(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)
By Aaron Bearden

Post-race review and analysis from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. 

*Writer not present at the track this week. Observations are from afar.

Who Won? 

Joey Logano. The defending Cup Series champion held off teammate Brad Keselowski for his first win of 2019.

Who Claimed the Stages?

Logano and Kevin Harvick.

Full Race Results

Top Stories

Mixed opinions

The new rules package was great!

The news rules package was terrible!

The new rules package was… Okay.

It all depends on who you ask, honestly.

Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 was considered the first true test of NASCAR’s latest rules package – the 550hp setup complete with aero ducts and a .922″ tapered spacer. The Daytona 500 had been ran with the old restrictor plate package, and week two at Atlanta Motor Speedway saw the usage of a modified version of the changes with fewer alterations, mixed with the tire wear of Atlanta’s abrasive racing surface.

Those two races stood on their own, but Sunday’s 400-miler was a true offering of the package NASCAR intends to use for the majority of 2019. Many teams had already tested at Las Vegas in January, and provided a taste of the desired product – close-quarters racing with limited off-throttle time and the ability to both stay close to the leader and generate runs to make passes in the draft.

Expectations were high entering the day, and the level of unpredictability generated excitement and made choosing a favorite for the race difficult.

No one knew exactly what to expect when the field took the green flag. But what ultimately played out was a race that looked slightly akin to races of the past – albeit at slower max speeds and with a few statistical improvements.

Restarts proved every bit as chaotic as one might expect, with the field noticeably packed together for the first few laps compared to last year’s race.

The problem with restarts is that there weren’t many of them to be seen. Sunday’s race didn’t have a single natural caution – the first time a Cup Series race has managed the feat since Talladega Superspeedway in 2002. There were no crashes, or even instances of debris of dropped fluids to necessitate a yellow flag. Only the stage breaks slowed the field throughout the day

The lack of cautions was rare by historical standards, but it didn’t come as a complete surprise to the competitors on track.

“The only time you really are going to get cautions are on restarts when things get jumbled up,” Denny Hamlin said afterward. “But once it gets strung out like that, it’s honestly so tough to run kind of near someone, especially late in a run, the chance of someone running into each other is less likely.”

Kevin Harvick dominated the opening stage, with the field quickly spreading out and largely running single-file down the stretch. Action picked up as the race went on, but in the end the event came down to a familiar set of faces in Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski.

The duo provided a good finish to the package’s first race with a last-lap battle to the finish. Keselowski closed on Logano in the final laps, and even managed a desperation dive under the defending champion in the last set of turns. But the run wasn’t enough – Logano powered off of Turn 4 to claim the win.

Whether it be due to the thrill of victory or genuine enthusiasm over the package, Logano was the biggest supporter of the new setup after the race.

“I thought the racing was awesome,” he said. “I don’t really know what else to give you if you didn’t like it.  The racing is close, you’re side by side.  There’s aggressive blocks and big moves and bumping and banging.

“That’s NASCAR, baby.  I don’t really know what else to tell you.”

Team owner Roger Penske shared Logano’s endorsement, though he had the added benefit of winning the first race for each variation of the package at Atlanta and Las Vegas.

“I’m probably biased right now, I checked the box to say I love the package,” he said. “Maybe not next week, but so far so good.”

Others were less enthusiastic, though the field seemed more analytical than outright critical of the package.

Kyle Busch had a car capable of winning Sunday’s race, but struggled to work his way forward after incurring a mid-race speeding penalty on pit road. The 2015 Cup Series champion rallied back to third, and in doing so knew as well as any what the experience of running in the pack was like.

“You’re wide open just trying to suck off of any car that you can that’s in front of you to get a draft,” Busch said. “I was running 31-flats when I was chasing those leaders down and then once I got there, I stalled out to 31.40s because the wind was just so bad behind those guys that you couldn’t corner anymore, you couldn’t maneuver. I couldn’t run low if they ran low and I couldn’t run high if they ran high so you’re always trying to figure out which way to go.”

Busch was one of many to encounter issues moving forward, though he seemed to have the advantage of a quicker car than most. Martin Truex Jr. rose through the field early on only to get trapped in the pack again late.

“You have to hope other guys run different lanes than you,” he said. “It’s hard to follow through the corners. You have to be a half-second quicker than they are to be able to stay in line against them in the corners. It’s really tough once you get a few laps on your tires.”

