NASCAR on FOX at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
NASCAR on FOX at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
FOX Sports offers a NASCAR doubleheader this weekend from Las Vegas Motor Speedway with 18 hours of programming, including FS1’s live NASCAR XFINITY SERIES race coverage on Saturday, March 5, and culminating with live NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES race coverage on FOX on Sunday, March 6 (3:30 PM ET), with pre-race coverage on FOX NASCAR SUNDAY (3:00 PM ET).
On Sunday, Mike Joy leads the FOX NASCAR booth from Las Vegas with analysis from NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip, four-time champ Jeff Gordon and former crew chief Larry McReynolds. Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum cover pit road. Chris Myers hosts the network’s coverage alongside analyst Michael Waltrip.
FS1 has live coverage of Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY SERIES race (4:00 PM ET), preceded by pre-race coverage on NASCAR RACEDAY-XFINITY (3:30 PM ET). Adam Alexander calls the race alongside Michael Waltrip and driver analyst Clint Bowyer. Bowyer is one of five NASCAR
SPRINT CUP SERIES drivers announced as part of a rotation in the FOX and FS1 booth for FOX Sports’ coverage of the 2016 NASCAR XFINITY SERIES season. Also scheduled as guest analysts are 2012 champ Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards and Danica Patrick. 2014 champ Kevin Harvick called last week’s season opener from Daytona. Reporting from the XFINITY Series pits at Las Vegas are Chris Neville, Welch and Yocum.
Below are quotes from FOX NASCAR’s Gordon, McReynolds, Darrell Waltrip and Alexander on the week’s headlines and the race ahead, as well as the full FOX NASCAR programming schedule from Las Vegas Motor Speedway:
On the performance of the new lower downforce package at Atlanta last week:
“I saw some great driving at Atlanta. The cars are definitely harder to drive with the lower downforce package than they were last year. We heard several drivers say that after the Atlanta race. This new aerodynamic package will continue to evolve, and it will get better and better as we go along.”
--Darrell Waltrip
“I loved the racing that we saw. To be able to get it back in the drivers’ hands where they have to manage their tire wear, where we see them inside the car working the steering wheel … and what we saw (at Atlanta) was very ‘Dale Earnhardt-esque.’”
--Jeff Gordon
“Drivers are the best measuring stick. All weekend long, regardless of whether they ran well or struggled, drivers only had positive things to say about the new aero package. They felt like they were in control of their race cars. If they and their teams could make their cars drive well, they could overtake and pass another car. They weren’t stuck behind them because of a dreaded ‘aero push’ or ‘dirty air.’ But like I’ve said for months, I’d like to reserve final judgment until after Texas next month because by then, we’ll have raced on the bulk of the various styles of tracks with the new package and can really determine what we think of it.”
--Larry McReynolds (on NASCAR RACE HUB)
On surprises in last Sunday’s race at Atlanta:
“I expected better performances out of Kyle Larson, Kasey Kahne and Denny Hamlin at Atlanta. Hamlin was quite shocking, actually, because I expected him to be a major player with the new rules package, but he started going backward pretty soon after they waved the green flag.”
--Larry McReynolds
On how many wins Jimmie Johnson could attain in 2016:
“He had five wins last year, and in the last 10 years, only twice has he had less than five. There were a couple of times he won nine or 10 races in one season, but it seems like his pattern is five to six wins per season lately.”
--Larry McReynolds
On where Johnson will end up on the all-time wins list:
“He’s 40 years old, has 76 wins and is the absolute picture of perfect health. Jeff Gordon raced until he was 44, and Jimmie now is 17 wins behind Jeff. Jimmie will get mighty close but he’s going to have to win four to five races per year pretty consistently. But if he sticks to his average in the next four years, he’ll be right there with Jeff in wins.”
--Larry McReynolds
On whether he has seen enough yet to ascertain which NASCAR XFINITY SERIES teams are the strongest this season:
“The Joe Gibbs Racing drivers certainly were the strongest over the weekend at Atlanta, and JGR’s Kyle Busch won. But the regulars also are very impressive. Erik Jones had an early penalty but came back to finish third. Daniel Suarez ran in the top five to top seven all day long. Ty Dillon and Elliott Sadler battled back well from issues. In addition, Justin Allgaier should be a factor all year long.”
--Adam Alexander
On who is most impressive of the younger XFINITY Series drivers so far in 2016:
“Among the top-five finishers at Atlanta, Erik Jones is the one that doesn’t fit based on his experience there. Atlanta is one of his biggest challenges because when he went to Atlanta last year, it was as a last-minute fill-in for Kyle Busch. We saw how good Jones was at Atlanta -- he had a pit penalty and still finished third. Now he is headed to Las Vegas, where he has raced an XFINITY car and won in a Truck. Now he’s going to tracks at which he has experience and past success. The sky is the limit.”
--Adam Alexander
On his pick to win the NASCAR XFINITY SERIES race at Las Vegas:
“Erik Jones. Kyle Busch will be very strong as he tries to win yet again at another track for the first time in the XFINITY Series. When you look at Erik Jones’ experience at Las Vegas and what he did at Atlanta last week, Las Vegas is the perfect place for him to break out. Daniel Suarez will be his biggest competition, as will Ty Dillon, Bubba Wallace, Justin Allgaier and Elliott Sadler.”
--Adam Alexander
NASCAR ON FOX & FS1 AT LAS VEGAS PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE:
*All times live/Eastern unless otherwise indicated & subject to change
Friday, March 4
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice (1:30-3:00 PM) (FS1)
NASCAR RACE HUB (3:00-3:30 PM) (FS1)
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES practice (3:30-5:00 PM) (FS1)
NASCAR RACE HUB (5:00-6:00 PM) (FS1)
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES final practice (6:00-7:00 PM) (FS1)
NASCAR RACE HUB (7:00-7:30 PM) (FS1)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying (7:30-9:00 PM) (FS1)
Saturday, March 5
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES practice (11:30 AM-12:30 PM) (FS1)
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES final practice (2:30-3:30 PM) (FS1)
NASCAR RACEDAY-XFINITY (3:30-4:00 PM) (FS1)
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES Racing (4:00-6:30 PM) (FS1)
Sunday, March 6
NASCAR RACEDAY (1:30 PM-2:30 PM) (FS1)
FOX NASCAR SUNDAY (3:00-3:30 PM) (FOX)
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES Racing (3:30-7:00 PM) (FOX)
NASCAR VICTORY LANE (11:00-11:30 PM) (FS1)
NASCAR RaceDay: Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip discuss how the announcement from Stewart-Haas Racing will effect its relationship with Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports for the remainder of 2016.
NASCAR RaceDay: Jeff Gordon sits down with Tony Stewart to talk about his career and recovery from an off-season back injury.
NASCAR RaceDay: Jeff Gordon conducts his first interview for FOX with 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch.
