Top
10 - Bottom 10 Drivers
at
LAS VEGAS MOTOR Speedway
by
Skip Jefferson
Last
weekend, the Sprint Cup series visited the California Speedway for the
Auto Club 500, the first race of two that will be held at that track.
After a very wet and highly controversial weekend, the race was finally
completed on Monday afternoon, with Carl Edwards rolling to his first win
of the 2008 season, taking the checkered flag ahead of Jimmie Johnson and
Jeff Gordon. Edwards was ranked 2nd in our Top 10 list for the California
Speedway and apparently, Carl wants to move up on that list this fall when
the series goes back for the second race of the year at California. Jimmie
Johnson was the highest rated driver on our list for California and of
course he finished 2nd. This week the series moves back west once again,
to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the 3rd race of the 2008 season, the
UAW-Dodge 400. The Las Vegas track is one of those 1.5 mile tracks in the
series that everyone considers a " Cookie Cutter " track,
as it is similar to many other 1.5 mile tracks that we have seen being
built. The track is used to be considered a "Flat" track in that
the most severe banking is in the four corners was just 12 degrees and 8
& 3 degrees on the straight away's. The track under went
reconstruction in 2006 and the banking in the corners was changed to 20
degrees and 9 degrees on the straight aways. The track was supposed to
have a lot of racing grooves, so the cars would not stretch out in single
files quite as badly as they have in the past. Last year however, the race
came down to a battle between two Hendrick drivers, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie
Johnson, without too much other competition. Despite Gordon leading the
most laps, Johnson came away with the win. This is now a
really fast track speed wise going in the area of 180-190 mph thru the
straight-away's and then not having to slow as they have in the past to
make it thru the turns. We should see qualifying speeds that are in the
180-190 mile per hour range, while the race record is 146 miles per hour.
This race will go 267 laps or 400 miles. In this column, we will examine
which drivers have the best records there and which drivers have the worst
records there. With that in mind lets look at the last six races that have
been held at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
In
the last six races that have been held at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway
there have been five different pole sitters. The pole winners have
included Greg Biffle, Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman, Todd Bodine and Kasey
Kahne has taken the pole twice, including last year when he set the
qualifying record with a speed of 184.856mph on the new track surface.
Taking the pole at Las Vegas has never proved to be the winning
combination as no pole winner has ever won a race here. However, the pole
winner has finished in the Top 10 in the four of the last six races. In
the other two, they finished 29th and 35th. The finishing average of the
pole winner at Las Vegas in the 10 races that have been held there, has
been 14.60. Historically, starting outside the Top 10 was the place to be
as all but one of the race winners had started between 11th and 25th until
the 2005, 2006 seasons when Jimmie Johnson won both races from inside the
Top 10 ( 9th and 3rd ). Last year, Johnson won this race after
having started 23rd. The starting average of the race winner in the last
six races here is an astronomical 16.20. Kasey
Kahne has the best starting average at this track with a 3.50
average start. Juan Montoya is next up with 4.00 average, followed by Kurt
Busch with a starting average of 5.17. Rounding out the Top 5 are Greg
Biffle with a 7.75 average start and finally Ryan Newman with a 10.17
starting average.
The
top driver at Las Vegas is none other then a Roush driver, Matt
Kenseth, who has a 5.00 finishing average
on the Las Vegas track. In
looking at his record at Vegas, it is also a surprise to see that Kenseth
actually qualifies pretty great also with a 17.33 average start. Anyone
who follows Matt knows he generally does not qualify very well but more
the makes up for it once the green flag drops. At Las Vegas, Kenseth moves
forward very well picking up over twelve positions per race. In his last 6
races at Vegas, Kenseth has cracked the Top 10 in five of those races and
two of those were trips to victory lane as the race winner. Overall, he
has finished in the Top 5 in four of the six races. His worst career
finish here was a 17th place finish in 2001. Kenseth is off to a great
start this year, running strong at both Daytona and California. That has
to give Kenseth fans some hope that the Roush crowd is getting it's COT
program up to par and if they have, look for Kenseth to contend for the
win at Vegas this weekend. Next up is our two time
Sprint Cup Champion, Jimmie Johnson. Johnson
seems to make all these top 10 lists and Las Vegas is no different. His
6.00 finishing average puts him the second best slot at the Las
Vegas track. He is pretty good at qualifying here with a starting average
of 13.67 so he picks up about about eight positions per race. Johnson has
won the last three races at the Vegas track, including a thrilling
finishes the last two years, beating Kenseth to the line in 2006 and Jeff
Gordon last year. He has one other Top 10 finish to his credit. After
having met with some bad luck at Daytona, Johnson returned to his vintage
form last week at California, finishing 2nd and may have won that one had
he not had to race Jeff Gordon for the lead so long. Considering his
record at Vegas, he could very well add another win to his resume this
weekend.
