“That was one heck of a race!” as Jimmie Johnson claims to the media after winning his 7^th back to back win in the Shelby American at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

After leading only 18 laps for the day, Jimmie Johnson is rewarded for his efforts late in the race after passing teammate and car owner Jeff Gordon on the back stretch with 16 to go.

Until that time in the race, Johnson had only led 2 laps. The driver of the race until then was Johnson’s teammate Gordon. Gordon led 218 of the 267 regulation laps of the race.

Johnson started his day, mid-field, 20^th. Within the opening 45 laps Johnson would break into the top ten. Another 50 laps into the race, Johnson would lock into Gordon’s wake as the two would knock other drivers into the lap down column.

Johnson and Gordon would fend off the challenges of Kevin Harvick who started 34^th as well as Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth. The track was fast as drivers would enter turn one at around two hundred mile an hour. With the track being much warmer then the past two days, handling would not have much as a factor as many teams were worried about going into today’s race.

Most of the race would be relatively wreck free. Some strange occurrences on the track popped up after the first caution came out on lap 2. Sometime this can be the signs of a long race.

The field would see a forty lap green flag run where Mike Bliss would hit the wall in turn two. A short caution period and the green flag came back out on lap 53 with Gordon leading. Not even a half lap later the caution flag would come back out on the track as the caution lights on the fences did not turn off. This confused several teams and it seemed like NASCAR did not set the cars in their proper order as the teams and drivers would call out that they should have been in different positions than they were set at.

Another green flag run of 40 laps would be run on the track with Gordon leading the event, Johnson in the top ten heading to the top five. Lap 88 the caution would come out again after a Sam Hornish Jr. solo spin.

The next restart would have the yellow being displayed with three corners as teammates Jamie McMurray would get into the left rear corner of Juan Pablo Montoya’s car with both receiving damage.

Green flag in the air on lap 98 for Jeff Gordon. Johnson in the top three, but Johnson could not gain the momentum to complete a pass on Gordon. This run would last ten laps until our issue with the caution lights came back and the lights lit back up without warning.

This would be followed up by a 115 lap green flag run where several battles on the track would pit Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle along with Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne in the top ten. No one could catch Gordon however as he would lead the field by several seconds at most times.

In the last green flag run with 34 laps to go, Johnson would not loose sight of Gordon. The two would drive around the slower drivers on the track, separating them for brief periods, only to have Johnson in Gordon’s mirror.

16 to go was the key point in the race as Johnson would grab the inside line from Gordon to make the pass and not look back. This left the El Cajon, California native with clean air on the nose of his car.

Behind Johnson Gordon was under the gun again as Kevin Harvick battled side by side for second place. Behind the two racing for second, we would see challenges for position between Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth for 5^th place and Clint Bowyer with Kasey Kahne for 8^th.

At the checkered flag Harvick would take second, Gordon third, Mark Martin who had a fairly good day much not much talk of his run taking forth. Kenseth won his battle with Logano for fifth. Tony Stewart took seventh. Bowyer grabbed 8^th in front of Kahne. Biffle would come home in tenth for his efforts.

Pole setter Kurt Busch would have a long day where the incident between Montoya and McMurray would end his day with a 35^th place finish.

Johnson is moving up the all time win list as he is the 12^th driver with most wins. Johnson is one win behind drivers Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson (No relation).

So far, Johnson’s season is off to a great start as he lands his 7^th back-to-back win. This is Johnson’s fourth victory at Las Vegas along with his fifth top ten.

LAP BY LAP NOTES

A great looking day after some chilly days of practice and qualifying. Las Vegas is sparkling in the distance and many stars and showgirls are on the track and stands.

Carroll Shelby and Kim Kardashian are the grand marshals of the event. Robin leach is the voice at Las Vegas at the track and T.V.

The Air Force Thunderbirds perform the flyover. We then have the command to start engines by our grand marshals. Three laps on the track for warm up.

Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon lead us to the…

GREEN FLAG as it looks like we are going to have a racy track today. Big battle at the end of the first lap as Gordon has power on the inside of Kurt Busch.

YELLOW FLAG lap 2 as Kevin Conway is way too high on the track out of turn two to solo spin to the apron, just missing the inside wall. Looks like picked up a bit of damage on the front splitter.

GREEN FLAG lap 6 as this looks like the start of the race. As we head into lap 7 Jeff Gordon clears Kurt Busch with Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in tow. We see the cars are really fast today. The stats show the drivers are at 200 miles per hour as they head into turn one.

Lap 10 Joey Logano battle with Juan Pablo Montoya for 8^th place. Montoya has it. Lap 11 Tony Stewart passes Greg Biffle for 6^th. Lap 12 battle for 14^th between Clint Bowyer, David Reutimann and Jimmie Johnson.

