NASCAR Nextel Cup - UAW Daimler-Chrysler 400 from Las Vegas - on FOX Sun 3/7 3 pm EST/noon PST

NASCAR.com ^

[steveegg]

After taking a week off to get their equipment over to sunny Las Vegas, NASCAR's top 2 divisions are getting ready to go around Las Vegas Motor Speedway's 1.5 mile tri-oval. For the NEXTEL teams, qualifying starts at 6 pm Eastern over on Speed, with the race at 3 pm Eastern Sunday on Fox.

[steveegg]

That there are. Looks like we've got a couple junior Rocket Men in Kahne and Vickers; I give Brian about 50 laps before he blows up :-)   I wouldn't bet against Dollar Bill and his fill-in though.

[aomagrat]

What's up with the three digit car numbers? I thought NASCAR rules limited car numbers to 2 digits.

[steveegg]

Who wants to do the "field-filler" pool? We got 3 contestants this week (Crash Long, Captain Kirk and Grampa Shepard; James Finch is actually going to try to run this race legit with Johnny Benson instead of using Stuck-in-a-Ruttman to collect his one-lap check).

[NormsRevenge]

Thanks to the FR Canteen Pit Crew and All the TRoops around the globe. :-)

Here's a kid to keep an eye on today and for a long time.

Kasey Kahne - Pole sitter in the Sunday race. 23 years old..

[NormsRevenge]

From Yahoo Sports and AP - Mike Harris

Kahne on top as ``Young Guns'' lead qualifying

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) -- Qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was a big day for NASCAR's ``Young Guns.''

Nobody over the age of 27 was able to break into the top five in Friday's time trials for the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400, and it was 23-year-old rookie Kasey Kahne who led the way.

Kahne, who missed winning the race Feb. 22 at Rockingham by inches, grabbed his first NASCAR Nextel Cup pole in a record-smashing qualifying session.

``I messed the first lap up a little bit, but I got it straightened out,'' said Kahne, who watched nervously from the top of his team's transporter until Kurt Busch, the last of 44 drivers to make qualifying runs, came up just short.

Kahne, driving a Dodge for Evernham Motorsports in only his third Cup start, turned a lap of 174.904 mph, leading 15 drivers who surpassed the previous track qualifying record of 173.016, set last year by Bobby Labonte.

The youngster was asked if winning his first pole was more exciting than nearly beating defending series champion Matt Kenseth for the win at Rockingham.

``Rockingham was a lot of fun,'' Kahne said. ``But that was two weeks ago and this is now. This is a great thing for our team.''

Sunday's race is expected to be the first real test for NASCAR's new combination of a shortened rear spoiler and softer tires -- both intended to make racing on intermediate tracks like this 1 1/2 -mile oval more exciting.

The softer tires and decreased downforce certainly made the cars faster on Friday -- and it was NASCAR's twentysomethings who took greatest advantage of the new rules.

The 25-year-old Busch, driving a Roush Racing Ford, had a lap of 174.548 -- which was 0.063 seconds slower than Kahne's. That broke up a ``Kiddie Corps'' front row, shoving 20-year-old Brian Vickers, another rookie in his third start, to the second row.

``It was a pretty good lap,'' Busch said. ``I'm proud of that effort. When we came here to test in January, this car was going to be our `B' car. But we kept polishing on it and it just kept getting better.

``To come up short like that was a bit disappointing, but we've had a great start to our season.''

Vickers, last year's Busch series champion, turned a lap of 174.537 in a Hendrick Chevrolet.

``I'm not really disappointed,'' Vickers said. ``We improved from practice and anytime you do that, you've done a good job.''

Jamie McMurray, 27, last year's top rookie, was fourth in a Dodge at 174.436, followed by the Intrepid of 2002's leading rookie, Ryan Newman, 26, who came into the day as the favorite but came up considerably short of winning his 20th career pole at 174.340.

``We were going for it, and I'm a little disappointed that we didn't get it,'' said Newman, who won a series-high 11 poles and eight races last season. ``I think we were one of the few teams that didn't come out here to test. Just to be able to come home with a top five is a lot to be said considering the new tires and rule changes.''

Busch's 18-year-old brother, Kyle, also impressed, qualifying 18th in his first Cup start. The younger Busch, a regular in the Busch series this season, turned a lap of 172.955.

Rounding out the top 10 were Jeremy Mayfield at 174.267, Bobby Labonte at 173.863, rookie Brendan Gaughan at 173.823, Greg Biffle at 173.807 and Bill Elliott, making his first Cup start of the season after cutting back to a limited schedule, at 173.768.

Kenseth, whose victory here last year was the only win of his championship season, qualified 25th at 171.679. He started 17th last March.

Series leader Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won the Daytona 500 and finished fifth at Rockingham -- the only driver with two top-five finishes this season -- qualified 26th at 171.516.

Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon qualified 20th at 172.469 despite bouncing hard off the fourth-turn wall on his fast lap.

For the second straight race, there were barely enough entries to fill the 43-car field, with only Busch Series driver Larry Gunselman failing to make the lineup.

Among the drivers who did qualify were ``field fillers'' Morgan Shepherd at 164.986, Carl Long at 163.701 and Kirk Shelmerdine at 163.320.

[steveegg]

Teams are limited to a max of 2 digits showing on the car, but 3-digit team numbers are typically used to distinguish between various part-time teams that want to share a number (doesn't explain Kirk Shelmerdine getting 172 instead of 72 though, unless they're holding it in reserve in case Benny Parsons wants to turn a few laps as a field-filler).

[Colonel Jim]

ZZZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Love it.

[StriperSniper]

Today at the Busch race, Charlie Daniels is singing the National Anthem. :)

[countrydummy]

I have no idea what you mean! Sorry Female, and Blonde!

[NormsRevenge]

They were just showing off the new kids.

Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne,, heck, Kurt Busch is only 25 ... :-]

[NormsRevenge]

Great Anthem rendition by Charlie aca pella(sic) .. love that rough husky voice!!

Nice flyover by 2 F15s and 2 F16s

[NormsRevenge]

Gordon's bad luck continues in Vegas

Tagged the wall yesterday, , blew his engine today,, to the back of the pack tomorrow from 20th..

[StriperSniper]

Glad somebody was able to enjoy it. :)

I knew I was going to be out when I heard it when he was on with Tony Snow.

Any chance he might do tomorow also? ;-)

[tubebender]

Tagged the wall yesterday, , blew his engine today,, to the back of the pack tomorrow from 20th..

Sorry about that Norm. Have another beer on me...

[countrydummy]

dang I feel asleep

[tubebender]

It's easy to do watching a Vegas race...

[tubebender]

10 cars on the lead lap out of 43 starting...

[countrydummy]

thank you

[flutters]

What a weird Busch race. Matt would have won it if it weren't for Sauter.

Childress is to racing as the Clinton's are to politics.

[WestCoastGal]

Anyone have any input on practice and Happy Hour today. Gordon really did himself in when he blew the engine by missing a shift. I'm glad he's not my pick in the league. The three of us are neck & neck for position 10-11-12.

Jr has been very quiet in practice, didn't qualify well. He led most laps last year and almost won, but Kenseth had better pit strategy.

All the Dodge's look good. I picked Newman for qualifying points but managed to luck out with Kahne.