NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2015 Preview: Will Kobalt 400 Las Vegas Motorspeedway Be Jimmie Johnson's Again?
The Las Vegas Motor Speedway is one of the newer tracks on NASCAR's Sprint cup series circuit. It held it first Sprint Cup series race in 1998 and since then has become one of the premiere tracks of NASCAR. The track was reconfigured in 2006 that increased the banking in the turns from 12 degrees to 20. The track also added progressive banking to encourage more side to side racing for the stock cars of NASCAR. The banking in the turns goes from 18 to 20 degrees and the track is officially a 1.5 Tri oval meaning the front stretch has a bit of a dogleg. It is an intermediary track, one that has become very familiar in this era of NASCAR.
Brad Keselowski in his Penske Racing Ford won this race a year ago, however it is Jimmie Johnson, fresh off a win at the Atlanta Motor Speedway who has had the most success there. Since 2005 he has won four times and has a driver rating of 113.6 at the gem in the desert. He also has a series best average speed at the track of 171.233 MPH.
NASCAR Sprint Cup series fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a driver rating of 91.5 at this track. That is the ninth best in the series, and Junior has three top f and 8 top ten finishes on his Vegas racing resume. He has an average finish at the track of 14.7.
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Carl Edwards, driving his first year in the Toyota's of Joe Gibbs Racing has also had a lot of success at Las Vegas. He has two wins, and a series fifth best average running position of 12.0.
Pay close attention to 2015 Daytona 500 Champion Joey Logano. In six career races at this track he has finished in the top 10 half of the time. His driver rating here is 87.5, which is good enough for 12th best among Sprint Cup competitors.