Lap 14 Jeff Burton is on the move from his start of 22^nd, passing Brad Keselowski to take 17^th. Denny Hamlin is moving up from his start of 27^th closing in on Scott Speed for 19^th.

Lap 17 Kevin Harvick takes 21^st from David Ragan. Harvick started 34^th. Lap 20 the drivers settle down a bit to see some single file racing. WOW big, big save for A.J. Allmendinger coming out of turn four trims the infield grass in front and motors away.

Lap 23 Biffle to the inside of Earnhardt Jr. to take over 5^th. Carl Edwards started 12^th is up to 8^th. Lap 25 your top ten drivers as Jeff Gordon leads is Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Newman, Biffle, Earnhardt Jr., Stewart, Edwards, Montoya and Logano.

Lap 26 Aric Almirola takes his car to the garage to join Conway. Allmendinger is on pit road for a change. Boris Said and Max Papis are a lap down. Lap 30 Johnson is up to 13^th. Lap 32 Harvick has moved up to 17^th.

Lap 35 the lap down driver list is starting to get bigger. We see Robby Gordon, David Gilliland, Brian Vickers and Dave Blaney on it. Mike Bliss, Bobby Labonte, Elliott Sadler and Travis Kvapil would be the next drivers on it.

Lap 40 Michael McDowell parks his car. Lap 41 we will see pit stops in about 10 laps. Trouble for Labonte as he has an issue with his engine to take his car to the garage. Lap 43 Matt Kenseth takes over 9^th from Montoya. Joe Nemechek goes a lap down.

Lap 45 Earnhardt Jr. takes over 5^th from Kurt Busch.

YELLOW FLAG lap 46 as Mike Bliss hits the outside turn two wall. Sam Hornish Jr. is the lucky dog. Leaders to pit road. Jeff Gordon is the first back to the track followed by Biffle, Kyle Busch, Edwards and Kurt Busch.

After pit stops we see a shuffle in the back as Martin Truex Jr. has moved up to 19^th from his start of 35^th along with Marcos Ambrose from 32^nd to 20^th.

GREEN FLAG lap 53 with Jeff Gordon and Biffle leading the field into turns one and two.

YELLOW FLAG lap 54 as we have a technical issue with the caution lights on the track not turning off when we went to green. Kvapil is the lucky dog.

GREEN FLAG lap 57 as we try it again. Out of turn two Kyle Busch with a big run under Biffle to challenge for second place. Jeff Gordon in front. Lap 59 Robby Gordon smacks the outside wall in turn four and continues on. Lap 60 Kenseth passes Kurt Busch for 5^th place. Lap 61 Kurt Busch snaps loose in turn two just missing the outside wall loosing 4 positions.

Lap 63 Stewart passes Earnhardt Jr. to take over 8^th place. Lap 64 Burton and McMurray have moved up in the field to fight for 10^th place. Lap 66 Johnson is moving up in the field to 4^th place. Lap 67 Edwards on the move as well up to 6^th from his start of 12^th.

Lap 70 your top twenty drivers are – Jeff Gordon, Kenseth, Biffle, Johnson, Kyle Busch, Edwards, Kurt Busch, Stewart, Burton, Earnhardt Jr., McMurray, Newman, Montoya, Logano, Bowyer, Mark Martin, David Reutimann, Harvick, Ambrose and Truex Jr.

Lap 73 Kasey Kahne battles with Hamlin for 23^rd. Lap 76 Jeff Gordon leads Kenseth by 1.5 seconds, 3^rd place Johnson by 3.6 seconds, 4^th place Biffle 5.9 seconds and 5^th place Edwards by 6.8 seconds.

Lap 81 looks like we have settled into a long green run with the drivers spaced out. Edwards passes Biffle for 4^th. Lap 83 Keselowski has slipped back 22^nd from his start of 16^th. Ragan slipped back as well from 18^th to 25^th. Lap 87 28 drivers are on the lead lap at the moment.

Lap 88 Scott Speed falls a lap down. Speed will be the lucky dog as…

YELLOW FLAG lap 88 with Hornish Jr. solo spins from turn four into the infield grass. Pit stops begin as Gordon leads them in. Kenseth is the first back to the track followed by Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Stewart and Biffle.

GREEN FLAG lap 93 as Kenseth and Jeff Gordon get the show going again.

YELLOW FLAG lap 94 as McMurray gets into the left rear corner of Montoya as they head into the outside turn three wall. The drivers collect Kurt Busch. Allmendinger is rear ended by Speed. Allmendinger is the lucky dog.

