The Sprint Cup Series moves to Sin City on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Kobalt Tools 400 as Danica Patrick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch all will look to take the checkered flag after a long week of preparation, including some practices that were rained out.
Carl Edwards won in Phoenix last week and the pole setting was rained out in Las Vegas after some down weather, leaving Brad Keselowski to sit in the top position after winning the Sprint Cup series last year. Keselowski will be joined by Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle rounding our the front rows.
"I was just thinking what the odds would be of a rainout in Las Vegas," Keselowski said. "The only way I'd be doing better is if I had that bet."
Edwards finished ahead of Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson at Phoenix, taking home nearly $300,000 after leading 122 laps on the day. Denny Hamlin followed in third, while defending champ Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished fourth and fifth ahead of Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart.
Hamlin had an interesting week after making some comments about the Gen-6 car after last week's race in Phoenix, as he was fined by NASCAR $25,000 for "disparaging remarks". The driver later said he would not pay the fine and now has said that he will appeal. If Hamlin did not pay the fine, the official rulebook says he could be suspended.
Hamlin spoke about the Gen-6 cars after Phoenix and commented on the fine decision during testing in Las Vegas, telling ESPN "NASCAR Now" reporter Jamie Little and other media outlets: "This is the most upset and angry I've been in a really, really long time about anything ... anything that relates to NASCAR. The truth is what the truth is. I don't believe in this. I'm never going to believe in it. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not going to pay the fine. If they suspend me, they suspend me. I don't care at this point."
Following his emotional comments, Hamlin took to Twitter to explain that he would appeal the fine by NASCAR, writing that he felt drivers had an opinion when it comes to the new cars and they should be able to express it. He also wrote that his statements were taken out of context and that he felt disrespected after getting the fine from NASCAR.
"The short of the long of it is I believe I was severely disrespected by NASCAR by getting fined," he tweeted. "I believe that the simple fact of us not even having a conversation about this issue before I was hit with a fine has something to say about our relationship. What I said was 1 sentence taken completely out of context. Most drivers will tell you that we constantly have our AND nascars best interest in mind when speaking."
NASCAR fined Hamlin on Thursday and said that his comments were detrimental to the sport and were within the parameters for a fine. Spokesman Kerry Tharp said the fine was warranted since NASCAR has said the Gen-6 cars are essential to the future of the sport.
"Following the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event last Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway, Denny Hamlin made some disparaging remarks about the on-track racing that had taken place that afternoon," NASCAR said in a statement. "While NASCAR gives its competitors ample leeway in voicing their opinions when it comes to a wide range of aspects about the sport, the sanctioning body will not tolerate publicly made comments by its drivers that denigrate the racing product."
Hamlin's original comments came after the race at Phoenix, in which he said that some fans came up to him to complain about the single file racing that has dominated the season so far, including at the Daytona 500.
"I don't want to be the pessimist, but it did not race as good as our Gen-5 cars," Hamlin told reporters after the race won by Carl Edwards. "This is more like what the Generation 5 was at the beginning. The teams hadn't figured out how to get the aero balance right. Right now, you just run single-file and you cannot get around the guy in front of you. You would have placed me in 20th place with 30 [laps] to go, I would have stayed there -- I wouldn't have moved up. It's just one of those things where track position is everything."
Sam Hornish Jr. won the Nationwide race on Saturday, finishing ahead of last week's event winner Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers. Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. competed in the ace ahead of Sunday's event, with Earnhardt finishing in 14th place.
