Date: Saturday, March 9
Start Time: 4:15 p.m. ET
Site: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1996) -- Las Vegas, Nev.
Track: 1.5-mile oval - 2,275 feet (Frontstretch); 1,572 feet (Backstretch)
Laps: 200
Miles: 300
Capacity: 142,000 (Grandstand Seating)
Total purse:
Payouts:
Year: 17th
On TV: ESPN2
Announcers:
On Radio: Performance Racing Network (PRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio
Race record: Jeff Burton, 2000 (135.118 mph)
Qualifying record: Brad Keselowski, 2010 (185.427 mph)
2012 Finish
Defending champion: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (not defending)
Runner up: Mark Martin
Pole winner: Elliott Sadler (181.366 mph)
Top 10:
1. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Start: 6)
2. Mark Martin (7)
3. Elliott Sadler (1)
4. Trevor Bayne (14)
5. Brendan Gaughan (9)
6. Cole Whitt (22)
7. Austin Dillon (3)
8. Justin Allgaier (8)
9. Sam Hornish Jr. (13)
10. Kasey Kahne (2)
Average speed: 129.969 mph
Time of race: 2 hrs., 21 mins., 46 secs.
Margin of victory: 5.904 secs.
Caution flags: 7 for 32 laps
Lead changes: 8 among 8 drivers
Past winners
2012 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 129.969 mph
2011 Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 132.792 mph
2010 Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 121.924 mph
2009 Greg Biffle, Ford, 106.713 mph
2008 Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 108.118 mph
2007 Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 104.530 mph
2006 Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 125.158 mph
2005 Mark Martin, Ford, 122.158 mph
2004 Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 122.172 mph
2003 Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 115.582 mph
2002 Jeff Burton, Ford, 123.783 mph
2001 Todd Bodine, Chevrolet, 125.625 mph
2000 Jeff Burton, Ford, 135.118 mph (race record)
1999 Mark Martin, Ford, 134.37 mph
1998 Jimmy Spencer, Chevrolet, 114.129 mph
1997 Jeff Green, Chevrolet, 114.153 mph
Last race
Race: Dollar General 200 (March 2)
Site: Phoenix International Raceway -- Avondale, Ariz.
Miles: 200
Laps: 200
Finish line order: Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Justin Allgaier, Trevor Bayne, Elliott Sadler
Time of Race: 2 hr., 4 mins., 45 secs.
Average speed: 96.192 mph
Margin of victory: 1.943 secs.
Caution flags: 7 for 38 laps
Lead changes: 6 among 4 drivers
Lap leaders: K. Busch 1-40; M. Kenseth 41-48; B. Vickers 49-55; M. Kenseth K. Busch 1-40; M. Kenseth 41-48; B. Vickers 49-55; M. Kenseth 56-88; K. Busch 89-152; B. Keselowski 153-162; K. Busch 163-200.
Entry list
#00 Jason White (Richmond, VA) Toyota/Headrush
#01 Mike Wallace (St. Louis, MO) Chevrolet/TBA
#2 Brian Scott (Boise, ID) Chevrolet/White Tail
#3 Austin Dillon (Welcome, NC) Chevrolet/AdvoCare
#4 Danny Efland (Irmo, SC) Chevrolet/TBA
#5 Brad Sweet (Grass Valley, CA) Chevrolet/Great Clips
#6 Trevor Bayne (Knoxville, TN) Ford/World Financial Group
#7 Regan Smith (Cato, NY) Chevrolet/Fire Alarm Services
#8 Scott Lagasse Jr. (St. Augustine, FL Chevrolet/Hybrid Light
#10 Jeff Green (Owensboro, KY) Toyota/TriStar Motorsports
#11 Elliott Sadler (Emporia, VA) Toyota/One Main Financial
#12 Sam Hornish Jr. (Defiance, OH) Ford/Wurth
#14 Eric McClure (Chilhowie, VA) Toyota/Hefty/Reynolds Wrap
#15 Juan Carlos Blum (Guadalajara, Mex.) Ford/Western Bakery
#19 Mike Bliss (Milwaukie, OR) Toyota/TriStar Motorsports
#20 Brian Vickers (Thomasville, NC) Toyota/Dollar General
#21 Brendan Gaughan (Las Vegas, NV) Chevrolet/South Point
#22 Brad Keselowski (Rochester Hills, MI Ford/Discount Tire
#23 Robert Richardson Jr. (McKinney, TX) Chevrolet/NTX Pipe/Golden Gate Cas.
