WINNERS
Roger Penske: For the second week in a row, his Cup team wins. Brad Keselowski won at Atlanta and Joey Logano won at Las Vegas.
Kurt Busch: The decision to not pit during the second stage allowed Busch to climb from 17th to first. He stayed toward the front the rest of the race, placing fifth. It marked the second time in three races the Chip Ganassi Racing driver has been Chevrolet’s top finisher this season.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: His sixth-place finish marked his first top 10 on a 1.5-mile track in the last eight races on such tracks. His most recent top 10 at such tracks had been a 10th in last year’s Coca-Cola 600.
Kevin Harvick: For the second week in a row he finished fourth after a rough start to the weekend.
LOSERS
Kevin Harvick: He said after the race it was the second week in a row his team had been way off to start the weekend before calling for a top-five finish. When they get it right, look out.
Kyle Busch: A pit road speeding penalty kept him from winning Sunday’s Cup race and sweeping the Truck, Xfinity and Cup races at Las Vegas. Said Busch: “I certainly screwed up our day coming to pit road there.”
Cup Rule Book: NASCAR updated its rule on team members behind pit wall before this season, making it a penalty for such team members to make contact with the pit road surface. If so, that can count toward too many crew members over the wall. By the rule, NASCAR was right to penalize the pit crews of Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon during Sunday’s race when crew members behind pit wall touched the surface of the stall with their hand. By common sense, neither instance seemed egregious.
Jimmie Johnson: His 19th-place finish marked the eighth consecutive race on a 1.5-mile track he’s finished outside the top 10. His last top 10 at a 1.5-mile track was a fifth at last year’s Coca-Cola 600.