Chase Elliott made steady gains to secure a ninth-place finish, but the Hendrick Motorsports star believed only the fastest cars could pass others with consistency.

“Really important to have track position and hard to pass at times,” he said. “You had to be really good and really think about your passes to get them done. The really fast guys could do it, so it’s not impossible, but (you) definitely have to think through that a little bit.”

All told Sunday’s race played out similar to recent events at Las Vegas. The field’s 19 lead changes were better than the past two spring races, but lower than last fall’s event and the 19.68 average for the track’s history entering the day. The two cautions tied an all-time low for Sin City, and Sunday’s average speed of 154.849 mph set a new race record as a result.

Loop statistics showed new records in green-flag passes, both overall and for the lead – though it should be noted that the lack of cautions and prevalence of green-flag pit stops may have bolstered the total.

Sunday’s race was a mixed bag overall. It wasn’t always thrilling, but Las Vegas provided a good race statistically – an event that provided numerous passes and facilitated an important late battle for the win.

Any that entered Sunday with massive expectations may have been let down, but the sanctioning body saw things they liked mixed in with opportunities for improvement.

“What we said from the beginning was we wanted to see the best cars still win,” NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said. “We wanted the ability — and this is an actual fact, but if you look up in Turn 2 or Turn 3 during a run and wanted to see the leader and the ability for second or third to be in that shot and have the ability to pass.  We saw that.  You certainly saw the last stage, 100-hundred lap green flag run with no cautions, top four within 2.5 seconds, so directionally I think better for sure, but not satisfied.  We can — I’m a race fan first, and liked what I saw, but I think there’s also more to come hopefully.”

Regardless of opinions surrounding it, Las Vegas was only the first chapter for the draft package. It will continue to be a point of conversation and debate as the season progresses.

Teammate tango

A host of competitors may have struggled on Sunday, but Team Penske stars Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski found themselves in a familiar position with the laps winding down in Las Vegas – battling each other for a win.

Logano was in position to score his first win at Las Vegas, after five-consecutive years of contending at the track. But a quick look behind him brought a sense of dread and impending doom.

Keselowski was there. Again.

“There’s been plenty of times here where we’ve led a lot of laps, and by the stats this is probably our best racetrack or close to it, and we’ve never won,” he said. “That’s the most important stat to have.  Usually something happens the last run and Brad gets a little better, and for some reason his last pit stop they make a good change and he becomes the fastest car and he wins, and he’s done that here plenty of times.

“I looked in the mirror, like oh, my gosh, this is happening again, I can’t believe it.”

Much like he had last weekend in a victorious drive at Atlanta, Keselowski and crew chief Paul Wolfe hit their strongest setup in the final run to the checkered flag. The newfound speed allowed the 2012 Cup Series champion to close in on his teammate in lapped traffic. He even briefly overtook Logano to lead from lap 240 through 243. While Logano regained the top spot on Lap 244, Keselowski found a way to regroup and reel him in again through the closing laps.

Coming to the white flag Logano held a slim advantage over Keselowski, but the veteran closed the gap during the last lap. He made a final desperation dive to the inside in Turns 3 and 4, and as he rose up onto the frontstretch Keselowski’s No. 2 was just alongside Logano’s No. 22.

The opportunity for contact exposed itself for a brief moment, but Keselowski avoided it. He slowly washed up the track, allowing Logano to clear him off of Turn 4.

Logano powered down the straightaway from there to take the first victory of his championship defense. The Connecticut native pumped his fist in joy as he took the checkered flag, having delivered sponsor Pennzoil a huge win in a race sponsored by the company.

He later partook in donuts over the Pennzoil 400 logo in the infield grass – a move he’d been planning since the previous night.

“Oh, there was no debate, I was going to tear up the landscaping here,” Logano said. “The talk was last night we had a big Pennzoil dinner, and the talk was I was going to do some donuts in the grass at the end of the race.  At the end of the race, not during the race.  So to be able to do that was super cool.”

Keselowski was left with a second-place result, his eighth-consecutive run of seventh or better at the track. The Michigander was happy for his teammate, but expressed remorse over driving nice and letting a potential win slip away.

“I passed Joey with the lap traffic there and caught a break there,” Keselowski said afterward. “And then lap traffic cost me the lead to Joey and he pulled a good slide job.

“I tried to pull it back and I was just a touch too nice to him.” 

Just short of the sweep 

Kyle Busch was fast all weekend at his home track.

