Las Vegas Motor Speedway Team Penske members Joey Logano Car 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford and Brad Keselowski Car 2 Miller Lite Ford lead the field to green from the front row of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series KOBALT 400. After winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series 18th Annual Boyd Gaming 300 the day before, winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series KOBALT 400 on the last lap was the Icing on the cake for Brad Keselowski & Team Penske. Brad Keselowski’s team knew Dale Earnhardt Jr Car 88 Mountain Dew Kickstart Chevrolet was gambling on fuel & pushed Dale Earnhardt Jr to burn gas. On the last lap in the lead, Dale Earnhardt Jr ran out of gas on the backstretch, a half-lap from the checker, and coasted to second place, 1.531 seconds behind Brad Keselowski.
This was still a good finish for Dale Earnhardt Jr Car 88 Mountain Dew Kickstart Chevrolet who is the Daytona 500 and has got 2nd place in the races since his win.
Wins being so important for a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup teams will continue to gamble to get the win. Brad Keselowski stated “It’s such a relief for myself and everyone on the team to get that win in early and being able to enjoy the racing opportunities that we have, rather than being stressed out about it,”
The race was 267 Laps 400.5 Miles 2 hours, 35 minutes, 24 seconds, average Speed 154.633 MPH & margin of win 1.530 Seconds. 4 Cautions for 18 laps, 21 lead Changes 10 drivers. On lap 123Brad Keselowski spun into the wall slightly. Some damage to the right rear. Lap 252 Brad Keselowski’s team reporting Junior probably can’t make it on fuel. Keselowski catching up to the leader. Lap 258 Steve Letarte telling Dale Earnhardt Jr to drive hard despite fuel concerns. Lap 264 Brad Keselowski battling hard to take the lead away from Dale Earnhardt Jr. Lap 266 White flag: Dale Earnhardt Jr. is in the lead. Fuel still a concern. Lap 267 Checkered flag: Brad Keselowski takes the lead as Dale Earnhardt Jr. runs out of fuel.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Unofficial Race Results for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 17Th Annual Kobalt 400 – Sunday, March 9, 2014 Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, NV – 1.5 Mile Paved
Finish, Car, Driver, Team
1. Car 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford
2. Car 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Mountain Dew Kickstart Chevrolet
3. Car 27 Paul Menard Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet
4. Car 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford
5. Car 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford
6. Car 48 Jimmie Johnson Kobalt Tools Chevrolet
7. Car 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet
8. Car 5 Kasey Kahne Farmers Insurance Chevrolet
9. Car 24 Jeff Gordon Axalta Chevrolet
10. Car 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota
11. Car 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota
12. Car 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota
13. Car 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota
14. Car 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet
15. Car 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna/Bad Boy Buggies Chevrolet
16. Car 3 Austin Dillon Cheerios Chevrolet
17. Car 66 Jeff Burton Let’s Go Places Toyota
18. Car 47 AJ Allmendinger Kingsford Charcoal Chevrolet
19. Car 42 Kyle Larson Target Chevrolet
20. Car 21 Trevor Bayne Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford
21. Car 10 Danica Patrick Aspen Dental Chevrolet
22. Car 16 Greg Biffle Red Cross Ford
23. Car 15 Clint Bowyer 5-hour Energy Toyota
24. Car 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt Ford
25. Car 43 Aric Almirola Farmland Ford
26. Car 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet
27. Car 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Zest Ford
28. Car 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet
29. Car 7 Michael Annett Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet
30. Car 38 David Gilliland Love’s Travel Stops Ford
31. Car 51 Justin Allgaier Brandt Professional Agriculture Chevrolet
32. Car 34 David Ragan Taco Bell Ford
33. Car 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet
34. Car 36 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet
35. Car 83 Ryan Truex Borla Exhaust Toyota
36. Car 26 Cole Whitt Speed Stick GEAR Toyota
37. Car 23 Alex Bowman Dr.Pepper Toyota
38. Car 33 Timmy Hill LittleJoesAutos.com Chevrolet
39. Car 32 Travis Kvapil Ask More-Get More Ford
40. Car 30 Parker Kligerman Aria Hotels/Black Clover Toyota
41. Car 4 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John’s Chevrolet
42. Car 98 Josh Wise Ambient Edge HVAC Chevrolet
43. Car 95 Michael McDowell WRL General Contractors Ford