Yet for three or so hours on Sunday, a little 1.5 mile oval just outside the city will be the focus of the sports world, as the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit hits the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Shelby American—celebrating Carroll Shelby, the auto legend.
One of the major storylines this weekend will be keeping an eye on the Hendrick Motorsports teams, who have found out that the rear axles on their cars might be faulty. Dale Earnhardt Jr. lost 22 laps last weekend in Fontana because he broke a rear axle, and Jimmie Johnson had to retire at Daytona for the same reason.
According to Eanrhardt’s crew chief Lance McGrew, the axle of Jimmie Johnson was about six laps from breaking on Sunday, the race Johnson won. McGrew added that issues were discovered on other HMS cars during Saturday’s final practice.
One has to wonder if it’s just a bad batch of parts, and if other Hendrick affiliated teams like Stewart Haas Racing will be affected by the issue. McGrew said the problem first surfaced during Saturday’s final practice when the left rear axle on Mark Martin's car looked “really bad.”Martin and Earnhardt Jr. share a shop at Hendrick. The only driver that apparently didn’t have any axle issues at California was Jeff Gordon. Or maybe they just weren’t reported.
Either way, it’ll be a weekend for fans of the HMS cars to worry about the rear axle issues that have plagued two different cars in two straight weeks.
Also, Carl Edwards and his wife Katie finally welcomed their new baby into the world this week. Annie Edwards is doing fine according to the brand new dad, who may or may not have done a backflip after she was born—no reports have been cited in either direction on that one. He said via a Facebook post that his newest daughter “likes to eat and cry.”
Will Carl Edwards be more concerned about his new baby daughter than his racing?
Annie Edwards is the second baby born to a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver this season. Elliott Sadler’s baby boy Wyatt was born right after Daytona. Unfortunately, all this newness will wear off after this weekend, where no NASCAR drivers’ wives are expected to birth children. I guess we’ll have to wait on the baby gifts for Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson until the summer rolls around.
How much will the new baby effect Edwards’s performance? Well, critics of the driver would note that after winning a career high nine races in 2008, his no-win performance of ’09 wouldn’t be hard to improve upon. However, Edwards has had a decent start to 2010, finishing ninth and 13th in the first two races.
Jack Roush and Mark Martin chat before qualifying at Las Vegas in 2008 (Getty Images File)
Plus, Roush Fenway Racing has always had success in Vegas. Mark Martin won the inaugural race in 1998 and teammate Jeff Burton won the next two years. Matt Kenseth’s lone win in his Winston Cup title season of 2003 came at Vegas, and Kenseth doubled down his success at LVMS with a win in ’04 too. Edwards won the 2008 race at Vegas, so it’s not like he hasn’t done it before.
Back when Burton drove for Roush he captured two wins at Vegas. Now with Richard Childress Racing, Burton looks to continue the hot streak that RCR teams have been on this season.
It’s tough to pick against the Hendrick teams out in Nevada still. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have won their fair share of races in the desert too. And, although I’m not putting much out on the line in terms of a prediction here, I have a decent feeling that it’ll either be a Roush Ford, a Hendrick Chevy or someone named Busch in victory circle come Sunday afternoon.
Odds of that happening? I don’t know exactly, but it is Vegas. Go bet some money on it and good luck gamblers. “You gotta know when to hold em…”
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I’ll be learning about how to play and coach the offensive line this weekend at a clinic held at our preseason training camp, Higher Ground. I get to film some talks and learn from some of the best. I may have a few words about that when I come back, along with a possible reaction about my basketball team who plays two games this weekend.
We’ll see. Have a great weekend NASCAR fans.
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