NASCAR14FAN
03-11-2007, 07:18 AM
Source: NASCAR.com
Criticisms of reconfigured track overshadows final laps
By Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press
March 10, 2007
08:05 PM EST
LAS VEGAS -- Jeff Burton nudged a spinning Kyle Busch across the finish line Saturday to win a chaotic, caution-marred Busch Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Complaints about the reconfigured track and the hard tires Goodyear has provided then dominated the post-race conversation, as drivers warned the Nextel Cup race on Sunday could be a disaster.
"The race will suck," said Kevin Harvick, who finished seventh. "The paving is awful. It's rough. They had some guys that pave parking lots out there doing it. It's pretty awful."
Las Vegas officials repaved the track during the offseason and increased the banking from 12 degrees to 20 as track owner Bruton Smith sought to improve the competition. But it made speeds extremely high, forcing Goodyear to bring a hard left tire that Matt Kenseth called "treacherous" to the track.
Greg Biffle said it felt like he was driving on black ice, and Kasey Kahne said every lap is a fight to keep the car from wrecking.
The race winner said they were all right, but also defended Goodyear.
"They are all right. I am not disagreeing with any of them," Burton said. "The question is, 'What would you do different?' We don't live in a perfect world. I am not saying the tires are perfect. They are not. It is treacherous. Restarts are a mess. Driving underneath someone is very difficult.
"But what are you going to do? Put your head in the sand and pretend there's not a problem. They had to come here with a tire that could run a whole race without having a problem. You can't come to a racetrack knowing you are going to have tire problems and not do something about it."
The Busch race had a record 12 cautions for 58 laps, and the post-race debate overshadowed a spectacular finish that denied Busch a victory on his home track.
Contact between Burton and Busch as the two cars approached the checkered flag sent Busch into a spin, and he crossed the finish line backward before shooting up the track and into the wall. He still finished second.
The Las Vegas native took turns dominating the race with his older brother, Kurt, and was out front when Burton took the lead away from him with 13 laps to go.
But the 12th caution brought out the red flag to clean up debris from an accident, preventing Burton from running away with the win. Racing resumed with seven laps to go, and Kyle Busch slipped past Burton a lap later to retake the lead.
Burton nearly lost control of his car as he came out of the fourth turn and used a huge save to keep it off the wall. But he lost ground to Busch and had to hustle to close the gap.
He finally got to him on the last lap, and used all of it to make his move.
Burton went for it as they exited the last turn, pulling to the top of the track and making the pass on the outside. Busch wiggled slightly and his car bounced off Burton's to start his spin across the finish line.
"Couldn't hold the bottom. Couldn't hold the top. Couldn't hold him off," a frustrated Busch said as he walked away from his damaged racecar.
"He beat me fair and square. He got a run on me on the topside and I tried to block it, I just didn't get high enough in order to squeeze him in the fence. Congratulations to those guys, they had a better car definitely at the end."
Burton drove to Busch's damaged car, saw Busch had already exited it and followed him. Busch then went up to the window and shook hands with Burton.
"I take a lot of pride in getting by him, he's one of the top young talents in the sport," Burton said. "I knew if I went under him I would get too loose to pass him. So I just figured 'What the hell? I'll go up there and see what happens.' I got up there and it stuck and I had momentum.
"Then Kyle did exactly what I would have done. He tried to get me slowed down to slow my momentum down, and hang a left to try to get to the start/finish line. He just couldn't stop it."
Stewart finished third and continued his weeklong rant, saying he looked forward to Sunday evening when the racing was over and he could head to a casino to relax.
Criticisms of reconfigured track overshadows final laps
By Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press
March 10, 2007
08:05 PM EST
LAS VEGAS -- Jeff Burton nudged a spinning Kyle Busch across the finish line Saturday to win a chaotic, caution-marred Busch Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Complaints about the reconfigured track and the hard tires Goodyear has provided then dominated the post-race conversation, as drivers warned the Nextel Cup race on Sunday could be a disaster.
"The race will suck," said Kevin Harvick, who finished seventh. "The paving is awful. It's rough. They had some guys that pave parking lots out there doing it. It's pretty awful."
Las Vegas officials repaved the track during the offseason and increased the banking from 12 degrees to 20 as track owner Bruton Smith sought to improve the competition. But it made speeds extremely high, forcing Goodyear to bring a hard left tire that Matt Kenseth called "treacherous" to the track.
Greg Biffle said it felt like he was driving on black ice, and Kasey Kahne said every lap is a fight to keep the car from wrecking.
The race winner said they were all right, but also defended Goodyear.
"They are all right. I am not disagreeing with any of them," Burton said. "The question is, 'What would you do different?' We don't live in a perfect world. I am not saying the tires are perfect. They are not. It is treacherous. Restarts are a mess. Driving underneath someone is very difficult.
"But what are you going to do? Put your head in the sand and pretend there's not a problem. They had to come here with a tire that could run a whole race without having a problem. You can't come to a racetrack knowing you are going to have tire problems and not do something about it."
The Busch race had a record 12 cautions for 58 laps, and the post-race debate overshadowed a spectacular finish that denied Busch a victory on his home track.
Contact between Burton and Busch as the two cars approached the checkered flag sent Busch into a spin, and he crossed the finish line backward before shooting up the track and into the wall. He still finished second.
The Las Vegas native took turns dominating the race with his older brother, Kurt, and was out front when Burton took the lead away from him with 13 laps to go.
But the 12th caution brought out the red flag to clean up debris from an accident, preventing Burton from running away with the win. Racing resumed with seven laps to go, and Kyle Busch slipped past Burton a lap later to retake the lead.
Burton nearly lost control of his car as he came out of the fourth turn and used a huge save to keep it off the wall. But he lost ground to Busch and had to hustle to close the gap.
He finally got to him on the last lap, and used all of it to make his move.
Burton went for it as they exited the last turn, pulling to the top of the track and making the pass on the outside. Busch wiggled slightly and his car bounced off Burton's to start his spin across the finish line.
"Couldn't hold the bottom. Couldn't hold the top. Couldn't hold him off," a frustrated Busch said as he walked away from his damaged racecar.
"He beat me fair and square. He got a run on me on the topside and I tried to block it, I just didn't get high enough in order to squeeze him in the fence. Congratulations to those guys, they had a better car definitely at the end."
Burton drove to Busch's damaged car, saw Busch had already exited it and followed him. Busch then went up to the window and shook hands with Burton.
"I take a lot of pride in getting by him, he's one of the top young talents in the sport," Burton said. "I knew if I went under him I would get too loose to pass him. So I just figured 'What the hell? I'll go up there and see what happens.' I got up there and it stuck and I had momentum.
"Then Kyle did exactly what I would have done. He tried to get me slowed down to slow my momentum down, and hang a left to try to get to the start/finish line. He just couldn't stop it."
Stewart finished third and continued his weeklong rant, saying he looked forward to Sunday evening when the racing was over and he could head to a casino to relax.