KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY NEWS AND NOTES

EDWARDS CASHES IN NASCAR SPRINT CUP LAS VEGAS VICTORY

Former Kentucky Speedway NASCAR Craftsman Truck and Nationwide Series race winner Carl Edwards earned used his second consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory to take the top spot in the series standings yesterday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Roush Fenway Racing driver earned back-to-back series wins for the second time in his career and the first time since he claimed wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway October 30 and Nov. 6, 2005. He owns two wins, two top-five and two top-10 finishes this season. The triumph was his first at the Las Vegas facility and the ninth of his career through 124 starts. Edwards crossed the finish line 0.504 of a second ahead of Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who was followed by Greg Biffle in third-place, Kevin Harvick in fourth and Jeff Burton in fifth. Edwards supplanted Las Vegas race pole award winner Kyle Busch from the top spot in the standings. The news wasn’t all good for Edwards after NASCAR officials noticed a missing oil tank box lid during post race inspection which may lead to a team penalty and point deduction. Kyle Busch finished 11th and outside a race top five for the first time this season after starting the season with back-to-back fourth-place finishes at Daytona and California. Earnhardt, Jr., rebounded from his 40th-place California finish by advancing 13 positions in the series standings to 10th with his first top-five and second top-10 finish of the season. Biffle, a former NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Kentucky Speedway race winner, moved from ninth to sixth in the series standings with his first top-five and second top-10 finish of the season. Harvick climbed from seventh to fifth in the standings with his first top-five and second straight top-10 series finish while Burton advanced from 10th to seventh in the standings with his first top-five and top-10 finish of the campaign. The race witnessed 11 cautions that eroded 44 competitive laps. Contenders Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon were all eliminated from the race after their cars were made heavy contact with various retaining walls. Stewart’s car made contact with the Turn 3 wall on Lap 110 of 267, Busch’s car was sent into the Turn 4 wall when the car’s right front tire exploded on Lap 258 and Gordon was eliminated after his car made contact with the No. 17 of Matt Kenseth on Lap 264 and slid into a pass-through in the interior retaining wall at the backstretch entrance. Gordon and Kenseth were battling for top-five track position at the time of the incident. Kenseth officially finished 20th, Gordon placed 35th and Stewart ended the day in the 43rd spot. The series is back in action March 9 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. FOX Television coverage gets underway at 1:30 p.m. Performance Racing Network (PRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 128 coverage is slated for a 2:00 p.m., start. Two-time and defending series champion Jimmie Johnson won the March and October events at the track last season. Ryan Newman earned the March pole award and Biffle started the October race from the top spot on the grid. The top 12 drivers entering the event are: Edwards (Leader: 491 points, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing); Kyle Busch (Second: -21 points, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing); Newman (Third: -41, Dodge, Penske Racing); Kasey Kahne (Fourth: -47, Dodge, Gillett Evernham Motorsports); Harvick (Fifth: -63, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing); Biffle (Sixth: -64, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing); Burton (Seventh: -70, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing); Martin Truex, Jr. (Eighth: -120, Chevrolet, Dale Earnhardt, Inc.), Elliott Sadler (Ninth: -123, Dodge, Gillett Evernham Motorsports), Dale Earnhardt, Jr., (10th: -130, Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports); Tony Stewart (11th: -136, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing); and Kurt Busch (12th: -143, Dodge, Penske Racing).

