Track Trivia: Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Look out Sin City, here comes NASCAR! I was at this race two years ago for my very first in-person race and Jimmie Johnson won. It's a really nice layout in the infield--if you have a pit pass you can see into the Neon Garage where the cars, crews and drivers are from two levels, plus there's a few stages and some decent food and places to sit. Also appreciated were the cooling misters, because even in early March the desert can bake under the sun.  

I will always remember Las Vegas fondly because during practice on the Friday before that Sunday's race, I was wearing my Tony Stewart hat and right by the entrance to the track when none other but Smoke was about to pull out. The NASCAR official stopped him right in front of where I was standing, to allow another car to exit the track. I was so excited to be so close I started jumping up and down, yelling "Go Tony" and whoo-whooing like a silly kid, and I know he heard by what happened next. Usually drivers just pull out smoothly--but good old Smoke spun the back tires and did a nice smoky burnout turning onto the track! I was one of the only women in the area, so I guess my higher-pitched voice cut through the background noise when Tony's car had to idle. Some of the guys hanging out even said things like they had been to a bunch of races and had never seen that happen. Pretty cool, and memorable. 

Las Vegas Motor Speedway opened in 1996 and had its first Cup race two years later. It's a 1.5 mile D-shaped oval with seating for 142,000. There's 20 degrees of banking in the turns and 9 degrees on the front and backstretch. I'm still not sure who I'll start for my fantasy team, but I'm bucking history and conventional wisdom--which indicate a Jimmie Johnson or Carl Edwards/Matt Kenseth Rousch win--and leaning towards Kyle Busch. This is his hometown, he's never won here, and the kid has a burning need to win at all costs. At least we shouldn't have to worry about rain, so burn, baby, burn!

Driver Stats: Jeff Gordon

O.k., so Matt Kenseth won it convincingly this time. He is a past series champion, after all...and although my fantasy team took a hit because of Jimmie Johnson's fade, Kenseth did keep my streak alive for another week. Kudos to him for being the only driver to win the first two races of the season since Jeff Gordon did it in 1997. And Jeff didn't roll over and play dead in California, but put up a good fight to make the last part of a fairly boring race pretty fun. For that, and because I already profiled Matt for last week's win, Jeff Gordon is this week's driver profile. 

There are so many superlatives attached to the career of the guy who drives the #24 DuPont Chevy I couldn't possibly include them all here. Some of the more interesting tidbits are that his first race in 1992 was Richard Petty's last, and that he was the youngest-ever winner of the Daytona 500 at 26. Since his first full season in 1993, when he finished 14th in the standings, he was only outside the top ten once--in 2005, when he finished 11th. He has 81 career wins, 74 poles, 248 top 5's, 337 top 10's, and has won the Cup championship four times. Jeff is third on the all-time titles list after only Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, and is fifth on the list of all-time wins. He was the Busch (now Nationwide) Rookie of the Year in 1991, and the 1993 Cup ROTY--the first ever to win both awards. He also won championships in many lower level open-wheel series, including the USAC Midget and Silver Crown, which accounts in part for his mastery on road courses. 

So why didn't Jeff win any races last year, for the first time in 14 seasons? He says he had trouble adjusting to the CoT, but has made that transition now. He also says he's getting older, and has taken steps to prepare physically to increase his endurance in the car during the grueling, sometimes four-hour long races. Based on his pre-season performance and his demonstrated drive to win in California, it's only a matter of time before this champion wills (and wheels) his way back to Victory Lane. 

Track Trivia: Auto Club Speedway

The weather for this event last year--very rainy--made for a miserable race. Let's hope Mother Nature got her crying done last week, and we can have a good showing this week. It's an evening race for us on the East Coast, so hopefully the Auto Club 500 will be clean and not run into the wee hours (although I'm sure many of the female NASCAR enthusiasts out there will be switching over to the Oscars anyway.)

Built in 1997, the track is a 2-mile D-shaped oval with 14 degrees of banking in the turns and 11 degrees in the frontstretch. The grandstands hold 92,000 fans, which would seem easy to fill only 50 miles from Hollywood. But most drivers and a large percentage of fans are from east of the Mississippi, and the track has had trouble drumming up enthusiasm from both groups recently. 