GREEN FLAG lap 98 with Kenseth and Jeff Gordon in front. The two battle side by side over the next lap. Lap 99 Gordon leads on the straight, Kenseth gets it back in the turns.

Lap 100 your top twenty drivers are Jeff Gordon, Kenseth, Edwards, Biffle, Johnson, Stewart, Burton, Martin, Kyle Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Logano, Ambrose, Reutimann, Bowyer, Newman, Harvick, Kahne, Truex Jr., Hamlin and Keselowski. So far we have seen 5 cautions for 20 laps along with 7 lead changes among 4 leaders. 26 drivers are on the lead lap.

Lap 106 Jeff Gordon leads Kenseth by almost 1 second. We hear that Kyle Busch may be loosing his power steering.

YELLOW FLAG lap 108 as the caution lights come on by themselves. Did someone spill some coffee in the electronics? Kvapil is the lucky dog. Leaders to pit road. Gordon overshoots his stall but it’s gas only so no big deal. Johnson is the winner back to the track followed by Jeff Gordon, Stewart, Kenseth and Burton. Allmendinger and Biffle just about hit each other in the pits.

Scott Speed did not pit this time, so he is the leader. Let’s see how this works out.

GREEN FLAG lap 114 between Speed and Johnson. Speed does not get a good start where Jeff Gordon shoots around him to jump into the lead. Speed then looses several positions as Kenseth and Johnson split him to fight for second place. Kyle Busch follows along.

Lap 117 Burton and Harvick take 5^th and 6^th from Speed. Lap 120 battle between Johnson and Kenseth again for 2^nd. Lap 122 Speed falls back in the field as Logano, Earnhardt and Kahne pass him. Lap 123 Clint Bowyer battles with Reutimann for 14^th.

Lap 127 Ragan passes Keselowski for 19^th. Keselowski looses 20^th to Newman on the next lap. Lap 133 Logano challenges Kahne for 9^th place.

Lap 134 (Halfway Home) Jeff Gordon leads by a half second over Johnson. Kenseth is 2.9 seconds back with 4^th place Burton 4.5 back and 5^th place Harvick 6.4 seconds back. Lap 137 Edwards passes Bowyer for 12^th.

Lap 143 the field is spread out at the moment so let’s look at the movers since the start of the race. Allmendinger started 40^th is currently 24^th, Ambrose from 32^nd to 18^th, Truex Jr. 25^th to 17^th, Kahne 19^th to 9^th, Harvick a big mover from 34^th to 4^th.

Lap 147 Kenseth is on pit road for a possible loose wheel as he was running 3^rd to now fall a lap down. Johnson has closed in on Jeff Gordon for the lead. Keselowski goes a lap down to leave 23 drivers on the lead lap.

Lap 150 as your top twenty drivers are Jeff Gordon, Johnson, Burton, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Stewart, Kahne, Logano, Earnhardt Jr., Bowyer, Edwards, Biffle, Reutimann, Speed, Truex Jr., Ambrose, Ragan, Newman and Hamlin.

We are 8 to 10 laps from green flag stops. Lap 158 Allmendinger is in for his stop. Lap 159 McMurray, Keselowski, Labonte, Speed and Montoya are in for stops. Lap 160 Reutimann is in followed by Jeff Gordon and Hamlin. Lap 16 Earnhardt Jr. , Edwards, Biffle, Johnson and several others are in. McMurray is busted for speeding and will have to come back to pit road.

Lap 163 Martin and Harvick are in with several others. Kyle Busch leads a lap. Lap 164 Kyle Busch is in with Stewart, Bowyer, Kurt Busch and a few others. Robby Gordon is busted for speeding.

Lap 165 with most of the leaders being complete with stops Jeff Gordon is back in the lead followed by Johnson, Kenseth, Burton and Harvick. Hornish Jr. is busted for speeding. 17 drivers remain on the lead lap. Drivers a lap down are Ambrose, Newman, Menard, Hamlin, Ragan, Smith, Allmendinger, Keselowski, Kvapil, Sadler, Blaney, Hornish Jr., Vickers, McMurray, Gilliland, Papis, Robby Gordon, Kurt Busch, Conway and Montoya. In the garage are Said, Labonte, Nemechek, Bliss, McDowell and Almirola.

Lap 178 we are down to 15 drivers on the lead lap. Edwards, Earnhardt Jr., Reutimann, Logano and Bowyer are in danger of going a lap down. Lap 182 Earnhardt Jr. passes Reutimann for 12^th trying to stay on the lead lap. Lap 184 Edwards is a lap down.

