Shelby 427 Qualifying Update

Las Vegas Motor Speedway -- 03/1/2009

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Saturday Feb 28 2009 5:07pm

If you believe in conspiracy theories, it might be easy conjure up a scenario in which two drivers, who happen to be brothers, and also happen to be natives of Las Vegas, happen to run first and second in qualifying for the only race of the year at their home track, Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

That was the situation after qualifying at LVMS Friday, as Kyle Busch scored the pole with a 185.995 mile per hour lap and older brother Kurt Busch earned the outside pole at 185.707 mph.

But the suspicious among you might want to turn your attention from the Busch Brothers to the engine woes of the Toyota teams, including that of polesitter Kyle Busch. At press time, five Toyota teams have had to change engines this week and will start at the rear of the field, including Busch; last week’s polesitter, Brian Vickers; the fourth- and fifth-place qualifiers, David Reutimann and Marcos Ambrose; and rookie Scott Speed, who was still having engine woes Saturday. Michael Waltrip, another Toyota team member, changed his engine last weekend in California.

`It's a wear issue between the camshaft and lifter,” said Toyota Racing Development President Lee White from the Vegas garage Saturday morning. “It's either a coating, lubrication, lack of lubrication, too much lubrication, not enough coating, or a material situation, or just the simple fact that we haven't been testing.`

I hope that clarifies the situation for you.

Regardless of the cause, the fact that five Toyota drivers, including three of the top-five qualifiers, will be moving to the rear of the field before the green, creates some confusion on the starting grid. Kurt Busch, the second-fastest qualifier, will maintain his position on the outside pole, while the third-place car of Jimmie Johnson moves up to P1, bringing the entire inside line with him. The same scenario will play out in each spot where a driver moves to the back.

Meanwhile, there have been three practice sessions at Vegas leading up to the race – one on Friday and two on Saturday. Interestingly, three Hendrick Motorsports/Chevy drivers paced the three practices: Mark Martin in the first practice, Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the second, and Jimmie Johnson in the third. Though Vegas is typically a Roush-friendly racetrack, the Hendrick boys are giving them a run for their money this weekend.

Johnson is the only driver to run in the top 10 in all three practices and, as mentioned, qualified third but will start on the pole. Following Johnson’s 182.587 mile per hour lap in Happy Hour was HMS teammate Jeff Gordon, the two Penske Dodges of Sam Hornish Jr. and Kurt Busch, and HMS driver Mark Martin rounding out the top five.

Sam Hornish Jr., Joey Logano and Kyle Busch all made contact with the wall during one of their practice sessions, though all are expected to have the damage fixed by race time.

Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards also looked stout in practice. Biffle won the Nationwide Series race in a green-white-checkered finish, holding off a hard-charging Edwards.

Oddsmakers' favorites:

Jimmie Johnson +375
Carl Edwards +550
Jeff Gordon +600
Kyle Busch +650
Greg Biffle +700

A couple of long shots to watch:

Kevin Harvick +2000
Dale Earnhardt Jr. +2500

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User	Comment
Elgar	There will always be those who have the theory thrown out there but yea the results needed to be better for any show to really stick like that. Unless of course, they planned it that way.
goJJgo	I could understand conspiracy theories if the Busch brothers had taken one and two but since only one finished first and the other further back...guess that throws that theory right out of the window.
littlebit	Don`t worry, RaceFan88, you are not alone in not understanding how that whole thing works. It`s never made much sense to me and this season it`s even worse. Now I don`t worry about who`s where and just watch the race unfold.
the_champ	I wonder why Toyota manufacturers didn`t attempt to test the car engines before the race. A car like that would possibly stop in the middle of the track due to the wretched engine. Makes sense why the five drivers of Toyota team are moving to the rear of the field to avoid car wrecks or accidents.
FunDriv3	I think Kyle Busch must be driving recklessly so he was moved to the back, while his older brother remained in a safe driving position at the track. It`s not surprising that JJ is still the oddsmakers` favorites, he`s won a lot of races in the past anyway.
RaceFan88	I don`t quite understand why Busch moves to the back and Jimmie Johnson moves to the 1st starting spot while Kurt Busch stays in the second position. On top of that, the whole inside line moves up accordingly and then others move up based upon who moves back. It doesn`t seem as though it`s being handled equitably as I would think 2nd would move to 1st, 3rd move to 2nd, and so on. I hope the Toyota engine problems get figured out quickly as it would be disappointing for drivers and fans alike if they continually end up going to the back each and every race.
Cheryl Simmons	Looks like the weather is going to be good for the race today. God knows its horrible here. we have a huge Nor`easter here today and its cold and snowy. Good luck to all the drivers. Drive safe!
MysteryMan	Jimmie`s odds have tightened up even more in less than 24 hours. The race will be starting soon I guess, hope he wins. Means more money for me!
2nd Place	Toyota is trying to keep up the profits it had ten years ago like the rest of the corporate world is and they are letting everything slide in their efforts to do so, including quality and durability. Let the buyer beware is a good idea at the moment because you really can`t trust a corporation who has money on its mind.
FastEddie	A real question is why are all the Toyota engines failing at the same time. This looks really bad for Toyota considering they are already laying off 50% of their workers due to the economic slowdown. Has the slowdown also started to show quality probably due to it?
Cal	185.995 & 185.707, can anyone say serious competitive nature in these two? I think it would be rocking to go around a track with one of my siblings, back in the day we all had a lead foot.
maddox8	It looks like the Hendrick boys are going to run hard for the checkered flag. I wonder why Mark Martin is not included in the Oddsmaker`s favorites, he`s also a skilled Nascar driver in spite of his mature age.
navigator07	So it`s all good that the Busch brothers are in good terms with each other, putting the family feud behind them. And Nascar should unban the car testing at the LVMS for the sake of Toyota teams!