Too fast, in fact – for at least a few precious seconds.

Those moments would come to define his entire weekend.

Busch entered Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 with an opportunity to do something no driver had done at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, complete a triple header weekend sweep. The 33-year-old had already dominated the Gander Outdoors Truck Series race on Friday night, and survived a challenge from Xfinity Series prospects Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick to bring home a second victory on Saturday.

Early on it appeared that everything was lining up for the Nevadan to pull out the broom. After fading in the opening stage, Busch had climbed to the top of the field in Stage 2. He came to pit road on Lap 129 as the race leader, a favorite to hold the position through the round of stops given his pit road prowess.

Instead Busch made a rare mistake. He locked up the brakes coming to pit road, causing him to enter the first timing loop faster than anticipated.

Moments later the announcement came over the No. 18 team’s radio. Busch had been caught speeding, and would need to serve a drive-thru penalty.

“I certainly screwed up our day coming to pit road there,” Busch said afterward. “We tried a different brake package for us this weekend and trying to make up time in order to get a bigger jump on the guys behind me coming to pit road there and just ruined it for us and we had to come from the back.”

Busch tried to rally back from the mistake. He methodically drove his way through the field, marching back into the top-five even as others struggled to pass. With the laps winding down it appeared Busch could contend for the win if the caution flag waved.

But the caution flag never flew. Busch rebounded to third in the final laps, but ran out of time to catch the Team Penske duo up front.

After a weekend of near-perfection, a lone mistake costed the veteran a chance for a weekend sweep. He crossed the line 1.419 seconds behind Logano, close enough to see the victory slip away.

“If we didn’t have the speeding penalty on pit road, we would have won this race,” Busch said. “But the guys gave me a great piece and we were certainly fast there at the end.

“Very frustrating, but overall we had a really fast car,” he later continued. “The M&M’s Camry was good and driver threw it away.”

Other Notes

  • While Kyle Busch was disappointed with third, brother Kurt Busch was happy to bring home a fifth-place result after a difficult day. With sentimental sponsor Star Nursery adorning his car, Busch held onto track position after staying out as other pitted at the end of Stage 2 to overcome a poor early run and score his second top-five for Chip Ganassi Racing. “Hometown track, Star Nursery on board,” Busch said. “It gave me chills at one point, but I’m like hey, we’ve got to get the job done. And now we’ve got two top fives to start the year, but we know we’ve got some more work to do.”
  • Kevin Harvick was an early favorite to win after claiming Friday’s pole award, and the defending race winner even dominated the opening stage. But in the end he didn’t quite have the car to contend with Team Penske, fading from just behind the lead duo to fourth in the final 20 laps. “Qualifying paid off for us, and early in the race we were able to lead a lot of laps,” he said. “As the race went on, we just kept getting tighter and tighter. That’s two weeks in a row that our car has fallen off a little bit, and we’ve had a tough time adjusting to that.”
  • Looking for an early underdog contender? Keep an eye on 2017 playoff participant Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and former power team Roush Fenway Racing. Stenhouse was a frequent fixture inside of the top 10 on Sunday en route to a sixth-place finish. The result was Stenhouse’s best on a non-superspeedway track since Bristol Motor Speedway last spring.
  • Austin Dillon and Daniel Hemric were strong throughout the weekend in practice and qualifying, but the pair struggled on race day. Hemric was unable to match his potential top-five speed of the previous weekend, fading early and struggling throughout the day before finishing 23rd. Dillon rose within sight of the lead early on, but suffered a penalty for too many crew members over the wall and never recovered. He was forced to settle for 20th at race’s end.
  • Speaking of that penalty, both Dillon and Kyle Larson were burned by the same pit road issue on Sunday. A crew member meant to stop tires on pit road mistakenly touched a hand to the ground on pit road, forcing them to count as an additional over-the-wall member on the pit stop. Larson bounced back to finish 12th, but neither driver ever found the form they’d shown earlier in the day.
  • While Logano and Keselowski have been celebrating race wins over the past two weeks, teammate Ryan Blaney can’t seem to catch a break. A late flat tire buried Blaney at Atlanta, and early pace in Las Vegas proved to be for naught after a lug nut knocked a valve stem loose on his first pit stop, resulting in yet another flat tire that trapped Blaney two laps down and effectively killed his run.
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Aaron Bearden Brad Keselowski Featured Joey Logano Kyle Busch Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series