Lap 188 Reutimann challenges Earnhardt Jr. for the last position on the lead lap. Reutimann takes 12^th back from Earnhardt Jr. Lap 192 Earnhardt Jr. is just about to get lapped. Lap 194 Earnhardt looks like he will be going a lap down as Vickers is in front of him as Jeff Gordon is on the inside. Gordon cannot make the pass yet.

Lap 198 Earnhardt Jr. is a lap down with Reutimann and Logano next on the list. We are at 12 drivers on the lead lap. Kenseth is on pit road. This will make 11 on the lead lap.

Lap 200 (67 to go) your top twenty drivers are Jeff Gordon, Johnson, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Stewart, Kahne, Biffle, Martin, Bowyer, Logano and Reutimann on the lead lap followed by Earnhardt Jr., Edwards, Ambrose, Newman, Paul Menard, Truex Jr., Hamlin, Speed and Ragan a lap down. So far there have been 14 lead changes among 9 leaders and 6 cautions for 25 laps. 11 drivers are on the lead lap.

57 laps to go and we are hearing so many teams reporting debris on the track, you would think a mine field of garbage was on the track. Of course, the track is clean. Lap 212 Biffle is in with Keselowski.

54 to go Jeff Gordon is in with Johnson, Reutimann and ten others including Earnhardt Jr. Stewart is the leader with 52 to go. Keselowski has to come back to pit road as his team is over the wall too soon. Kyle Busch is busted for speeding. After this pit cycle ends Jeff Gordon is back as the leader.

45 to go Johnson runs 2^nd, Kenseth 3^rd, Harvick 4^th, Burton 5^th, Stewart 6^th, Kahne 7^th, Biffle 8^th, Martin 9^th and Bowyer 10^th. Logano is 11^th and the last one on the lead lap. 42 to go Logano passes Bowyer for 10^th.

We may see Bowyer, Logano and Martin go a lap down if Jeff Gordon keeps on the move as he does.

YELLOW FLAG with 39 to go as Conway, who came back on track a while back is in the wall again. Reutimann is the lucky dog. Jeff Gordon, Harvick, Johnson, Kenseth, Martin, Kahne and Stewart are back on track. Let’s see how many lap down drivers stay out to be the wave around drivers. Bowyer remained on the track. Holy cow there are a bunch of wave around drivers, Hornish Jr., Vickers, Edwards, Earnhardt Jr., Ambrose, Papis, Newman, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Menard, Truex Jr., Blaney, Andretti, Smith, Vickers and Keselowski. 

GREEN FLAG with 34 to go as Bowyer will be the meat in the sandwich as Jeff Gordon and Johnson go on either side of him. 33 to go Johnson to the inside of Gordon in turn four almost lost it, which allows Gordon to keep the lead.

30 to go as Gordon continues to run strong in front of Johnson. 27 to go as Johnson works on Gordon for the lead. Behind them with 26 to go Martin, Kenseth and Bowyer battle for 4^th, 5^th and 6^th.

25 to go as Gordon and Johnson lead the field by almost 3 seconds. With the wave around we have 21 drivers back on the lead lap. 22 to go Johnson all over Gordon for the lead.

20 to go same battle in front as third place Harvick is 2.5 seconds back. Behind Harvick, Martin is 4 seconds back and 5^th place Kenseth is 4.4 seconds back.

16 to go Johnson takes the lead on the back stretch. 15 to go Harvick is closing in as the two front runners battle for the lead.

13 to go Johnson leads Gordon by 1.4 seconds. Bowyer is falling back in positions as Kahne closes in on him for 8^th.

11 to go Johnson continues to pull away from Gordon to 1.7 seconds, Harvick still 2.2 seconds back.

10 to go as Johnson is 2 seconds in front of Gordon.

8 to go no change in the gap between Johnson and Gordon.

7 to go Gordon closes the gap to 1.8 seconds.

6 to go Kenseth closes in on Martin for 4^th.

5 to go as Johnson remains 2 seconds in front of Harvick, who passes Gordon for 2^nd. Kenseth slips back where Logano challenges for position.

3 to go Johnson by 1.7 seconds over Harvick. Logano and Kenseth battle for 5^th.

2 to go Johnson with no pressure.

WHITE FLAG for Johnson and no threat. Logano and Kenseth will fight until the start finish line.

CHECKERED FLAG for Johnson. Photo finish for Kenseth and Logano. Kenseth takes it.

Your top ten for the day – Johnson, Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Martin, Kenseth, Logano, Stewart, Bowyer, Kahne and Biffle.

The race lasted for almost 3 hours. We saw 20 lead changes among 10 leaders. 7 cautions came out for 29 laps.