Harvick Hits Jackpot in Vegas; Johnson Goes Bust

Kevin Harvick was "freaky fast" in his win in Las Vegas (Google Images)

When it comes to hitting the Strip in Las Vegas, many people would rather be lucky than good. The same applies to the drivers racing in Sunday's Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Jimmie Johnson won both practices on Saturday, and looked as if he was going to win the race on Sunday, but luck became a serious factor and it was Kevin Harvick who wound up in victory lane after scoring two consecutive runner up finishes at Daytona and Atlanta.

The first race of what has been dubbed NASCAR's "West Coast Swing", was fairly uneventful aside from a few wrecks by a few big names. Unfortunately, the sanctioning body's plan to put tapered spacers on the motors of the Sprint Cup cars and take some speed and horsepower away hasn't improved racing as much as anticipated. Jeff Gordon was slated to start on the pole, but after getting wrecked by Danica Patrick in happy hour, Gordon was forced to start at the rear of the field. This meant that second place starter Joey Logano got out to an early lead. Just like at Atlanta one week ago, Logano's No. 22 Ford looked like the car to beat, leading a total of 47 circuits on the day. But also like Atlanta, Logano also faded as the race went on and the early dominance of the No. 22 team didn't mean much when push came to shove and the laps wound down.

As the race got closer to the end, we saw some tempers flare. With 75 laps to go, Kasey Kahne got squeezed into the turn four wall by Carl Edwards. Then, going into turn one, Kahne drove back down the track into Edwards, clearly to retaliate. Edwards spun out, went to the garage and stated the wreck was "definitely his fault" and that he got sucked into Kahne's car by some dirty air. But these two weren't the only competitive cars to have trouble.

Jimmie Johnson's luck ran out in a big way in Las Vegas (Google Images)

In a strange twist of bad luck, Johnson led 45 laps early on in the Kobalt 400. But on lap 90, he was forced to surrender the lead to Harvick and come to pit road due to a vibration. It was later determined that a bead had blown on his right front tire. Drivers don't use a lot of brakes at Las Vegas, so this was a really strange occurrence. Normally excessive brake heat can melt a tire bead, but because this is a mile and a half oval, Johnson must've simply gotten a bad tire. Johnson's bad luck continued on lap 172 when his right front went soft again. Only this time, it gave no warning and he couldn't save his car. The No. 48 went into the turn one wall once the tire blew out and collected the No. 26 car of Jeb Burton when Burton slowed to miss Johnson and was rear ended by Gordon. After repairs from that wreck, the No. 48 lost another right front due to damage from his previous wreck and he went into the wall in turns three and four. This caused Johnson to lose 31 laps and relegated the six time champion and four time Vegas winner to a 41st place finish on the day.

Because Johnson and Logano couldn't stay competitive, it was Harvick's race to lose. And he did everything but. The defending Sprint Cup Series champions led a whopping 142 laps on the day en route to their first win of the season. Also, with teammates Danica Patrick and Tony Stewart continuing to run mid pack and Kurt Busch suspended for the foreseeable future, the duo of Harvick and Rodney Childers is proving to be just as potent as ever and the No. 4 team is still carrying the Stewart-Haas Racing banner as high as they did last season. Just like the No. 48 team a few years ago, Harvick and Childers have shown no signs of letting up on the competition and they will be hard to beat this year and, more than likely, years to come.

But while Harvick didn't need much luck to win this weekend, there were a few drivers who don't get much press who got some great finishes for the second week in a row. The runner up in Sin City was Martin Truex Jr. That's right, the No. 78 car finished second. Aside from their win with Regan Smith at Darlington in 2011, this is the best overall season that Furniture Row Racing has had to date. They have yet to finish outside the top ten so far in 2015 and they are currently fourth in points. The season is still very young, but seeing Truex and this team win a race or two wouldn't be that strange. That would also mean that his team would make the Chase for the first time since making it with Kurt Busch in 2013.


Fear the beard: Can Martin Truex Jr win and make the Chase in 2015?
(Google Images)

Another pleasant surprise from Las Vegas was the No. 47 team of AJ Allmendinger. He came home in sixth place, a finish made all the more impressive because the Dinger battled the flu all weekend. Like Truex, Allmendinger is up there in the standings; a very impressive fifth place. The JTG Daugherty team is also looking to repeat the feat they accomplished last year at Watkins Glen; win a race and qualify for the Chase. Again, the season is only three races old, but both Truex and Allmendinger are proving that 2015 could be the year of the single car team.

Next weekend, the Sprint Cup Series heads to the Phoenix International Raceway; a track that Harvick swept last season and has been nothing short of dominant at for quite some time now. But provided Johnson's luck turns around, seeing the No. 48 car in victory lane wouldn't be that much of a stretch either. But maybe, just maybe we could see a driver like Truex or Allmendinger taking the checkers first on Sunday. It's hard to know who will claim victory Sunday, but with the diversity we've seen so far in the top ten this year, it will be interesting to see what happens. Tune into FOX at 3:30 pm/et to see who will be victorious in the Arizona desert.