Harvick happy to be heading to Vegas
Although “Happy” has long been Kevin Harvick’s nickname, it was very fitting for him Sunday in the Daytona 500 when after a busy day that included overcoming a damaged race car, he persevered to earn a fifth-place finish.
The driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford won at Las Vegas in March of 2018 and was the Busch pole winner in this race last year, finishing fourth. He scored his second career runner-up showing at Vegas in the Cup Series Playoff opener last September.
Harvick’s 10 top-10 finishes at Las Vegas puts him in a five-driver tie for most all-time. And his seven top-five finishes are also best – tying him with Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch. Ford has won four of the last six races on the 1.5-mile track.
In just the last seven trips to Las Vegas, Harvick has two wins (2015 and 2018), a runner-up finish (2019-2) and a pole position (2019-1).
Truex trying for trio of Vegas wins
Martin Truex Jr. is also among those NASCAR Cup Series drivers happy to move Westward this week after suffering another DNF in the Daytona 500 on Monday – his second consecutive DNF in NASCAR’s biggest race. He has only a pair of top fives and four top-10 showings in 30 race starts at Daytona International Speedway.
The 2017 Cup champion has a markedly different record at Las Vegas Motor Speedway; however, he is one of only four drivers on the grid with multiple wins at the track. He won in 2017 en route to his first Cup title and is the most recent winner as well – taking the trophy in last year’s September Playoff opener, one of a series-best seven wins in 2019.
He hasn’t finished worse than eighth in the last five races at Las Vegas, including the two victories and a third-place finish in the 2018 Fall race.
Truex has proven to be particularly adept at the 1.5-mile venues such as Vegas. Just going back three years, the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has 10 wins, 22 top-fives and 29 top-10 finishes in 33 races on 1.5-mile tracks – an impressive 87.8 percent top-10 showing on 1.5-milers in that time frame.
“I think overall, as a company, we feel really good about where we ended last season with the 550 (horsepower) package,’’ Truex said of the engine package used at the 1.5-mile venues.
“With us winning Vegas in the fall, Denny (Hamlin) winning Kansas and then Kyle (Busch) at Homestead, all of our cars were really fast at those places at the end of the year, so that gives me a lot of confidence going back to Vegas this weekend.
“Everyone has had a few months to work on their stuff and get better so it will be a challenge to keep that advantage we felt like we had late in the season and continue that as we get going with the heart of our season now that Daytona is out of the way.’’
Sunoco Rookie class looking to rebound after Daytona
The NASCAR Cup Series Sunoco Rookie Class of 2020 is one of the most decorated groups of young new drivers in years, but after last week’s season-opening Daytona 500 several of these first-year Cup regulars are looking to right their road.
Only two of the six drivers were running at the end of the action-packed season-opener with John Hunter Nemechek earning the best finish among them at 11th. Brennan Poole was the next highest finishing rookie at 16th after starting 36th.
Christopher Bell was scored 21st after being collected in a crash during overtime. Two-time defending Xfinity Series champion Tyler Reddick was scored 28th after being involved in a multi-car accident on Lap 199. Cole Custer (37th) and Quin Houff (39th) departed early, as well.
Of these six rookies, Reddick, who drives the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, is the only one who has celebrated in Las Vegas’s glitzy Victory Lane. He won the Xfinity Series race there last September and a 2016 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race there.
Reddick insisted, however, that his positive experiences in those two series won’t necessarily make a huge difference in his Cup debut Sunday.
“Unfortunately, there isn’t much of a crossover between the two cars,’’ Reddick said. “That’s what makes the Cup cars so challenging. We’ve got less horsepower and a lot more downforce, as well as a lot more competition.
“I do have some confidence entering the weekend though. I remember what my comfort level was when I won in the Truck Series there a few years ago and while Cup cars aren’t quite the same as the truck, there is a little more crossover between the handling of those two.’’
Cole Custer, who drives the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, is the only driver in this rookie class with a previous Cup Series start at Las Vegas. He started 30th and finished 25th in his first career Cup race last March.
Suarez looking for redemption
Perhaps no one will be happier to see the bright lights of the Las Vegas strip than 2016 Xfinity Series champion Daniel Suarez, who was involved in an accident during the Daytona 500 Bluegreen Vacation Duel qualifying race and missed the big show.
He and his No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota team will give it another shot this week in Las Vegas, where he has had some success in the past. His best finish in the Cup Series – eighth place – came in the 2018 Vegas race when he was driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. He was 17th in this race last year and led 12 laps driving the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.
He was runner-up in the 2016 Xfinity Series race at the track and third place in the 2017 Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas as well.
