NASCAR CUP KOBALT 400
Truex Jr. wins wild race at Las Vegas
crew members brought Busch to the ground as NASCAR officials yelled for them to stop.
When they were separated and Busch got to his feet, he had a bloody gash above his right eye.
“There wasn’t much talking, just a lot of swinging,” said Logano, who said he was unhurt. “I was racing hard there at end.”
Busch, who had recovered from a speeding penalty that left him a lap down to get into contention, was escorted to the infield care center and quickly released as the track buzzed.
“I got dumped. He flat out just drove straight in the corner and wrecked me,” Busch said. “That’s how Joey races, so he’s going to get it.”
The fight overshadowed a dominating day for Truex and a toughluck finish for Keselowski, who appeared to be pulling away after a restart and on his way to his second win in as many weeks when he ran into mechanical problems.
Truex passed him and held on to become the first driver to win all three segments in NASCAR Cup’s new stage racing.
Kyle Larson was second, followed by Chase Elliott, Logano and Keselowski. NASCAR Monster Energy Cup-Kobalt 400 Results
Sunday At Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas, Nev. Lap length: 1.50 miles (Start position in parentheses) 1. (2) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 267 laps, 0 rating, 60 points. 2. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 267, 0, 52. 3. (12) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 267, 0, 47. 4. (6) Joey Logano, Ford, 267, 0, 39. 5. (1) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267, 0, 48. 6. (15) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 267, 0, 31. 7. (3) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 267, 0, 43. 8. (10) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 267, 0, 37. 9. (4) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 267, 0, 30. 10. (13) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 267, 0, 27. 11. (16) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 267, 0, 31. 12. (7) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 267, 0, 25. 13. (20) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 267, 0, 24. 14. (30) Aric Almirola, Ford, 267, 0, 23. 15. (8) Erik Jones, Toyota, 267, 0, 22. 16. (18) Dale Earnhardt Jr, Chevrolet, 267, 0, 26. 17. (21) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 267, 0, 22. 18. (26) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 267, 0, 19. 19. (14) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 267, 0, 18. 20. (11) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 267, 0, 17. 21. (24) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 267, 0, 16. 22. (9) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 267, 0, 18. 23. (25) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 266, 0, 14. 24. (23) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 266, 0, 13. 25. (22) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 266, 0, 12. 26. (31) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 265, 0, 11. 27. (27) Landon Cassill, Ford, 264, 0, 10. 28. (33) Cole Whitt, Ford, 264, 0, 9. 29. (32) David Ragan, Ford, 264, 0, 8. 30. (17) Kurt Busch, Ford, 263, 0, 7.
31. (37) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 262, 0, 6.
32. (36) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 261, 0, 5. 33. (29) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, 261, 0, 4. 34. (35) Gray Gaulding, Toyota, 260, 0, 3. 35. (38) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 254, 0, 2. 36. (28) Danica Patrick, Ford, engine, 246, 0, 1.
37. (39) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, suspension, 135, 0, 0.
38. (19) Kevin Harvick, Ford, accident, 68, 0, 1.
39. (34) Corey Lajoie, Toyota, accident, 16, 0, 1.
Race Statistics Average Speed of Race Winner: 136.034 mph.
Time of Race: 2 hours, 56 minutes, 39 seconds. Margin of Victory: 1.495 seconds. Caution Flags: 6 for 34 laps. Lead Changes: 14 among 6 drivers. Lap Leaders: B.Keselowski 1-19; M.Truex 20-24; B.Keselowski 25-70; J.Logano 7175; M.Truex 76-124; B.Keselowski 125-126; T.Dillon 127-128; M.McDowell 129-130; M.Truex 131-153; J.Johnson 154-156; M.Truex 157-211; J.Johnson 212-227; M.Truex 228-243; B.Keselowski 244-265; M.Truex 266-267
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): M.Truex, 6 times for 144 laps; B.Keselowski, 4 times for 85 laps; J.Johnson, 2 times for 17 laps; J.Logano, 1 time for 4 laps; T.Dillon, 1 time for 1 lap; M.McDowell, 1 time for 1 lap.
Wins: Ku.Busch, M.Truex, 1.
Top 16 in Points: 1. B.Keselowski, 132; 2. K.Larson, 131; 3. C.Elliott, 129; 4. M.Truex, 127; 5. J.Logano, 119; 6. R.Blaney, 106; 7. Ku.Busch, 93; 8. K.Harvick, 91; 9. K.Kahne, 88; 10. J.McMurray, 86; 11. T.Bayne, 82; 12. C.Bowyer, 73; 13. M.Kenseth, 71; 14. A.Almirola, 70; 15. D.Hamlin, 68; 16. P.Menard, 62.
NASCAR Driver Rating Formula A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race.
The formula combines the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish. 1; B.Keselowski, 1;
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Sebastien Bourdais believed he could drive for tiny Dale Coyne Racing and really make a difference for a race team that has little chance against the big guns in IndyCar.
But he had a condition: Bourdais wanted to be reunited with the team players he was with when he was recognized as the top driver in open-wheel. So he brought with him engineer Craig Hampson, who led Bourdais to 31 victories, 31 poles and four consecutive titles from 2004 to 2007.
Bourdais also brought Olivier Boisson, who was the Frenchman’s engineer at KVSH Racing the last several seasons. Bourdais and Boisson teamed to win four races for KVSH.
This squad showed Sunday it has the potential to be a major player this season in IndyCar. Bourdais pulled off a major upset in the IndyCar season-opener, driving from last place to a victory on the streets of St. Petersburg that left him in tears.
He credited his two engineers and talked about the complexity of managing relationships while pushing so hard for success.
“They’re the two guys that understand me the best, have understood me the best, over the years,” he said. “It takes a very special mindset and relationship to really be able to cope with each other, optimize each other, and carry over the time. It’s pretty exhausting as far as relationships are concerned.
“It’s very difficult to sometimes not be offensive to people when