At last year’s LVMS NASCAR race, Kevin Harvick showed us ‘freaky fast’
The message on the side panel of Kevin Harvick’s racecar said it all at last year’s Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:
Freaky fast.
The inscription was the slogan of the sandwich company that sponsored Harvick’s No. 4 Chevrolet. It also pretty much described the performance of car and driver during the 2015 Sprint Cup stop here.
Harvick, the 2014 series champion from Bakersfield, California, raced up front most of the day. He was never seriously threatened after taking the lead with 16 laps to go after a refueling cycle; he beat Martin Truex Jr. to the line by a comfortable 1.6 seconds en route to posting his first Las Vegas victory before an announced crowd of 90,000 sun-splashed spectators.
The winner’s average speed was 143.677 mph over 267 laps in a race slowed by six caution periods (for 28 laps). It took 2 hours, 47 minutes, 15 seconds, to complete.
Here’s the race recap, broken down into 66-lap, 100-mile segments:
MILES 1-100
Green flag: Leaders: Joey Logano, laps 1-27; Dale Earnhardt Jr., laps 28-29; Logano, laps 30-42; Jimmie Johnson, laps 43-66.
Yellow flag: Laps 27-30, competition yellow.
Out: Alex Bowman (engine)
Notable: Jeff Gordon, competing in his final Las Vegas race before retiring, starts from the pole but drops to the rear before the green flag after switching to his backup car following a practice crash.
MILES 101-200
Green flag: Leaders: Johnson, laps 67-76; Carl Edwards, laps 77-78; Matt Kenseth, lap 79; Johnson, laps 80-90; Kevin Harvick, laps 91-130; Brad Keselowski, laps 131-132.
Yellow flag: Laps 83-86, debris.
Out: None
Notable: Brendan Gaughan, the only local driver in field (Kurt Busch was suspended; brother Kyle Busch was injured), serves a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit road.
MILES 201-300
Green flag: Leaders: Logano, laps 133-139; Harvick, laps 140-144; Martin Truex Jr., laps 145-147; Harvick, laps 148-198.
Yellow flag: Laps 140-144, debris; laps 173-177, Johnson hits wall in turn 1; laps 187-192, Johnson hits wall in turn 4; laps 195-198, Edwards crashes in turn 1.
Out: None
Notable: Tire punctures, wall-bangers end Johnson’s bid for an unprecedented fifth victory in Las Vegas.
MILES 301-400
Green flag: Leaders: Earnhardt Jr., laps 199-200; Harvick, laps 201-230; Ryan Newman, laps 231-244; Keselowski, laps 245-251; Harvick, laps 252-267.
Yellow flag: None
Out: None
Finishing order: Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex, Jr., Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, AJ Allmendinger, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano.
Notable: Harvick cycles back to front following green-flag pit stops by Newman and Keselowski; coasts to his 29th Sprint Cup victory. Fourteen of the 43 starters finish on lead lap.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski
