Race results and information from the March 11, 2012 running of the Kobalt Tools 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Reigning champion Tony Stewart took the checkered flag to win the race; his first victory of the season. Following three events, Greg Biffle leads the points chase.
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES OFFICIAL RACE REPORT No. 3
15TH ANNUAL KOBALT TOOLS “400” // LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Las Vegas, NV – March 11, 2012 // 1.5-Mile Oval // 267 Laps – 400.5 Miles Purse: $6,382,683
Fin | Str | Car | Series | Bonus | Driver | Leader | ||||||
Pos | Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Points | Points | Rating | Winnings | Status | Times | Laps |
1 | 7 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet | 267 | 48 | 5 | 141.7 | $428,175 | Running | 3 | 127 |
2 | 6 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet | 267 | 43 | 1 | 115.4 | 281,776 | Running | 1 | 35 |
3 | 9 | 16 | Greg Biffle | 3M/Meguiars Ford | 267 | 42 | 1 | 121.8 | 212,365 | Running | 2 | 2 |
4 | 18 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Quicken Loans Chevrolet | 267 | 40 | 0 | 99.0 | 201,273 | Running | ||
5 | 21 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Aflac Ford | 267 | 39 | 0 | 98.0 | 187,281 | Running | ||
6 | 5 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | 5-hour Energy Toyota | 267 | 39 | 1 | 93.6 | 150,854 | Running | 1 | 3 |
7 | 26 | 27 | Paul Menard | Menards/Schrock Chevrolet | 267 | 37 | 0 | 92.2 | 127,865 | Running | ||
8 | 19 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | McDonald’s Chevrolet | 267 | 36 | 0 | 94.8 | 152,498 | Running | ||
9 | 25 | 21 | Trevor Bayne | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford | 267 | 0 | 0 | 78.5 | 112,865 | Running | ||
10 | 4 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet | 267 | 35 | 1 | 113.1 | 118,240 | Running | 2 | 70 |
11 | 3 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Budweiser Chevrolet | 267 | 34 | 1 | 107.7 | 153,641 | Running | 2 | 4 |
12 | 16 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | DuPont 20 Years Chevrolet | 267 | 33 | 1 | 78.7 | 150,241 | Running | 1 | 2 |
13 | 15 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | DeWalt Ford | 267 | 31 | 0 | 75.5 | 133,313 | Running | ||
14 | 22 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Caterpillar Chevrolet | 267 | 30 | 0 | 71.9 | 142,680 | Running | ||
15 | 28 | 78 | Regan Smith | Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet | 267 | 29 | 0 | 69.8 | 129,413 | Running | ||
16 | 8 | 20 | Joey Logano | Dollar General Toyota | 267 | 28 | 0 | 76.4 | 111,230 | Running | ||
17 | 10 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr | NAPA Auto Parts Toyota | 267 | 27 | 0 | 95.7 | 128,069 | Running | ||
18 | 13 | 55 | Mark Martin | Aaron’s Toyota | 267 | 26 | 0 | 74.5 | 99,755 | Running | ||
19 | 1 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Farmers Insurance Chevrolet | 267 | 25 | 0 | 94.3 | 112,555 | Running | ||
20 | 17 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Freight Toyota | 267 | 24 | 0 | 63.2 | 140,321 | Running | ||
21 | 35 | 34 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports Ford | 267 | 24 | 1 | 55.1 | 113,063 | Running | 1 | 1 |
22 | 11 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Zest Ford | 267 | 23 | 1 | 110.4 | 140,691 | Running | 1 | 21 |
23 | 2 | 18 | Kyle Busch | M&M’s Brown Toyota | 266 | 21 | 0 | 74.1 | 138,363 | Running | ||
24 | 27 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Fantasy Racing Camp Ford | 266 | 20 | 0 | 59.7 | 130,366 | Running | ||