MARTIN DEALT WINNING HAND IN NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES LAS VEGAS RACE

A bit of racing luck allowed NASCAR veteran Mark Martin to take his 48th career NASCAR Nationwide Series win by 0.586 of a second over Roush Fenway driver Greg Biffle March 1 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Martin had his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet near the front of the pack when the No. 60 car of Carl Edwards made contact with Brad Keselowski’s No. 88 in the front stretch as the cars jockeyed for the race lead on Lap 196 of a scheduled 200. The 13th caution of the event effectively added two laps to the race. Martin guided his car safely around the incident and held the race lead when the checkered flag waved on Lap 202. Richard Childress racer Clint Bowyer finished third, Kevin Harvick placed fourth and David Stremme completed the race top five. Biffle charted his first top-five finish of the season and rocketed 14 spots in the standings to 14th. Bowyer also registered his first top-five finish and moved up four spots in the series standings to sixth. Harvick moved into a second-place tie in the standings with Busch with his second top-five finish of the campaign. Stremme clicked off 15 spots in the standings with his first top-five and top-10 finish of the season. He will start the week 19th in the standings. Edwards finished the race 14th and dropped from third to fourth in the standings. Keselowski’s 23rd-place finish was not enough to lodge him from the 18th position. Open-wheel convert and 2007 IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti moved from 16th to ninth in the series standings with a sixth-place finish that marked his first series top-10 performance. His previous series-best was a 20th-place showing in the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway. Brad Coleman, a 2006 ARCA RE/MAX Series race winner at Kentucky Speedway, also gained seven positions in the series standings and will start the week in the No. 10 slot following his ninth-place Las Vegas showing that stands as his first top-10 result of the season. The series soldiers on March 8 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. ESPN2 television coverage will start at 1:30 p.m. The Performance Racing Network (PRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 128 will commence broadcast operations at 2:00 p.m. Jeff Burton won the 2007 race at the track that Kyle Busch started from the pole position. The top 10 drivers in the series standings entering the race are: Tony Stewart (Leader: 472 points, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing); Kyle Busch (Second (tied): -42, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing); Harvick (Second (tied): -42, Chevrolet, Kevin Harvick, Inc.); Edwards (Fourth: -57, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing); David Ragan (Fifth: -63, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing); Bowyer (Sixth: -76, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing), David Reutimann (Seventh: -103, Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing); Mike Wallace (Eighth: -115, Toyota, Germain Racing); Franchitti (Ninth: -128; Dodge, Chip Ganassi Racing); and Coleman (10th: - 143, Ford, Baker Curb Racing).

KYLE BUSCH LEADS THE NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES STANDINGS ENTERING ATLANTA

Former NASCAR Nationwide Series and ARCA RE/MAX Series Kentucky Speedway race winner Kyle Busch earned his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the season and his second-straight top-two finish at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., Feb. 23. Busch also took over the lead in the series standings. He now owns a total of seven series wins, 16 top-five and 24 top-10 finishes through just 38 career starts. Busch and his No. 51 Toyota led a dominating 51 of 100 race laps, including the final 11, before crossing the finish line 1.415 seconds ahead Todd Bodine, a former NASCAR Nationwide Series winner at Kentucky Speedway, and his No. 30 Toyota. Johnny Benson placed third in his No. 23 Toyota, Terry Cook brought home a fourth-place finish in his No. 60 Wyler Racing Toyota and 2006 Kentucky Speedway series event winner Ron Hornaday, Jr., grabbed fifth in his No. 33 Chevrolet. He took his first top-five finish of the season and moved to ninth in the series standings after gaining 15 positions. Bodine slipped to second in the standings despite earning his second consecutive top-two finish. Benson took his second straight third-place finish while Cook collected his first top-five finish of 2008. The series will be on the track for a 200-mile event at Atlanta Motor Speedway March 7. Mike Skinner, a 2007 Kentucky Speedway series race winner, won last season’s Atlanta event from the pole position. SPEED Channel coverage will begin at 8:30 p.m. MRN Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 128 will go on the air at 9:00 p.m. The top 10 drivers in the series standings going into race will be: Busch (Leader: 365 points, Toyota, Billy Ballew Motorsports); Bodine (Second: -20, Toyota, Germain Racing); Benson (Third: -25, Toyota, Bill Davis Racing); David Starr (Fourth: -81, Toyota, Red Horse Racing); Rick Crawford (Fifth: -84, Ford, Circle Bar Racing); Phillip McGilton (Sixth: -104, Toyota, Bill Davis Racing); Chad McCumbee (Seventh: -110, Ford, MRD Motorsports); Dennis Setzer (Eighth: -111, Dodge, Bobby Hamilton Racing); Hornaday, Jr. (Ninth: -112, Chevrolet, Kevin Harvick, Inc.) and Stacy Compton (Tenth: -115, Dodge, Bobby Hamilton Racing).