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Vegas Observations

Bob Margolis

Some observations, comments and questions following the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

  • I just might be starting to like these green-white-checkers finishes.

  • Will Johnson's team be this good when Chad Knaus (remember him?) returns to the fold?

  • It looks like Carl Edwards and the 99 team are doing the old Jekyll and Hyde routine again, just like last season. One week they're great, the next week … well, not so great.

  • Jeff Green and Bobby Labonte shared a garage stall this weekend. Think the overwhelming emotion being shared is pity or envy? And which direction do you think it goes?

  • You had to look all the way to 11th place (Jason Leffler) to find the first Busch regular in the finishing order in Saturday's Sam's Town 300. I'm still not sure if that's good or bad. I'm leaning toward it being good.

  • Is another tire issue starting to rear its ugly head or have crew chiefs found another way to abuse their tires with their setups? There sure were an awful lot of tire failures on Sunday. Fox's Jeff Hammond (a former crew chief) tried to explain it away by saying the brake rotors are close to the wheel (they generate a lot of heat) and the drivers are using a lot of brake at the Las Vegas track. Hmm … I'll take a wait-and-see attitude until after Atlanta next week.

  • After seeing two mediocre performances in a row from the Intrepid, can Ryan Newman and Matt Borland afford to continue racing the "old" Dodge? And will The Captain (Roger Penske) continue to approve? Let's see how well Newman, Borland and Co. can do with the Charger.

  • Good riddance to the old configuration at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It never made for good side-by-side stock car racing and Sunday's race was no exception. The original banking of the track was designed with Indy cars in mind. The bigger and heavier stock cars love the banking.

I expect that when the track changes are completed, speeds will increase by nearly 10 mph and the racing will be a lot more exciting.

  • With the Cup teams having last weekend off, several drivers came to Las Vegas early for some rest and relaxation. And a few partied, too. Fortunately, there were no reported casualties.

  • Bo Duke (John Schneider) sang the national anthem before the Busch race. His first zinger: "This song belongs to all of us, so I invite everyone to sing." Then, mid-song: "Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave? You bet it does." He then drove one of the last remaining original General Lee Dodge Chargers (which he owns) around the start-finish line. He put the car's 725-horsepower Hemi to good use, doing burnouts afterward.

  • Tony Stewart is 19th in points. Do you think he's worried? I don't.

  • It looks as though Terry Labonte has done exactly what was expected of him. Heading into Atlanta, his team is 27th in points and locked into top 35 – and that's despite the loss of 25 points for their Daytona 500 indiscretion.

  • On the other hand, his brother Bobby Labonte needs a good showing in Atlanta. He's on the outside looking in at 37th in points. Teammate Kyle Petty is 34th.

  • David Stremme also has the 40 car on the outside looking in, sitting 36th in points. His 33rd-place finish on Sunday didn't set the world on fire, either.

  • After qualifying on Friday, Dick Berggren and the Speed crew had one fairly prominent driver (Kasey Kahne) wait – presumably until they were ready for their live shot – to start an interview with him. Then they made him wait a bit longer. Then they made him wait a little more.

Then an even more prominent driver (Stewart) came along and the crew rushed away to interview that driver, making it seem as though they completely wasted the first driver's time. He walked away, seemingly (or possibly) annoyed. And rightfully so.

  • Quote of the weekend: When asked about the California Busch race being boring because he was running away from the field before suffering engine problems, Greg Biffle replied, "I apologize for making it boring, but it's not boring from where I'm sitting."

  • The Hard Luck of the Race Award goes to Travis Kvapil. First the team dealt with a prerace engine fire in the garage, then a loose oil line during the race that put the talented former Craftsman Truck champion in the rear of the field. He finished 39th.

  • In case you hadn't noticed, this was Jeff Burton's second consecutive top-10 finish (he was seventh).

Postscript

Next weekend, it's back to the South for a three-race stretch beginning in Atlanta, followed by the traditional short tracks at Bristol and Martinsville.

Most drivers and crew chiefs believe that if they don't have their act together after leaving Atlanta next Sunday night, it will be a long season.

Statistics agree with them. Of the top 10 drivers in points after Atlanta last season, eight of those drivers made it to the Chase.

See you there.

Yahoo! Sports' Jonathan Baum contributed to this story.