Jimmie Johnson smoked practice and qualifying--and has won 3 times here--so he's my fantasy pick this week (and I used Matt Kenseth for my top-ten winning streak.) He's a California boy, so let's see what happens when we're California dreamin'. 

Driver Stats: Matt Kenseth

I hate it when it rains on my parade. The anticipation, the pageantry--the flyover, the celebrity drama...and oh, there was a race. Dale Jr. screwed up, Kyle drove it like he stole it, Tony came in a respectable 8th. And the winner? Matt Kenseth, driver of the #17 DeWalt Ford. In a shortened race called for rain. Disappointingly anticlimactic. My pick, Jeff Gordon, showed some promise but had tire and/or setup issues and came in 13th. (I did pick Kevin Harvick for a top-10 streak contest, and he came in 2nd, so there's my bright spot.)

Kenseth ran his first Cup race in 1998, but his first full season and first win was in 2000 when he beat out Dale Earnhardt Jr. for Rookie of the Year. He won the championship in 2003, and has had a consistent career, with 17 wins, 6 poles, 89 top 5's and 163 top 10's. Last year was his first time out of the top ten, in 11th place, since he broke in in 2002. He's also won at least one race ever year since then except for last year.

This was owner Jack Roush's first trip to Victory Lane for the Daytona 500. While well-liked in the garage, Matt isn't one of the more outgoing drivers, so his visible display of emotion after winning the race was unusual. Should he have won? No, given how he was performing until being caught up in the wreck Dale Jr. started, Kyle Busch should have won in a fun, close finish. But wrecks at restrictor plate tracks make picking winners of races a crapshoot. And Matt Kenseth hung in there all day driving a backup car, made a pass right before the rains came, and was in the right place at the right time for the win. It counts--it just wasn't the thrill everyone was expecting.

Fast Facts: Racing Terminology

Daytona is a superspeedway, and a restrictor plate race. That makes it different from most of the other races in how drivers strategize their positions. You'll hear a lot of these terms (some definitions from Nascar.com) on Sunday. 

Clean Air--driving into air without the turbulence from the wake of other cars; only at the very front of the field.

Dirty Air--driving into turbulent air created in the wake of other cars; usually slows down the following cars.

Drafting--two or more cars, nose-to-tail, racing together are more efficient because the car in front displaces air and creates a vacuum between it and the trailing car, actually pulling it along.

Loose--(also free, or technically oversteer) condition when the back end of the car has more momentum than the front entering or exiting a turn but the front wheels have more traction than the rear wheels, causing the driver to possibly lose control and have to let off the gas. 

Tight--(also push, or technically understeer) condition where the front wheels lose traction before the rear wheels do, making it difficult for the driver to steer sharply through turns and he has to let up on the throttle. 

and finally, my favorite...

Pit Lizard--reference to attention-seeking women who hang out in the pits--race-car driver groupies, in other words. (I am definitely not a pit lizard, but you can pretty much tell who they are if you ever get into the pit area at a race.)

The field is set, practice is ending...I won't keep you in suspense. I think because of his talent, experience, and performance in the Duel, in addition to his hunger to win after not going to victory lane last year for the first time in a loooong time, Jeff Gordon will win the Daytona 500. He's had a whole year to adjust to the new COT, and possibly most important, he has been quoted as saying he thinks he can win. Let's go racin', boys AND girls!

Driver Stats: Kevin Harvick

Wow, what a ride! Yes, the Shootout at Daytona isn't a points race, but it is the first time this season that drivers got out on the track to compete. And they were ready, testing or no. Despite sustaining some damage to his car early, Kevin Harvick did what he does best--he hung in there and finished the race, this time crossing the finish line first. And for that, he's this week's driver profile. 

