Las Vegas Sun

April 19, 2024

Las Vegas Sun - NASCAR Weekend

  • Photogallery

    NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

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    NASCAR Sprint Cup Series action Sunday at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

  • Video

    The Candy Man Can

    The Candy Man Can

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    In his M&M-sponsored car, hometown driver Kyle Busch snagged his first career win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Sunday's Shelby 427.

  • Video

    Living in Fast Forward

    Living in Fast Forward

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    Check out the sights and sounds of what life is like living at a racetrack for a weekend.

  • Fans watch while on top of their RVs in the infield at the Shelby 427 Sprint Cup Race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday.

    Win or lose, fans here for the atmosphere

    March 1, 2009

    By Garrett Downing

    With NASCAR in town for the Shelby 427 Sprint Cup Series race, thousands of fans turned the infield at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway into a weeklong party.

  • Video

    Remembering Chris Trickle

    Remembering Chris Trickle

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    Barbara and Chuck Trickle remember their son, Chris, a NASCAR driver who was murdered 11 years ago.

  • Video

    Keeping Pace

    Keeping Pace

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    Ever wonder what it's like to drive at racing speeds around a NASCAR track? Watch as 702.tv sports reporter Christine Killimayer rides along with Sprint Cup Series pace car driver Brett Bodine at Las Vegas Motor speedway

  • Race results shake up standings

    March 1, 2009

    By Garrett Downing

    In a race with 14 cautions, several engine failures and a hometown champion, the Shelby 427 Sprint Cup Series race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway also produced a new leader in the standings.

  • Blog: Bloggity, Bloggity, Bloggity

    Shelby 427 sketch pad

    March 1, 2009 (7:00 p.m.)

    By Mike Smith

    Surprisingly, the concession stand for Digger, Fox’s animated road-kill candidate, had more customers than the trailer for three-time champion Jimmie Johnson.

  • Kyle Busch celebrates winning the Shelby 427 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday.

    NASCAR blog: Updates from the speedway

    March 1, 2009

    By Brett Okamoto

    Kyle Busch is the 2009 Shelby 427 Sprint Series Cup champion. The 23-year-old came from a 39th place start to take his first Sprint victory of the season. After the race's 14th caution left three laps to go, the No. 18 car broke away from the pack and never let anyone get close.

  • Kyle Busch's crew works on his car before the Nationwide Series Sam's Town 300 on Saturday.

    Younger Busch using lessons learned in Vegas

    March 1, 2009

    By Brett Okamoto

    Before there was the No. 18 Toyota Camry, NASCAR weekends and making history, there was just a Las Vegas kid who loved to watch his dad and older brother race. Whether you love him or not – and few feel somewhere in between – the intensity of 23-year-old Kyle Busch is often admired.

  • Greg Biffle takes the checkered flag at the the Nationwide Series Sam's Town 300 Saturday, February 28, 2009 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    Biffle finds luck at LVMS

    February 28, 2009

    By Andy Samuelson

    Greg Biffle had some bad breaks Saturday at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He was caught speeding, heck Biffle even ran out of gas, not once, but twice — while leading the Sam’s Town 300. But the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford overcame all of those problems and got lucky at just the right time as he held off teammate Carl Edwards down the home stretch of a green-white-checkered-flag finish. "It feels great to get back in Victory Lane," said Biffle, who snapped a 76-race winless streak by crossing the finish line .391 seconds ahead of Edwards in a race that was plagued by 12 cautions, one short of the race record.

  • Video

    Scenes of NASCAR

    Scenes of NASCAR

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    NASCAR fans and workers find ways to entertain themselves and the crowds at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

  • Photogallery

    Sam's Town 300

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  • UNLV basketball coach Lon Kruger talks with wife Barb, left, and Cheri Quijano before the start of the Nationwide Series Sam's Town 300 on Saturday.

    Kruger enjoys role as race commander

    February 28, 2009

    By Ron Kantowski

    Too bad the UNLV basketball team doesn't listen like the starting field of the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Lon Kruger must have been thinking. As grand marshal of the Sam's Town 300, it was the UNLV basketball coach's responsibility to repeat the most famous words in auto racing on Saturday afternoon. For a rookie, he did pretty good. No double dribbles on national TV. "If I have to say any more, I might need cue cards," said Kruger, who was wearing a Sam's Town 300 cap that (almost) enabled him to blend in with the big crowd estimated at 80,000.

  • Greg Biffle takes the checkered flag at the the Nationwide Series Sam's Town 300 Saturday, February 28, 2009 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    The ups and downs of race day

    February 28, 2009

    By Andy Samuelson

    Anything and everything can happen on race day. The "key" is how good your support staff is. Luck wasn't on hometown hero Kyle Busch's side as he wrecked out early on, but Greg Biffle did benefit from good fortunes in Las Vegas when he won the Sam's Town 300.