25 | 29 | 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Clorox Chevrolet | 264 | 19 | 0 | 51.8 | 122,846 | Running | ||
26 | 24 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Kingsford/Bush’s Beans Toyota | 264 | 18 | 0 | 56.6 | 113,388 | Running | ||
27 | 32 | 13 | Casey Mears | GEICO Ford | 264 | 17 | 0 | 42.0 | 101,788 | Running | ||
28 | 43 | 30 | David Stremme | Inception Motorsports Toyota | 263 | 16 | 0 | 45.4 | 98,677 | Running | ||
29 | 38 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Chevrolet | 263 | 15 | 0 | 44.7 | 85,905 | Running | ||
30 | 41 | 32 | Ken Schrader | Federated Auto Parts Ford | 263 | 14 | 0 | 37.7 | 97,630 | Running | ||
31 | 31 | 10 | David Reutimann | Accell Construction Chevrolet | 261 | 13 | 0 | 51.0 | 85,430 | Running | ||
32 | 20 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Miller Lite Dodge | 259 | 13 | 1 | 72.6 | 122,975 | Running | 1 | 1 |
33 | 34 | 38 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports Ford | 258 | 11 | 0 | 34.9 | 85,030 | Running | ||
34 | 23 | 33 | Brendan Gaughan | South Point Casino Chevrolet | 252 | 10 | 0 | 32.2 | 92,830 | Running | ||
35 | 12 | 51 | Kurt Busch | Tag Heuer Eyewear Chevrolet | 251 | 9 | 0 | 69.2 | 92,605 | Accident | ||
36 | 30 | 83 | Landon Cassill | Burger King Toyota | 240 | 8 | 0 | 47.8 | 110,750 | Engine | ||
37 | 14 | 22 | AJ Allmendinger | Pennzoil Dodge | 238 | 8 | 1 | 66.4 | 128,755 | Running | 1 | 1 |
38 | 39 | 98 | Michael McDowell | Phil Parsons Racing Ford | 147 | 6 | 0 | 35.0 | 83,982 | Rear Gear | ||
39 | 37 | 93 | Travis Kvapil | Burger King Toyota | 123 | 5 | 0 | 40.1 | 88,450 | Engine | ||
40 | 33 | 26 | Josh Wise # | 1-800-Loan Mart Ford | 64 | 4 | 0 | 32.0 | 81,675 | Brakes | ||
41 | 40 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | AM FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves Toyota | 44 | 0 | 0 | 27.4 | 79,925 | Vibration | ||
42 | 42 | 37 | Timmy Hill # | Poynt.com Ford | 42 | 2 | 0 | 27.3 | 79,780 | Accident | ||
43 | 36 | 49 | J.J. Yeley | America Israel Racing Toyota | 39 | 1 | 0 | 31.9 | 80,044 | Engine |
# Sunoco Rookie of the Year Contender.
Bonus Points: includes winner, lap leader & most laps led points
(i) = Ineligible for driver points in this series
Failed to qualify: (2) #23 Scott Riggs; #7 Robby Gordon
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 150,000, Tony Stewart won the Kobalt Tools 400, his 45th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory and first at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. To start the race, prior to the green flag the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: 18, 48 (backup cars), 42 (engine change), 78 (transmission change).
TIME OF RACE: 2 hours, 54 minutes, 44 seconds AVERAGE SPEED: 137.524 mph MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.461 second(s)
COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD: Kasey Kahne (190.456 mph. 28.353 secs.)
3M LAP LEADER: Tony Stewart (127 Laps)
AMERICAN ETHANOL GREEN FLAG RESTART AWARD: Tony Stewart
DIRECTV CREW CHIEF OF THE RACE: Tony Stewart (crew chief Steve Addington)
FREESCALE “WIDE OPEN”: Greg Biffle
MAHLE CLEVITE ENGINE BUILDER OF THE RACE: Hendrick Engines (#14)
MOBIL 1 OIL DRIVER OF THE RACE: Tony Stewart
MOOG STEERING AND SUSPENSION PROBLEM SOLVER OF THE RACE: Jamie McMurray (crew chief Kevin Manion, 0.302 seconds)
NASCAR SPRINT CUP LEADER BONUS: No winner: rolls over to $20,000 at next event++
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Josh Wise
USG IMPROVING THE FINISH: Carl Edwards (16 places)
++Rollover money awarded at year’s end, amount not included in race winnings.
