Race Report.(News)(a discussion of the results of an automobile race)(Brief Article)

When Las Vegas Motor Speedway made its first appearance on the Winston Cup schedule in 1997, it was a quirky one-groove track. Thankfully, that's changed. The surface has seasoned and settled in on the 1.5-mile tri-oval, opening up two, sometimes even three good racing lanes. What hasn't changed at Vegas is Jack Roush Racing's domination. Roush cars have won four of the six Cup races held there. The latest one was ruled by Matt Kenseth, whose Robbie Reiser-led crew managed a smoking green-flag pit stop (four tires and fuel in 13 seconds) to put him in the lead on lap 166, where he pulled out to a nine-second lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the checkered flag.

Early on, it didn't look like any Ford had a chance. The first 100 laps, all run under green, were an all-Chevy show, as Monte Carlos covered the top five. Jeff Gordon passed pole-sitter Bobby Labonte on the first lap to lead the initial laps, as the two DEI cars of Earnhardt and Michael Waltrip also quickly asserted themselves at the front. The two often ran side by side, with Earnhardt on the inside and Waltrip taking a high line. Earnhardt led over one third of the race, but got set back by a bad set of tires on a late stint. He recovered to take second, his best finish of the year. Bobby Labonte came in fourth, while an impressive Ryan Newman gained back two laps to finish seventh. ...