  • Blog: Bloggity, Bloggity, Bloggity

    Las Vegas Motor Speedway sketch pad

    February 27, 2009 (6:27 p.m.)

    By Mike Smith

    Today and Sunday I will be drawing sketches from the infield of Las Vegas Motor Speedway and posting them here on Bloggity.

  • Photogallery

    NASCAR Qualifying Day

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    The Las Vegas Motor Speedway was a buzz Friday as Las Vegas-based brothers Kyle and Kurt Busch qualified 1-2 for Sunday's Shelby 427.

  • Brothers Kurt, left, and Kyle Busch talk after qualifying runs at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Friday, February 27, 2009. The Las Vegas natives qualified 1-2 for Sunday's Shelby 427.

    Oh Brother! Busch brothers qualify 1-2 for Sunday’s Shelby 427 at LVMS

    February 27, 2009

    By Andy Samuelson

    For all their success in racing, the Las Vegas-based Busch brothers did something they've never done before Friday — qualify 1-2. But in order to win his first race at his home track, Kyle Busch will have to do so from the back of the field. Not exactly the award the Las Vegas native was hoping for, especially considering the 23-year-old Busch will be the pole-sitter for Sunday’s Shelby 427 after laying down a new track qualifying record in 29.033 seconds, 185.995 mph at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

  • Brendan Gaughan heads into turn one during practice for Saturday's Sam's Town 300 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday.

    Gaughan ready for return to glory

    February 27, 2009

    By Brett Okamoto

    The best moment of NASCAR driver Brendan Gaughan's life was so unbelievable, he thought it belonged to someone else. As the Las Vegas native and member of the family that owns South Point, stepped up to the stage after a first place finish in the Camping Truck Series Las Vegas 350 in 2003, the crowd cheered so loudly that Gaughan, thinking they had announced another driver, backed away.

  • Blog: Bloggity, Bloggity, Bloggity

    Las Vegas Motor Speedway sketch pad

    February 27, 2009 (6:27 p.m.)

    By Mike Smith

    Today and Sunday I will be drawing sketches from the infield of Las Vegas Motor Speedway and posting them here on Bloggity.

  • Elvis Presley impersonator Harry Shahoian and members of The Flying Elvi skydiving team show off a Dale Earnhardt and Elvis Presley-themed racecar at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday, Feb. 27, 2009.

    ‘Earnhardt and Elvis’ car unveiled in Las Vegas

    February 27, 2009

    By Cydney Cappello

    Surrounded by showgirls, flying Elvi and adoring fans, a racecar celebrating the legacy of two legends was unveiled Friday at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

  • Brothers Kyle, left, and Kurt Busch pose for photos during the Sprint for Kids Challenge held at Pole Position Raceway in Las Vegas Thursday, February 26, 2009. Busch and other NASCAR celebrities participated in the team endurance kart race to benefit the Kurt Busch Foundation.

    Busch brothers happy to be back home

    February 27, 2009

    By Andy Samuelson

    It had to feel like old times for the Busch brothers Thursday night as they once again raced each other on a track in their hometown. “I think I passed him once, but his car may have been running out of juice,” said a laughing Kyle Busch, of overtaking his brother, Kurt, at his own charity event at Pole Position Raceway behind the Palms casino. "I don’t recall that,” said the elder Kurt, with a big smile.

  • Video

    On the Inside Track

    On the Inside Track

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    Christine Killimayer takes you on an inside look at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

  • Video

    Gentlemen, start your burners!

    Gentlemen, start your burners!

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    At ESPN Zone inside New York New York Casino, six NASCAR's rookies went toe to toe in an iron chef style cook-off judged by children from the Boys and Girls club's of Las Vegas.

  • The Air Force Thunderbirds fly over the track before the NASCAR UAW-Dodge 400 auto race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 2, 2008.

    Ford gets mileage from racing

    February 27, 2009

    By Mark Hansel

    What a difference a year makes. When the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series hit town last year, the race was called the UAW Daimler-Chrysler 400, and fans packed the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This year the race, called the Shelby 427, is sponsored by Shelby Automobiles. Attendance is expected to be way down, and Chrysler, along with General Motors and to a lesser extent Ford, is fighting just to stay in business.

  • Race fans cheer as NASCAR car haulers parade down the Strip Thursday. Racers compete in the 2009 Shelby 427 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday.

    NASCAR haulers make Strip detour ahead of races

    February 26, 2009

    By Cydney Cappello

    NASCAR enthusiasts from across the country lined Las Vegas Boulevard on Thursday to kick off NASCAR weekend with the second annual Hauler Parade. Forty-eight haulers, towing the precious race cargo, made their way down the Las Vegas Strip with police escorts to the final destination -- the Las Vegas Motor Speedway -- in time for this weekend's competition.