Coming
up in the third spot is another great young driver, Denny
Hamlin. He
has been in just two of the last 6 races that have been held at Las Vegas.
In those two races, he had a 10th place finish and then last year he
improved upon that to finish 3rd. Those two finishes give him a 6.50
average finish. He qualifies pretty well with a 16.50 starting
average, so he improves upon that starting average by ten spots over the
course of the races. So two races, one Top 5 and two Top 10's is a pretty
good start on his career record at Las Vegas. Hamlin has gotten off to a
slow start this year at Daytona and crashed out hard last week at
California. I would look for Hamlin to return to form this weekend and
notch his first Top 10 finish of the 2008 season this weekend at Las
Vegas. Next up is another one of those guys that make all these Top 10
lists every week, Tony Stewart. Even
though Stewart makes a lot of these Top 10 lists, this is one of those
tracks that he has yet to make a visit to victory lane at. Never the less,
he is the fourth highest rated driver here and that should tell you that
he likes this track. If you look at his last six races at Vegas, Stewart
has established a pretty great finishing average of 8.50. He has been able
to qualify pretty well here also checking in with a 15.33
starting average. So Tony has proven he can start just about anywhere here
and be a contender, picking up an average of about seven positions a
race. As I said, despite his great averages here, Stewart still
hasn't been able to visit victory lane. Stewart has however picked up
three Top 5's and five Top 10 finishes in the last six races at this
track. Stewart has been running around the front of the pack in the first
two races this year and with his record here, you can bet your money that
Tony will be brimming with confidence Sunday. It wouldn't surprise anyone
if he broke his winless streak at Vegas and brought home his first win of
the 2008 season.
The
5th best average at the Las Vegas Motor
Speedway belongs to Jeff Burton as he
checks in with a 11.17 average finish. He isn't one of the top qualifier's
here as he checks in with a 18.50 starting average but that has been
improving over the last few years. He is able to work his way to the front
to the tune of an average of six position's per race. Jeff has raced in
all ten races at Las Vegas and has won two of those races. In the last six
races, he has added three more Top 10 finishes to his resume. Burton
has been one of those drivers in the series that has looked like he is
picking up where he left off in the 2007 season so it will be interesting
to see if he can match his past performances here this weekend. Pulling
up with the 6th best average is another one of those Hendrick drivers, Jeff
Gordon. Gordon is one of those drivers that cracks a lot
of our Top 10 lists and a lot of that has to do with he has been racing in
the series for a long time now and he has raced the
Las Vegas track in all ten of the races that have been held here. He
checks in at the Las Vegas track with 13.33 finishing average, with a
15.83 starting average. He is able to pick up two positions over the
course of these races. In the last six races, he has notched three Top 5
finishes, including a thrilling 2nd place finish last year. He has won
here before in his career. Gordon has gotten off to a pretty good start in
the 2007 season and considering those performances, it would not be any
big surprise to see Gordon pull off a big win on Sunday.
