NASCAR Cup Series Overview
● Event: Las Vegas 400 (Round 3 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Feb 19
● Location: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
● Layout: 1.5 mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 267 laps, 400 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 85 laps / Final Stage: 102 laps
● TV/Radio: FOX/MRN
SHR FAST FACTS:
Kevin Harvick:
Las Vegas Motor Speedway has been hosting races since 1996 and in its 27-year existence, Harvick has competed at the track every single year. His first race at the 1.5-mile oval north of the Las Vegas Strip was a NASCAR Winston West Series race on Nov. 2, 1996. Driving for Wayne and Connie Spears, Harvick started fourth and finished 13th. Ken Schrader won, Michael Waltrip finished third, Butch Gilliland finished sixth and Hershel McGriff finished 21st.
Aric Almirola:
In 19 starts on the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway desert oval, Almirola has four top-10s, all coming since he joined SHR in 2018. Almirola’s sixth-place finish at Las Vegas last March was the No. 10 team’s third straight top-10 finish to start the season and fifth in a row dating back to the 2021’s penultimate race Oct. 31 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
Chase Briscoe:
In March 2020, Briscoe earned his first Xfinity Series win of the season at Las Vegas, then returned in September to complete the sweep. He also made one NASCAR Truck Series start there in 2017, which resulted in a third-place finish.
Ryan Preece:
Preece opened the 2023 points-paying season with a strong showing in the 65th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Preece and the No. 41 Ford Mustang qualified 20th and had the best 10-consecutive-lap average in final practice. On race day, he finished second in Stage 1 and was running up front for a majority of Stage 2 until being involved in a multicar incident in turn two on lap 183. Preece was unable to return to the race and finished 36th.
OUR WEEKLY WRAPS:
Check out the schemes we’re bringing to the Great American Race
Wrapped to roll dice 1630943129095360512 Stewart Haas Racing -@stewarthaasrcng -Mar 1st, 2023
What Our Drivers are saying:
Kevin Harvick Driver of the No. 4 Rheem Ford Mustang:
The March race at Las Vegas coincides with your wedding anniversary. You had a lot going on in 2001. Walk us through it.
“So, 2001 was, obviously, a much different year than you can even wrap your arms and your mind around because of the fact that DeLana and I had planned to get married in 2001 in Las Vegas. It was a neutral site for the families, an easy place for everybody to get to. Then everything happened with Dale (Earnhardt) and I was driving the 29 car, which was not supposed to happen until the next year. So, it was just supposed to be a calm Busch Series fulltime season, seven Cup races in 2001, and then obviously it was fulltime Busch racing, fulltime Cup racing, testing, everything that went with both series. In the midst of all that, we had a wedding that had already been planned for the third week of the season in Las Vegas. So, I ran my first Cup Series race the second weekend at Rockingham (North Carolina). The race got rained out and got delayed until Monday, and you can only imagine the freak-outs that are happening with your soon-to-be wife who has planned a wedding a couple thousand miles away and you’re rained out, so you’re racing on a Monday. After the race, it was the first time we’d ever flown on a helicopter. We get on the helicopter, we go to the wrong airport, we get back on the helicopter, we go back to the racetrack, we get on the right helicopter, we go to the right airport, and then everything probably calmed down at that particular point. We got married on a Wednesday night and, really, in the midst of everything that had gone on with Dale and the team, the wedding was kind of a blessing because we were able to plan something in the middle of a tragic event that had happened with Dale, it was really all planned out for the team and our friends and family to be there and bring everybody together. We got married on Wednesday night, and then we went to the racetrack and we rented a Winnebago that couldn’t have been more than 24 feet long. It was very small, but our friend, Michael Gaughan, decided he was going to send his chef and everybody from the kitchen, to cook for us. Little did he know that we would have them cooking outside because our motorhome wasn’t big enough for anybody else to come inside. So, we had a great Michael’s restaurant right in the middle of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway parking lot outside of a 24-foot Winnebago. That was our wedding dinner at the racetrack. It was a great time.”
Aric Almirola Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang:
When you arrived at Las Vegas last year you were the only driver to secure three consecutive top ten finishes, what led to that success?
“I think last year we were all just trying to figure out the setup of the cars and I felt really good to start the season. I thought it was going to be my last, so I just soaked it all in and enjoyed the ride. I’m still doing that, but I feel even more prepared and more determined than ever to have a successful team. Last year, that was just a testament to Drew (Blickensderfer, crew chief) and the team’s hard work back at the shop and they gave me a good car capable of running top-10. We struggled a bit in October, but we also were not in the playoffs at the time, so that plays a role in it.”
Chase Briscoe Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang:
It’s been a frustrating start to the 2023 season for the No. 14 team. What has gone on and what needs to happen to get back to the kind of success you experienced last year?
“Well, I think the biggest thing is everyone has had a whole season with the NextGen car and an offseason to do extra sim work and preparation. Daytona was just an unfortunate situation with getting caught up in a wreck as we were cycling through green-flag stops. I felt like we had actually had a strong race, leading some laps, but the results don’t show that. Last weekend in Fontana, we had a few different things that we had to battle through and we got to a better place at the end. I’m not too concerned. We’re only two races into the season and we know what we’ve got to work on to get back on the right path. It’s only a matter of time before we put all those pieces together and we’re back up front racing for wins.”
Ryan Preece Driver of the No. 41 Haas Tooling Ford Mustang:
Your last Cup Series start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was in 2021, and now you’ll make your first start at the track in the Next Gen car. What’s the racing like at Las Vegas and what do you expect this weekend?
“Las Vegas is a place that I typically like and look forward to going to. This is our first time with the Next Gen car for myself and Chad but I feel confident about it. Leading up to this weekend, I feel pretty excited just about the direction we’re heading in and hopefully bringing some speed and having a good day. Speed hasn’t been in an issue for us this season. The speed is there, we’ve just got to get a good finish for our No. 41 Ford Mustang team and I think Las Vegas can be the place for that.”
Kevin Harvick on his Las Vegas WeddinG:
After tragic circumstances forced him into full-time Cup series action, hear from The Closer on his unconventional yet memorable wedding weekend.
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