6 sizzling Sin City takeaways from the Kobalt 400

 

 

NASCAR Western Swing got off to a big start on Sunday, with Martin Truex passing Brad Keselowski with 2 laps to go to win the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Here are six takeaways from the third Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the 2017 season:

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6

The winners

Martin Truex Jr. dominated at Las Vegas, but late in the race, Brad Keselowski ran him down, making what appeared to be the race-winning pass with 24 laps to go.

But with two laps to go, something broke on Keselowski’s car, allowing Truex to win the first race of the season for Toyota and Furniture Row Racing. 

And then, post-race fireworks as Kyle Busch and Joey Logano’s crew brawled on pit road, after contact between the two sent Busch spinning on the last lap. It was a crazy finish to the race, for sure.

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5

Low downforce

With a hot, slick race track in Las Vegas, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series racecars were slipping, sliding and hunting racing lines all race long. That’s a good thing and it made for some interesting battles throughout the field.

4

Work to do

Late last summer, Hendrick Motorsports did a remarkable job finding speed in their cars, speed that helped Jimmie Johnson win a seventh championship. So far this year, the Hendrick Chevrolets have had decent speed, but not dominating speed.

Chase Elliott continues to impress with his third consecutive strong early season run, but for the rest of the team, Vegas was a struggle.

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3

Stage battles

Think the drivers don’t care about earning stage points? Joey Logano and Chase Elliott traded paint racing for fourth place in the second stage, waging a furious battle over just a single point.

While the idea of having stages was met with skepticism by some, there’s no question drivers are racing harder earlier in the races. And that was the whole point.

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2

Tires

On Friday, the drivers seemed to indicate there wasn’t much fall off from the tires, leading some to speculate that there would be a lot of two-tire pit stops and even some no-tire stops. But it quickly became obvious that new tires made a huge difference.

After Kevin Harvick lost a tire late in the first stage, Joey Logano gambled and stayed out on old tires to take the lead. The move backfired badly, as he fell from the lead to 14^th in just two laps.

In Stage 2, Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch didn’t pit, either. And like Logano earlier, they went straight back in the pack. But the added strategy element definitely made the race more interesting.

 

, LAT Images http://www.latphoto.co.uk Russell LaBounty

1

Tough day

A truism in racing is you’re only as good — or as bad — as your last race. Stewart-Haas Racing won the Daytona 500 with Kurt Busch and SHR’s Kevin Harvick dominated in Atlanta.

But Vegas was a struggle for the team, as Harvick cut a tire and hit the wall, finishing 39^th, and Busch had a wallbanger, too, then lost 4 laps changing a battery, while Danica Patrick suffered a catastrophic engine failure. SHR’s top finisher at Vegas was Clint Bowyer in 10^th.