Harvick was a rookie in 2001, and had the challenging role of replacing Dale Earnhardt at Richard Childress Racing after Sr.'s death in the season-opening Daytona 500. In the bright-yellow #29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet, he has 11 wins, 5 poles, 56 top 5's, and 120 top 10's. "Happy" Harvick has finished in the top ten for the season 5 times, and last year marked his third straight year in the Chase for the Championship. Widely regarded as a constant threat to win, his last win was actually in the 2007 Daytona 500, where he beat out sentimental favorite Mark Martin in a photo finish. 

Harvick has mellowed  a little since his early Cup years, when he had several probations for altercations. I'm not crazy about grown men acting like drunken idiots in a bar brawl, but I have to say the on-track argument he had with Juan Pablo Montoya in 2007 at Watkin's Glen was pretty entertaining. (No innocent drivers were hurt in the making of this shoving match...) He and his wife own a Nationwide team, and maybe that's helping settle him down a little, or maybe he's just maturing a tad. But if Childress can give him quality equipment and he can focus,  he has the talent to contend for wins and championships. Experts are ranking his chances in the top five this year, but my in my opinion, despite his consistency and obvious passion for the sport, there are at least three other drivers standing in his way to the title. (And we already know who I am cheering on to win it all this year.) 

It's been a long, cold winter, but the rubber has hit the road at Daytona, finally. Martin Truex and Mark Martin have the front row for the 500, but next up--the duels to line up the rest of the field. And I have a feeling that come Sunday, it's checkers or wreckers for a lot of drivers, and we're all feeling a need for speed!

Track Trivia: Lowe's Motor Speedway

Like horse racing, Sprint Cup racing has it's triple crown. Daytona is the most coveted win for most drivers, but Indy and the Coca-Cola 600 race at Lowe's Motor Speedway are right up there. This track, located in Concord, N.C., is in the heart of NASCAR country--most of the race shops are somewhere close to Charlotte, and that means no traveling for the LMS races. This year's May 24th race marks the 50th running of the Memorial Day race weekend, held under the lights since 1992. Besides being NASCAR's hometown track, Lowe's is notable for being the first major superspeedway to install lighting and have night racing, as well as having the only 600-mile race in the schedule. (The fall race is exciting too because it's part of the Chase.) 

The track itself is a 1.5 mile quad oval with 24 degrees of banking in the turns and 5 degrees on the straightaways. The stands hold 165,000 fans. And to you football fans out there--I was surprised to learn that most NASCAR tracks offer free parking, as does Lowe's. Yes, Pittsburgh Steeler tailgating is a sight to see. But (and don't get mad--I'm not judging) it really is dwarfed by the sight of acres of cars, trucks and R.V.'s all parked for the race weekend, with shuttles to take people to the track because it's so far away from the furthest lots. I have not yet been to LMS, but it is certainly (third) on my list of must-see races. And finally--the season (kind of) begins; the teams are at Daytona, media day has given us all kinds of new news, and the Shootout will give us an idea of who's ready and who's not. One more week until the big show!

Driver Stats: Jimmie Johnson

The lack of testing will make Daytona interesting. But Jimmie Johnson himself said testing a lot last year after his slow start gave his season some momentum, which carried through the Chase into his third straight championship. So what will this year bring for him? Hard to tell, but he should do well--he always does. 

Johnson entered Cup racing in 2001, and since beginning a full schedule in 2002 has never finished the season outside the top 5 and is the only driver to accomplish that to date. He has 101 top 10's, 156 top 5's, 28 poles and 40 wins. He drives for arguably the best team in the business, and has solid sponsorship in the Lowe's #48 Chevy. 

All of this should make me thrilled to see history being made, as it was when he became the only other driver besides Cale Yarborough to win three straight championships. I've even seen Jimmie win, at Las Vegas in 2007 and Phoenix last year. But for some reason I just can't get excited about Jimmie. His crew chief is undeniably bright--but to me he's unlikable. Jimmie is a handsome, talented guy who does a lot for charities with his foundation, and he seems likable enough. Maybe it's just that nobody likes the smartest kid in the room--Jimmie Johnson may just be too perfect. But his fan base is growing because of his repeated success on the track, and I'm not going to bet against results.