seconds on Martin Truex Jr; Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, and Brad Keselowski round out the top five.
With only eight laps remaining in stage one, there are only 15 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 73 Kevin Harvick has a lead of just under five seconds on Martin Truex Jr.
Lap 75 Kevin Harvick’s lead is now under four seconds over Martin Truex Jr.
Two to go in stage one, Kevin Harvick is out in front with Martin Truex Jr in second, Kyle Larson in third, Ryan Blaney in fourth, and Joey Logano in fifth.
Kevin Harvick wins stage one.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Kevin Harvick
Martin Truex Jr
Kyle Larson
Ryan Blaney
Joey Logano
Brad Keselowski
Kurt Busch
Chase Elliott
Kyle Busch
Paul Menard
Kevin Harvick led 68 of the 80 laps in stage one.
Kevin Harvick wins the race off of pit road.
Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch Kyle Larson, and Joey Logano’s team all had pit stops of less than 15 seconds with Kurt Busch’s team under 14 seconds.
Kevin Harvick brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 89 and beats out Kyle Larson for the lead as drivers get three wide behind him. Seventeen cars behind the stage on the lead lap.
Lap 90 Kevin Harvick has already pulled out to a lead of over a second on Ryan Blaney.
Lap 93 Kevin Harvick has a one second lead on Ryan Blaney with Kyle Larson in third, Joey Logano in fourth, and Martin Truex Jr in fifth.
Lap 102 Kevin Harvick’s lead is nearly a second and a half on Ryan Blaney; Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, and Martin Truex Jr round out the top five.
Michael McDowell takes his car to the garage with a mechanical issue.
Lap 106 Kevin Harvick has a near two second lead on Ryan Blaney.
Lap 108 Kevin Harvick has increased his lead to two seconds on Ryan Blaney; Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, and Martin Truex Jr round out the top five.
Lap 116 Kevin Harvick has a lead of over two seconds on Ryan Blaney. There are 16 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 120 – halfway through stage two – Kevin Harvick has a two and a half second lead on Ryan Blaney with Kyle Larson in third, Brad Keselowski in fourth, and Kyle Busch in fifth. Joey Logano begins the cycle of green flag pit stops.
Denny Hamlin was caught speeding on pit road and will have to serve a driver thru penalty.
Once green flag pit stops have cycled through, Kevin Harvick retakes the lead of the race with a two second lead on Joey Logano.
With 27 laps remaining in stage two, Kevin Harvick has a lead of nearly three seconds on Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney. Ryan Blaney passes Joey Logano for second place.
Lap 135 Kevin Harvick has increased his lead to over three seconds on Ryan Blaney; with Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, and Kyle Larson rounding out the top five.
Austin Dillon is the last car on the lead lap in 15th place.
Lap 141 Kevin Harvick’s lead is two and a half seconds on Ryan Blaney.
Lap 149 Kevin Harvick has increased his lead to over three seconds on Ryan Blaney; Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, and Brad Keselowski round out the top five.
Clint Bowyer makes an unscheduled trip down pit road for a possible loose tire.
Six laps remain in stage two, Kevin Harvick has a lead of over three seconds on Ryan Blaney with 14 cars on the lead lap.
Only three laps remain in stage two and Kevin Harvick has increased his lead over Ryan Blaney to four seconds.
Jeffrey Earnhardt gets into the wall but the track stays green.
Kevin Harvick wins stage two by five seconds.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Kevin Harvick
Ryan Blaney
Kyle Larson
Kyle Busch
Joey Logano
Brad Keselowski
Martin Truex Jr
Kurt Busch
Chase Elliott
Paul Menard
Joey Logano wins the race off of pit road. Kevin Harvick comes out in fourth place.
Joey Logano and Kyle Busch are on the front row and bring the field down for the green flag start of stage three on lap 166 with Joey Logano getting out in front for the lead. Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, and Kevin Harvick round out the top five.
With 96 laps remaining in the race, Joey Logano has a half second lead on Ryan Blaney with Kyle Busch in third, Kevin Harvick in fourth, and Chase Elliott in fifth.
Jamie McMurray brings out the caution flag when he gets into the wall with 91 laps remaining in the race. This is the first caution flag of the race for an on track incident. Ryan Newman is the “lucky dog”.
Taking only two tires, Joey Logano wins the race off of pit road, but Martin Truex Jr is the only driver who did not make a pit stop.
