Las Vegas Motor Speedway received a face lift of epic proportions over the past calendar year, increasing the banking in the turns from 12 to 20 degrees and adding six degrees of banking on the backstretch – from three to nine.
How will this translate? We’ll have to wait until Saturday’s Busch Series Sam’s Town 300 to find out, but one thing is for sure - it’ll be fast.
If February’s NASCAR Busch Series testing at Las Vegas is any indication,
look for speeds to increase by as much as 12 mph faster than last year’s
mark taken during final practice for the 2006 Sam’s Town 300.
The speeds in race conditions are another story. Last September, the NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series raced at the newly renovated track and the speeds increased
considerably. For instance, Tim Fedewa had a top average speed of 162.242 mph
on the frontstretch during the 2005 race at the “old” LVMS. Last
year, at the “new track”, Ted Musgrave had the top average speed
in the frontstretch at 176.820 mph.
Figure the same to hold true for the NASCAR Busch Series race. Also figure that those drivers who have excelled in the past at Las Vegas will continue to do so. It happened for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers, as Ted Musgrave, Mike Skinner, and Jack Sprague all earned top-10 Driver Ratings in both 2005 and 2006 versions.
If the same holds true, look for Roush Fenway Racing drivers to run near the top. Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards earned top-six Driver Ratings over the past two years at Las Vegas.
Another driver to watch for is David Stremme. In last year’s third-place finish at Las Vegas, Stremme earned a 112.5 Driver Rating and top-three speeds in Turns 2, 3, and 4. He also has the most Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 while under green) over the past two years with 36. More impressive, he’s earned that amount in just one race.
ETC
Tony Stewart will be returning to the NASCAR Busch Series this weekend driving the No. 33 Old Spice Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Inc. His best finish at Las Vegas was 12th last year. Along with Stewart will be Bobby Labonte driving the No. 77 Dollar General Stores Chevrolet for KHI, making his third NASCAR Busch Series start at Las Vegas. … Las Vegas will have many of the big stars of NASCAR racing Saturday and Sunday this weekend with a total of 25 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup drivers scheduled to do double duty. … This will be Shane Huffman’s (No. 88 U.S. NAVY Chevrolet) first attempt under racing conditions at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He previously tested at Las Vegas in February and is looking forward to this weekend’s action. … A local aspect is both Kyle Busch (No. 5 Delphi Chevrolet) and Kurt Busch (No. 12 Penske Truck Rentals Dodge) will be racing in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series races this weekend. …The 2nd Annual Raybestos Rookie Cooking Challenge is scheduled for March 8th in Las Vegas at the ESPN Zone. … Next stop for the NASCAR Busch Series will be Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Nicorette 300 at 3:00 p.m. Saturday.
The Race: Sam’s Town 300
The Place: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
The Date: March 10, 20071
The Time: 3:00 p.m. (ET)
TV: ABC, 2:30 p.m. (ET)
Track Layout: 1.5-mile oval
Race Purse: $1,626,747
2006 Winner: Kasey Kahne
2006 Pole: Matt Kenseth
No. Driver Pts
1 Edwards 495
2 Hamlin 455
3 Blaney 433
4 Biffle 397
5 Harvick 345
6 Ambrose 345
7 Kenseth 327
8 Reutimann 324
9 Wood 322
10 Sherman 310
Schedule:
Fri. March 9 -- Practice, 8:30-9:30 a.m., Rookie Practice, 9:40-10:10 a.m.,
Qualifying, 5:05 p.m. (Impound).
