Vegas Surge As NASCAR Enters Fontana

Strat 200 for the Gander Truck Series turned into a rip-roaring sidedraft fight on two separate occasions between Kyle Busch, the prohibitive favorite, and Sheldon Creed.

Winston Cup Las Vegas Pennzoil 400



After a week of controversy centered on Ryan Newman's crash NASCAR got some positive momentum at Las Vegas with a spirited pair of races in Winston Cup and the Gander Truck Series and an unplanned two-day affair for the Xfinity Series.   The big picture takeaways -



1 - Goodyear brought a softer left side tire for the Winston Cup cars and it seemed to be a substantially better for the high downforce-draft duct package.  We'd be surprised if this softer left side tire doesn't become a standard right now for Fontana next week and other tracks like it.


2 - Chevrolet's new car showed eye-opening improvement from the last two seasons.   Not only did Chevrolets lead 101 laps (mostly by Chase Elliott who spun on Lap 222 thus producing a typical underachievement finish for him of 20th) but six Chevrolets from six different teams finished in the top ten - Ricky Stenhouse in JTG-Daugherty's 47, Austin Dillon in the RCR 3, Jimmie Johnson with Hendrick, Bubba Wallace with Petty thanks to a gutsy non-pitstop call by his former JGR crew chief Jerry Baxter, Kyle Larson with Ganassi, and Ty Dillon with Germain Racing.   This is the kind of depth Chevrolet needs to strengthen and should have been pursuing from the beginning; it will be a key angle to watch at Fontana.


3 - Toyota's strength without numbers strategy backfired as no Toyota finished higher than Kyle Busch's 15th, this after three Camrys were busted in prerace tech and started in the back, including Busch.   With just five cars Toyota is grossly outnumbered with in essence just one team.


4 - The story everyone watched was Ross Chastain subbing for Ryan Newman.   Chastain, borriwed from Ganassi Racing, acquitted himself well enough - despite a late spin - that speculation soon began circulating on social media whether when Newman returns a third Roush car will have to be fielded to accommodate Newman while retaining Chastain.   We expect Chastain to run respectably at Fontana.

Steve O'Donnell's opening presser on Ryan Newman's crash



5 - There has been a growing controversy in angry exchanges in NASCAR media involving the Barstool Sports website.  While at least some of the controversy may be legitimate, having followed NASCAR media coverage all these decades what has always been striking is the groupthink mentality that has long existed there and the longstanding need for fresh and differing perspectives to be brought to the press room and to coverage in general, such as media that will challenge the opinions of drivers should the issue in question warrant it.   





So it proceeds as the series enters Fontana.