Playoff Push Kicks Into Gear In Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS — Seven months into the NASCAR Cup series season, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick are tied atop the standings. Defending champion Martin Truex Jr. is right behind, and the other 13 in the playoff field are desperate just to keep up.

Even after the occasional predictability of a regular season dominated by the Big Three drivers, the stage is set for an intriguing playoff push. It all starts Sunday in the 98-degree heat of Las Vegas, where every event just seems bigger.

“You can feel the energy from the teams and the drivers before this playoff, even more so than you have in years past,” said Kurt Busch, a Las Vegas native. “There’s so much energy and so much attention with it being in Vegas for the first time. It just makes everything more exciting.”

NASCAR’s playoff stretch is kicking off for the first time at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. While the temperatures on the slick track will bear constant monitoring, most drivers aren’t as worried about the heat as the stakes.

The playoffs add another element to the seasonlong rivalry among Harvick, Truex and Kyle Busch. Those three drivers’ joint dominance — they’ve combined for 17 wins and 51 top-five finishes while leading more than 42 percent of the laps — has been the overriding theme this year.

With 10 races still to go, the front-runners are eyeing one another warily. Nothing will be decided in Vegas, but a major mistake — particularly by Truex, whose playoff points cushion isn’t as big as his fellow leaders — could change the championship chase.

“My favorite part about where we’re at is that I feel we’ve been in championship form all year,” said Harvick, who won on this track in March. “I don’t feel like there is a switch we have to go flip.”

More things to watch at the 11⁄ 2- mile track on the far north end of Las Vegas Boulevard:

The pack: Erik Jones, 22, was the surprising pole winner Friday, starting his first playoff run by scorching the track. Since they can’t control what happens at the top of the standings, Jones and the other playoff drivers outside the Big Three realize their target should be the fourth spot heading into the season-ending race at Homestead.

“I would say there’s a few dark horses,” Jones said after edging Joey Logano for his second career pole. “I don’t think I am the only one. I would say the Big Three are definitely the favorites to get to Homestead, but that last spot needs to be filled. We’re all fighting for it.”

In the hunt: Former champs such as Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski made the playoffs, but even Keselowski, who’s in fourth in the standings, is largely shooting for that fourth spot at Homestead. Keselowski surprised the field with two straight wins heading into Vegas, but he realizes how much still needs to be done this fall.

“Winning [last week] certainly doesn’t hurt, but I think you try to temper that with the knowledge that other than the playoff bonus points, it is more or less a confidence thing,” he said. “It doesn’t count for much for the 10 weeks ahead of us.”