Post-race report -- Las Vegas
Event: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Shelby American (Race No. 3 of 36)
Venue: Las Vegas Motor Speedway; Las Vegas, Nev.
Top-five finishers: Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth
Race recap: Jimmie Johnson passed Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon with 17 laps to go, and then cruised out to a 1.874-second win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon. Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus opted for a four-tire stop on their final pit stop on lap 230, while Gordon took just two tires.
After Clint Bowyer won the race off pit road and led at the lap 233 restart, Gordon reclaimed the top spot two circuits later. Gordon, who led a race-high 219 laps (out of 267), held off Johnson for awhile, but the four-time defending series champ was too strong on his four, fresh Goodyear Eagles.
The victory was Johnson's second in a row this season, and the 49th of his Sprint Cup career. He is now just one victory behind NASCAR legends Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson on the all-time list.
Kevin Harvick, who snuck past Gordon late in the race to finish second, held onto his championship lead after three events. He now leads Richard Childress Racing teammate Clint Bowyer by 47 points.
The series is right back in action for race No. 4 of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway next Sunday.
Companion event: Kevin Harvick led a race-high 82 of 200 laps to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas on Saturday. The race was delayed for nearly to hours by rain, but was run to its completion.
Sprint Cup regulars Denny Hamlin (second place -- 29 laps led), Carl
Edwards (third -- 28) and Kyle Busch (16th -- 43) all spent significant
time up front.
Goodyear quote -- Greg Stucker: "Last year's race at Las Vegas marked the very successful introduction of a new right side tire construction strategy. Our engineering staff matched that in 2010 with a new left side tire, which improved the package even further. Eighteen cars qualifying under the track record, and outstanding race performance is a testament to this new combination."
