For the week of March 7th, 2016

NASCAR

Keselowski wins at Las Vegas: #2-Brad Keselowski won the Kobalt 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for his 1st win of the season, 2nd win in at Las Vegas and 18th career win. Keselowski led 24 of the 267 laps. He took the lead from #18-Busch with 6 laps to go and pulled away to win by .6 seconds.

  • #22-Logano finished 2nd, followed by #48-Johnson, #18-Busch, #3-Dillon, #21-Blaney, #4-Harvick, #88-Earnhardt, Jr., #41-Busch, and #5-Kahne.
  • Polesitter #41-Busch led the first 31 laps, but was penalized for speeding on pit road under the first caution and was never able to get back to the front of the field.
  • There were 20 lead changes among 10 drivers and 6 cautions for 36 yellow flag laps.
  • The race started a few minutes late after a few rain showers just before the start.
  • Kyle Busch leads the point standings by 6 points over Jimmie Johnson.

Still no timeline for Stewart's return: #14-Tony Stewart already has defied his doctor's orders, but there is one order he won't ignore: The order that he won't return to racing until the broken bone in his back has healed. The three-time Sprint Cup champion said Friday he will be ready to race once doctors give him the OK. He just has no clue when that will come. His first X-rays since the Feb. 3 surgery for his fractured L1 vertebra will be Wednesday, and that will let him know his progress and possibly set the schedule for his rehab and potential return. Stewart also wouldn't rule out making the Chase for the Sprint Cup in his final season, hopeful that NASCAR will award him a waiver to miss races, just like it did with Kyle Busch, while still requiring a win and a top-30 regular-season finish in the standings to make the Chase.(ESPN.com)(3-5-2016)

Allegiant Air becomes Official Passenger Airline of NASCAR: NASCAR and Allegiant Air announced a multi-year agreement designating the travel company as the Official Passenger Airline of NASCAR. The newly forged partnership positions Allegiant as the first-ever "Official Passenger Airline Partner" of the sanctioning body. Allegiant will allow fans to take advantage of its convenient, ultra-low-cost service to enjoy races in more than 20 NASCAR race markets, including NASCAR's entire west coast series of events in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. As part of this integrated partnership, Allegiant Air joins the NASCAR Fuel for Business Council, which brings together an exclusive group of nearly 60 Official NASCAR Partners four times per year to buy and sell products and services from one another. This exclusive business-to-business environment offers unique opportunities for many Fortune 500 companies to bypass the time and layers of corporate coordination that may exist to construct customized deals that help address specific business needs.(NASCAR)(3-4-2016)

NEXT RACE: Phoenix International Raceway this weekend; TV on FOX on Sunday at noon PT.

NHRA

The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series continues March 17-20 with the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Florida's Gainesville Raceway.

Nice little video on recent Top Fuel winner Leah Pritchett: https://content.jwplatform.com/previews/31hw5bxl-xrCRXpzj.

 

INDYCAR

MONTOYA MAKES FIRST VISIT TO ESPN CAMPUS

Juan Pablo Montoya is making the rounds today at ESPN to promote the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season opening March 11-13 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Montoya, the defending St. Pete and Indy 500 champion, was a guest this morning on "SportsCenter" and will make appearances on several other ESPN and ESPN Deportes entities throughout the day. Montoya's schedule also includes visits on "Face to Face with Hannah Storm," "ESPN Front Row," a taping for a later "SportsCenter" broadcast, the ESPN Deportes show "#Redes" and an interview with espn.com.

Dixon to visit 'TODAY' for 'Guys Tell All'

Meanwhile, Scott Dixon - the driver Montoya lost the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series championship to on a tiebreaker - will be in New York City on March 8 as a guest of Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford on NBC's "TODAY" for a segment titled "Guys Tell All." Dixon, driver of the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, will join comedians Chuck Nice and Jared Fried and former "Bachelor" contestant Bob Guiney in the segment that airs at 10:22 a.m. ET.

AT SONOMA RACEWAY

  • Wednesday Night Drags and Sonoma Drift kick off NEXT Wednesday, March 16!