#24 Blake Koch (West Palm Beach, FL) Toyota/I Am Second Salt Life
#30 Nelson Piquet Jr. (Brasilia, Brazil) Chevrolet/Worx
#31 Justin Allgaier (Riverton, IL) Chevrolet/Brandt
#32 Kyle Larson (Elk Grove, CA) Chevrolet/Clear Men Shampoo
#33 Ty Dillon (Welcome, NC) Chevrolet/Wesco
#40 To Be Announced Chevrolet/E-Swisher
#42 Josh Wise (Riverside, CA) Chevrolet/Curtis Key Plumbing
#43 Reed Sorenson (Peachtree City, GA) Ford/Pilot Travel Centers/Flying J
#44 Hal Martin (Galliano, LA) Toyota/American Custom Yachts
#46 Chase Miller (Canton, GA) Chevrolet/Curtis Key Plumbing
#51 Charles Lewandoski (Stafford Spr.,CT Chevrolet/TBA
#52 Joey Gase (Cedar Rapids, IA) Chevrolet/TBA
#54 Kyle Busch (Las Vegas, NV) Toyota/Monster Energy
#55 Jamie Dick (Albuquerque, NM) Chevrolet/Viva Auto Group
#60 Travis Pastrana (Annapolis, MD) Ford/Roush Fenway Racing
#70 Johanna Long (Pensacola, FL) Chevrolet/Foretravel
#74 Mike Harmon (Birmingport, AL) Chevrolet/Mike Harmon Racing
#77 Parker Kligerman (Westport, CT) Toyota/Kyle Busch Motorsports
#79 Jeffrey Earnhardt (Mooresville, NC) Ford/UPONOR
#87 Joe Nemechek (Lakeland, FL) Toyota/AM FM Energy Wood & Pellet
#88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Kannapolis, NC) Chevrolet/taxslayer.com
#92 Dexter Stacey (Kahnawake, Canada) Ford/Maddie's Place
#98 Kevin Swindell (Germantown, TN) Chevrolet/Carroll Shelby Motors
#99 Alex Bowman (Tucson, AZ) Toyota/TBA
Leading contenders
| Name | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elliott Sadler | 14 | 12 | 3 | ||||||
| Trevor Bayne | 6 | 5 | 4 | ||||||
| Brendan Gaughan | 7 | 13 | 5 | ||||||
| Austin Dillon | 7 | ||||||||
| Justin Allgaier | 8 | 7 | 2 | 8 | |||||
| Sam Hornish Jr. | 9 | ||||||||
| Brad Keselowski | 34 | 23 | 27 | 4 | 3 | 23 | |||
| Kyle Busch | 15 | 11 | 19 | 2 | 31 | 39 | 16 | 30 | 33 |
| Brian Scott | 31 | 14 | 34 | ||||||
| Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 5 | ||||||||
| Brian Vickers | 36 | 3 | 5 | ||||||
| Regan Smith | 22 | 33 |
Notes
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won at Las Vegas one year ago. Stenhouse beat Mark Martin out of the pits to take the lead for the first time during a caution with 55 laps remaining. He then held off Martin in two late-race restarts before beating him to the finish line by six seconds. He recorded his third career Nationwide win but his first on a racetrack that is one mile or more in length. Stenhouse, who claimed his second straight Nationwide championship last year, is a rookie contender in the Sprint Cup Series this season. He is not entered in this race.
LVMS has been on the Nationwide schedule each year since 1997. Jeff Green won the inaugural race in the series there that year.
There have been 16 Nationwide races held at Las Vegas. Martin has the most victories there with four, followed by Jeff Burton with three wins and two for Kevin Harvick. Neither one of those drivers is entered in this event. Joe Nemechek and Green are the only drivers on the entry list that have won at Las Vegas in the past. Nemechek's victory there came in 2003. He started 29th in that race, which is the furthest starting position for a race winner there.
This race has been won from the pole position three times: Green (1997), Martin (1999) and Burton (2002).
The closest margin of victory in a Nationwide race at Las Vegas happened in 2007 when Burton beat Kyle Busch by just 0.101 seconds. That race featured 12 cautions for 58 laps and took 2 hours, 52 minutes and 12 seconds to complete.
The next Nationwide Series event is the March 16 Jeff Foxworthy's Grit Chips 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Elliott Sadler is the defending race winner.
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