The
next guy on our Top 10 list this week is Kyle
Busch and he is starting to make a mark
in the series in that his name is starting to show up in a lot of our Top
10 lists. In his four races at Las Vegas, he
has a 13.75 finishing average to go with a pretty stellar 11.00 starting
average. He does not improve his starting position and winds up losing
about three positions in each race. That however is tainted by the fact
that he finished 41st in one of those four races. In the other three, Kyle
has finished 2nd, 3rd and then he finished 9th last year. Busch has to be
considered a serious contender in this race considering his past record
here, the fact that Las Vegas is considered his home track and he has
looked very impressive in both races in the 2008 season. Next up
this week on our Top 10 list this week is Bill
Elliott, who checks in at Las Vegas with
a 14.00 finishing average. Elliott hasn't made a lot of our Top 10 lists
recently, as his career winds down. Bill isn't one of the best when it
comes to qualifying here, checking in with a starting average of 21.00. So
when you qualify like that, it is pretty hard for a driver like Elliott,
not to move forward and that has been the case with Elliott as he winds up
moving up thru the field by an average of seven positions per race. Bill
has been in just three of the last six races here but one of those
resulted in a Top 10 finish. Elliott will not be able to improve upon his
averages here this weekend as his name does not appear on the entry list
for this weekends race.
The
final two drivers to crack the Top 10 list are Mark Martin and Carl
Edwards. The guy that owns the 9th best average at the
Las Vegas Speedway is Mark Martin.
Mark checks in with a 15.33 average finish. He isn't one of the top
qualifier's here as he checks in with a 18.83 starting average. He is able
to pass an average of three cars every time he races here. In the last six
races at Las Vegas he has three Top 5 finishes and four Top 10 finishes to
his credit. In the two races that he did not finish in the Top 10, he
finished 30th and 43rd, which taints his over all averages. Last year
here, he finished 5th. Mark is off to a so-so start so far this year in
his new DEI treads but in looking at his past record here, if he rolls the
dice just right, it could be another big race for him this weekend. The
final guy that owns the 10th best average at the Las
Vegas Speedway is last weeks race winner, Carl
Edwards. Edwards checks in with a 15.33 average finish and has
an 18.00 starting average. He is able to pass an average of three cars
every race. Carl has been in just three races here and has one Top 10
finish to his credit, that came last year when he finished 6th. Carl is
off to a roaring start in the 2008 season and i would not look for any let
up in that this weekend. I am looking for a Top 5 finish and maybe contend
for his 2nd win of the 2008 season.
TOP
10 DRIVERS AT LAS VEGAS
Below
is the complete listing of the records of all active drivers in last 6
races at Las Vegas
| Rank |
Driver |
Races |
Avg
Start |
Poles |
Wins |
Top
5 |
Top
10 |
Avg
Finish |
| 1 |
Matt
Kenseth |
6 |
17.33 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
5.00 |
| 2 |
Jimmie
Johnson |
6 |
13.67 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
6.00 |
| 3 |
Denny
Hamlin |
2 |
16.50 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
6.50 |
| 4 |
Tony
Stewart |
6 |
15.33 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
8.50 |
| 5 |
Jeff
Burton |
6 |
18.50 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
11.17 |
| 6 |
Jeff
Gordon |
6 |
15.83 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
13.33 |
| 7 |
Kyle
Busch |
4 |
11.00 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
13.75 |
| 8 |
Bill
Elliott |
3 |
21.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
14.00 |
| 9 |
Mark
Martin |
6 |
18.83 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
15.33 |
| 10 |
Carl
Edwards |
3 |
18.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
15.33 |
Now
that was the 10 best drivers at Las Vegas in the five races that have been
held there, now lets look at the bottom of the this weeks list, the
drivers who just don't have real good records at the Las Vegas
track.
As
you know I normally don't spend a lot of time going over the drivers who
are flops at certain tracks and you can pretty much see for yourself who
the are. Some make the list every week and other make a rare appearance in
the Bottom 10. There is only one driver this week that really jumps out at
you and that is Reed Sorenson. Sorenson had a real up and down year
last year but has showed signs this year that he may be starting to find
his way to the top of the series. Since this is Las Vegas, I am going to
gamble a little bit and say that he will improve on that average quite a
bit this weekend. For the rest of these guys that are on this list let's
hope that Lady Luck shines on them a little bit this weekend also so they
will have a little better race on Sunday then they have had there in the
past.