Caution Flags: 8 cautions for 33 laps. [Beneficiary in Brackets] 46-49 (Car #37 Accident Turn 2 [34]); 74-77 (Car #10 Accident Turn 4 [51]); 128-133 (Fluid [11]); 206-209 (Debris [21]); 230-233 (Debris [31]); 246-250 (Fluid [20]); 256-258 (Car #51 Accident Backstretch [34]); 261-263 (Debris [43]).
Lap Leaders: 16 lead changes among 11 drivers. Kahne-pole, Earnhardt Jr 1-43, Harvick 44-45, Biffle 46, Earnhardt Jr 47-73, Biffle 74, Ragan 75, Harvick 76-77, Kenseth 78-98, Johnson 99-133, Stewart 134-175, Keselowski 176, Allmendinger 177, J. Gordon 178-179, Stewart 180-230, Bowyer 231-233, Stewart 234-267.
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES TOP 12 | ||
Driver | Points | Wins |
1 – Greg Biffle | 125 | (0) |
2 – Kevin Harvick | 115 | (0) |
3 – Denny Hamlin | 113 | (1) |
4 – Dale Earnhardt Jr | 107 | (0) |
5 – Matt Kenseth | 102 | (1) |
6 – Carl Edwards | 102 | (0) |
7 – Tony Stewart | 100 | (1) |
8 – Martin Truex Jr | 98 | (0) |
9 – Joey Logano | 98 | (0) |
10 – Mark Martin | 97 | (0) |
11 – Paul Menard | 89 | (0) |
12 – Kyle Busch | 87 | (0) |
COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD | ||
Driver | Poles | |
Carl Edwards | 1 | |
Mark Martin | 1 | |
Kasey Kahne | 1 | |
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE YEAR | ||
Driver | Points | |
Josh Wise | 22 | |
Timmy Hill | 11 | |
MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP | ||
Manufacturer | Points | Wins |
Chevrolet | 21 | 1 |
Ford | 19 | 1 |
Toyota | 17 | 1 |
Dodge | 9 | 0 |
3M LAP LEADER AWARD | ||
Car# | Points | |
Kevin Harvick | 29 | 1 |
Denny Hamlin | 11 | 1 |
Tony Stewart | 14 | 1 |
AMERICAN ETHANOL GREEN FLAG RESTART AWARD AWARD | ||
Car# | Points | |
Kevin Harvick | 29 | 1 |
Tony Stewart | 14 | 1 |
Bobby Labonte | 47 | 1 |
DIRECTV CREW CHIEF OF THE YEAR AWARD | ||
Car# | Points | |
Shane Wilson | 29 | 1 |
Jimmy Fennig | 17 | 1 |
Steve Addington | 14 | 1 |
FREESCALE “WIDE OPEN” AWARD | ||
Car# | Points | |
Greg Biffle | 16 | 1 |
Denny Hamlin | 11 | 1 |
Jeff Burton | 31 | 1 |
MAHLE CLEVITE ENGINE BUILDER OF THE YEAR AWARD | ||
Car# | Points | |
Roush/Yates | 16 | 42 |
ECR | 29 | 34 |
TRD | 11 | 32 |
MOBIL 1 OIL DRIVER OF THE YEAR AWARD | ||
Car# | Points | |
Denny Hamlin | 11 | 2 |
Tony Stewart | 14 | 1 |
MOOG STEERING AND SUSPENSION PROBLEM SOLVER OF THE YEAR AWARD | ||
Car# | Points | |
Chad Johnston | 56 | 1 |
Slugger Labbe | 27 | 1 |
Bono Manion | 1 | 1 |
USG IMPROVING THE FINISH AWARD | ||
Car# | Points | |
Denny Hamlin | 11 | 1 |
Carl Edwards | 99 | 1 |
Jeff Gordon | 24 | 1 |
NEXT EVENT: March 18, 2012 – 52nd Annual Food City 500, Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, TN (266.50 Miles) (500 Laps)
NOTE: The above figures are based upon team winnings and include racing purse and cash contingency awards by participating manufacturers. (3/12/2012)
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