Martin Truex Jr brings the field down for the green flag restart with 85 laps remaining in the race with Joey Logano edging out Truex for the lead. Kevin Harvick moves into second place.
Kurt Busch gets into the wall after making contact with Chase Elliott bringing out the caution flag. Chase Elliott was also involved in the crash. Jimmie Johnson is the “lucky dog”.
Kurt Busch reports that he got loose and the car just away from him.
Joey Logano brings the field down for the greet flag restart with 73 laps remaining in the race. Logano and Kevin Harvick battle for the lead with Kevin Harvick getting out in front for the lead.
In one lap Kevin Harvick has already pulled out to a lead of over half a second on Ryan Blaney; Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, and Kyle Busch round out the top five. There are 13 cars on the lead lap.
Seventy laps to go, Kevin Harvick’s lead is now nearly a second and a half over Ryan Blaney.
Martin Truex Jr is reporting a “significant” vibration. Over the weekend, Truex’s team has had a number of issues with equalizing in the tires.
Lap 200 Kevin Harvick has pulled out to a lead of two seconds on Ryan Blaney.
Lap 208 Kevin Harvick leads by two seconds with third place Joey Logano nearly five seconds behind. Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr round out the top five.
Lap 213 Kevin Harvick’s lead is three seconds over Ryan Blaney with 13 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 215 Kevin Harvick leads by two and a half seconds over Ryan Blaney with Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex Jr rounding out the top five.
Brad Keselowski brings his car down pit road to begin the cycle of green flag pit stops.
With 46 laps remaining in the race Kevin Harvick continues to dominate the race with Ryan Blaney in second; Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex Jr round out the top five.
Forty to go and Kyle Busch leads the race with Martin Truex Jr in second; they have not made a pit stop.
Two laps later, Martin Truex Jr makes his pit stop, leaving ony Kyle Busch as the driver who has yet to stop.
Once Kyle Busch makes his pit stop, Kevin Harvick retakes the lead and has a lead of nearly three and a half seconds over Brad Keselowski. Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Larson round out the top five.
With only 35 laps remaining in the race Kevin Harvick has led 175 of the laps run.
Thirty laps to go, Kevin Harvick has a lead of nearly three and a half seconds over Brad Keselowski.
With 28 laps to go, Kevin Harvick’s lead is over three and a half seconds on Brad Keselowski; with Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, and Kyle Larson rounding out the top five.
With 22 laps to go the top five are Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, and Kyle Larson.
Lap 250 Kyle Busch has moved up to second place three and a half seconds behind Kevin Harvick.
Denny Hamlin finally makes his pit stop; along with Alex Bowman.
Lap 252 Kyle Busch has begun to close the gap with leader Kevin Harvick, the gap is now down to three seconds.
Thirteen to go, Kevin Harvick’s lead is now less than three seconds on Kyle Busch. There are 12 cars on the lead lap.
Eleven to go, the gap between Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch is down to two and a half seconds.
Seven to go, Kevin Harvick has pulled out and increased his lead over Kyle Busch to over three seconds on Kyle Busch.
Five to go, Kevin Harvick’s lead is now four seconds on Kyle Busch.
Daniel Suarez brings his car down pit road out of fuel.
Three to go and there are nine cars on the lead lap. Harvick’s lead is three and a half seconds on Kyle Busch.
Kevin Harvick takes the white flag.
Kevin Harvick wins the Penzoil 400 in Las Vegas for his second win in a row. He led 214 of the 256 laps run in the race. Only eight cars finished the race on the lead lap.
This was career win number 100 for Kevin Harvick!
The unofficial results of Penzoil 400:
Kevin Harvick
Kyle Busch
Kyle Larson
Martin Truex Jr
Ryan Blaney
Brad Keselowski
Joy Logano
Erik Jones
Paul Menard
Aric Almirola
Ryan Newman
Jimmie Johnson
Austin Dillon
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Chris Buescher
Alex Bowman
Denny Hamlin
Clint Bowyer
Kasey Kahne
Trvor Bayne
Darrell Wallace Jr
Matt DiBenedetto
David Ragan
Ty Dillon
Cole Custer
Daniel Suarez
William Byron
Cole Whitt
Ross Chastain
AJ Allmendinger
Jeffrey Earnhardt
Joey Gase
Gray Gaulding
Chase Elliott
Kurt Busch
Jamie McMurray
Michael McDowell