| Race details[1][2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 3 of 36 in the2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | February 28, 2010 (2010-02-28) | ||
| Official name | Shelby American | ||
| Location | Las Vegas Motor Speedway,Las Vegas,Nevada | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 1.5 miles (2.41 km) | ||
| Distance | 267 laps, 400.5 mi (644.542 km) | ||
| Weather | Sunny with a high around 64; wind out of the NNE at 6 mph. There was a zero percent chance of precipitation. | ||
| Average speed | 141.450 miles per hour (227.642 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Penske Racing | ||
| Time | 28.614 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 219 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox Broadcasting Company | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy,Darrell Waltrip andLarry McReynolds | ||
The2010 Shelby American at Las Vegas was aNASCAR Sprint Cup Series motor race that was held on February 28, 2010 atLas Vegas Motor Speedway inLas Vegas, Nevada as the third race of the2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.[3] The race consisted of 267 laps, 400.5 miles (644.5 km)
The race began withKurt Busch, fromPenske Racing, on the pole. During the race there were ten different leaders, twenty lead changes, and seven cautions.[4]Jimmie Johnson, fromHendrick Motorsports, ended up winning the 2010 Shelby American[5] whileKevin Harvick finished 2nd andJeff Gordon finished third after leading the most laps (219).
In the first practice session on February 26, the fastest wereJuan Pablo Montoya,Sam Hornish Jr.,Jimmie Johnson,Mark Martin,Jeff Gordon.[6] During qualifying runs, Kurt Busch ran the fastest lap with a speed of 188.719 miles per hour (303.714 km/h) and a time of 28.614 seconds to be on the pole position, while Casey Mears and Terry Cook failed to qualify.[7] In the second practice session,Kyle Busch,Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch,David Reutimann, andClint Bowyer were the fastest.[8] In final practice Clint Bowyer, Juan Pablo Montoya, Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson, andMarcos Ambrose were the fastest.[9] Unlike the first two practice sessions, final practice had one red flag becauseDale Earnhardt Jr. spun to pit road.[10]
On February 28, 2010, at 3 p.m. EST, Las Vegas Motor Speedway's Chaplain Joe Freiburger said the invocation. Afterward,America's Got Talent winner Terry Fator sang thenational anthem. Carroll Shelby and Kim Kardashian gave the command "Gentlemen, start your engines!" for the race.[11]
On the start,Kurt Busch led the field to the green flag. On the same lap,Jeff Gordon passed Kurt Busch for the lead. On lap 2,Kevin Conway collided with thewall; to cause the first caution. On lap 5, Gordon led the field to the green flag. After the restart, the field became spread out, but on lap 45,Mike Bliss collided with the wall to bring out the second caution. The restart happened on lap 52, with Gordon leading. One lap later,Greg Biffle passed Gordon, and the third caution came out. The third caution came out because the caution lights did not turn off. On the lap 56 restart, Biffle led the field to the green flag, but one lap later, Gordon reclaimed the lead.[11]
The race then experienced a 30 lap run that ended becauseSam Hornish Jr. spun to bring out the fourth caution. All the leaders pitted, but the first one off pit road wasMatt Kenseth. On lap 92, Kenseth led them down for the restart. One lap later, though, the fifth caution came out becauseJamie McMurray collided withJuan Pablo Montoya.A. J. Allmendinger was also involved in the accident. The restart happened on lap 97 with Kenseth still the leader, but on lap 98, Gordon passed him. On lap 107, the sixth caution came out because the caution lights inadvertently turned on. Most lead lap cars made theirpit stop, butScott Speed stayed out to become the leader.[11]
On lap 113, Speed led the field to the green flag. Also, on the restart, Speed had a horrible start, that caused Gordon to pass him. From lap 113 to 228, a long green flag run happened. On lap 158, green flag pit stops began. During the pit stops the leaders wereJimmie Johnson,Kevin Harvick,Kyle Busch,Tony Stewart. Afterwards, the top-five drivers were Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kenseth,Jeff Burton, and Harvick. Then on lap 212, green flag pit stops happened again. After the pit stops the leader was Gordon. On lap 228, the seventh caution came out because Conway collided with the wall. Bowyer stayed off pit road to lead on the restart. Immediately after the start, on lap 233, Gordon reclaimed the lead. On lap 251, Johnson passed Gordon for the lead. Johnson kept the lead to win his second consecutive race in 2010.[1][11]
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