BOTTOM
10 DRIVERS AT LAS VEGAS
Below
is the complete listing of the records of all active drivers in the last 6
races at Las Vegas
| Rank |
Driver |
Races |
Avg
Start |
Poles |
Wins |
Top
5 |
Top
10 |
Avg
Finish |
| 47 |
Kenny
Wallace |
4 |
24.75 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
29.75 |
| 48 |
Johnny
Sauter |
2 |
31.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
31.50 |
| 49 |
Paul
Menard |
1 |
19.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
32.00 |
| 50 |
Kenny
Schrader |
5 |
25.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
32.20 |
| 51 |
Scott
Wimmer |
3 |
34.67 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
32.67 |
| 52 |
Reed
Sorenson |
2 |
21.50 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
35.50 |
| 53 |
Mike
Skinner |
2 |
35.50 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
36.50 |
| 54 |
Kevin
Lepage |
2 |
32.50 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
36.50 |
| 55 |
David
Ragan |
1 |
35.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
37.00 |
| 56 |
Aric
Almirola |
1 |
31.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
41.00 |
So
there you have the best and the worst drivers at the Las
Vegas Motor Speedway. How well they
do this Sunday is anybodies guess but this is a good barometer. I hope all
these drivers will have better luck in the UAW-Dodge
400 on Sunday afternoon.
THE
REST OF THE DRIVERS AT LAS VEGAS
| Rank |
Driver |
Races |
Avg
Start |
Poles |
Wins |
Top
5 |
Top
10 |
Avg
Finish |
| 11 |
Casey
Mears |
5 |
23.60 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
15.60 |
| 12 |
Mike
Bliss |
1 |
18.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
16.00 |
| 13 |
Martin
Truex Jr. |
2 |
26.50 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
16.00 |
| 14 |
Ryan
Newman |
6 |
10.17 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
16.33 |
| 15 |
Jeremy
Mayfield |
5 |
17.40 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
16.40 |
| 16 |
Jamie
McMurray |
5 |
18.00 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
16.80 |
| 17 |
Kevin
Harvick |
6 |
26.17 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
17.00 |
| 18 |
J.J.
Yeley |
2 |
18.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
17.50 |
| 19 |
Greg
Biffle |
4 |
7.75 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
17.50 |
| 20 |
Bobby
Labonte |
6 |
21.83 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
18.00 |
| 21 |
Kurt
Busch |
6 |
5.17 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
18.67 |
| 22 |
Joe
Nemechek |
6 |
18.67 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
19.50 |
| 23 |
Kasey
Kahne |
4 |
3.50 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
19.75 |
| 24 |
David
Gilliland |
1 |
21.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
21.00 |
| 25 |
Tony
Raines |
2 |
29.50 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
21.50 |
| 26 |
Dale
Jarrett |
6 |
27.33 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
21.50 |
| 27 |
Juan
Montoya |
1 |
4.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
22.00 |
| 28 |
Sterling
Marlin |
6 |
24.17 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
22.00 |
| 29 |
Elliott
Sadler |
6 |
16.50 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
22.17 |
| 30 |
Dale
Earnhardt Jr. |
6 |
28.17 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
22.17 |
| 31 |
Michael
Waltrip |
5 |
17.80 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
23.60 |
| 32 |
Terry
Labonte |
4 |
37.25 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
23.75 |
| 33 |
Mike
Wallace |
1 |
30.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
24.00 |
| 34 |
Johnny
Benson |
3 |
19.67 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
25.00 |
| 35 |
Ricky
Rudd |
5 |
34.20 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
25.40 |
| 36 |
Clint
Bowyer |
2 |
18.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
25.50 |
| 37 |
Kyle
Petty |
6 |
26.33 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
25.83 |
| 38 |
Robby
Gordon |
6 |
25.33 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
26.33 |
| 39 |
David
Stremme |
2 |
21.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
26.50 |
| 40 |
Jeff
Green |
6 |
23.67 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
26.67 |
| 41 |
John
Andretti |
3 |
23.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
27.33 |
| 42 |
Dave
Blaney |
5 |
22.60 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
27.60 |
| 43 |
Scott
Riggs |
4 |
11.75 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
27.75 |
| 44 |
Ward
Burton |
4 |
29.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
28.75 |
| 45 |
Jon
Wood |
1 |
41.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
29.00 |
| 46 |
Brian
Vickers |
3 |
15.00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
29.33 |
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