The Biggest NASCAR Storylines to Watch Ahead of Sprint Cup Series at Las Vegas

The circuit hauls gas all the way to Las Vegas for the Kobalt 400.

After two races totaling 1,000 miles to kick off the season, the 400 will seem like one of Penn and Teller’s pyrotechnics.

And as we head to Sin City, the Chase grid is a 50-50 blend of who’s-who and who wishes to be who.

Through two races, eight drivers in the top 16 didn’t win a race a year ago: Danica Patrick (16th!), David Ragan (15th), Greg Biffle (13th), Sam Hornish Jr. (12th), David Gilliland (11th), Clint Bowyer (10th), Casey Mears (sixth) and Martin Truex Jr. (fifth).

Two drivers who did win races a year ago are two you wouldn’t call world-beaters either like Aric Almirola and A.J. Allmendinger.

Let that rest in your craw as you read the biggest storylines heading into Nevada as the circuit shoots to the wild, wild west.

Big Names in Big Trouble

John Bazemore/Associated Press

As stated by the intro to this slideshow, eight of the 16 drivers on the Chase grid were winless in 2014. Two—Almirola and Allmendinger—would never be confused with top-tier drivers. (’Dinger is getting there. He’s a force on the road courses.)

Here’s a list of a few names well outside the top 16: Tony Stewart (35th), Jeff Gordon (36th), Brad Keselowski (22nd) and Ryan Newman (21st). Two of these guys—Gordon and Keselowski—are essentially assured of a win this year (Matt Kenseth may argue that.). The other two may in some deep hay.

Jay Pennell of FoxSports.com wrote, “However, if drivers such as Stewart and his Chad Johnston-led team are unable to turn the corner in the next three races—all at intermediate tracks, which make up the bulk of the schedule—things may become worrisome.”

Sure, they’re only two races into the season, but Stewart hasn’t even finished a race. Gordon has been caught in serious wrecks, and Newman just keeps Newmanizing (read: treading water) his way around the oval.

It’s not panic time, but there needs to be some urgency with 24 races to qualify for the Chase. It just takes one.

Just Another Brick in the Wall?

Dale Davis/Associated Press

After Kyle Busch suffered a compound fracture to his leg—among other injuries—during a nasty crash with an exposed concrete wall in Daytona’s Xfinity Series race, a certain level of awareness surfaced.

A few tracks added more SAFER barriers and some tire barriers too, in an effort to protect the drivers.

Then Gordon found a sliver of wall on the Atlanta backstretch that made his car look as if a T-Rex used it as a chew toy. Thankfully, he walked away. Gordon said on NASCAR.com:

"

I am very frustrated with the fact there are no SAFER barriers down there. I knew it was a hard hit. I was like 'man I can't believe ...' I didn't expect it to be that hard. Then I got out and I looked and I saw 'oh wow, big surprise I found the one wall here on the back straightaway that doesn't have a SAFER barrier.' 

"

It’s not as easy as it sounds, but these walls must be in place. There are catch fences to protect the fans, but like broken-down horses in horse racing (who more often than not must be euthanized on track), all it takes is one driver getting killed by this kind of negligence to sour an entire generation of fan. Let's not forget the permanent damage this could do to those personally impacted by said theoretical crash.

The cars are safer thanks in part to the death of Dale Earnhardt in 2001. Will NASCAR wait until another driver is critically injured—or worse—before these tracks are as safe as the cars driving on them?

Brad Keselowski vs. Dale Earnhardt Jr.?

Reinhold Matay/Associated Press

As someone who spends a good deal of his time and attention in horse racing circles, I understand how difficult it is for media relations departments to impart storylines into their big races.

Fans are (literally) dying and not being replenished, so when this image posted by Las Vegas Motor Speedway hit the Internet in early February, I felt the struggle.

But just like Dale Earnhardt Jr. said, it’s dumb.

He lost last year’s race by running out of fuel, thus allowing Keselowski’s No. 2 Ford Fusion to zip past for the win.

“We weren't supposed to make it," Earnhardt said on ESPN.com. "We were trying to save as much as we can and make it work, but we knew we were short. We wouldn't have finished second if we didn't have that strategy."

So Las Vegas Motor Speedway, in an effort to throw a little juice into this race, tried pitting these two against each other.

Keselowski’s reaction was, quite possibly, the best.

“Interns,” he tweeted.

Will Jimmie Johnson Dominate at LVMS?

John Raoux/Associated Press

Johnson’s win in Atlanta signified that the No. 48 team is locked and loaded for 2015. It took 12 races to get that first win in 2014 while fighting off questions about whether or not the six-time champ had the chutzpah to compete at the highest Hendrickian levels.

Two races, two top fives and one win in 2015 suggest Chad Knaus and Co. are looking for a record-tying seventh championship. Knaus told Jared Turner of FoxSports.com:

"

I just know we're going to continue to work and do the best we possibly can. That's the vintage 48 methodology. If you win, you just put your head down, keep digging, try to get the next one. That's kind of how we're going to approach the season. Just because we won (at Atlanta) doesn't mean we're going to go to Vegas and knock it out of the park. I think we have the ability to, but I don't think there's any givens, by any stretch.

"

Johnson does have four career wins at Las Vegas, which makes it one of his best tracks on the circuit. The Atlanta win was nice, but winning in Las Vegas would signify big things for the No. 48 car, according to Johnson on FoxSports.com:

"

It's hard to say for sure. Texas and Atlanta, a lot of those tracks with high wear, we seem to shine at regardless of package. I think next weekend in Vegas will really be a telling sign which teams are kind of geared up for the meat of the season, what our season's based on.

"

Johnson is a giant, but so too is...

Kevin Harvick: The Best Driver on the Circuit?

Terry Renna/Associated Press

Kevin Harvick may be the best driver on the circuit right now, despite not winning at Daytona or Atlanta.

The defending champ has finished second in both races this year and dating back to last year has finished no worse than second in his last five. Clearly, he has stolen all of Stewart-Haas Racing’s superpowers and used them for his own malevolent ends.

Bleacher Report’s Jerry Bonkowski wrote:

"

For all intents and purposes, Harvick truly has picked up in 2015 where he left off at the end of 2014. It’s not a matter of if he’ll win a race this season, it’s more a matter of when… Until the time he takes his first checkered flag of 2015—and likely the first of several checkered flags to come in the remaining 34 races—if Harvick keeps recording runner-up finishes, really, is there anything wrong with that?

"

Harvick was the best driver last year for most of the season. Pit-road woes turned what could have been an eight-win season into a five-win season. At this point, who’s complaining?

Certainly not Harvick, as he heads to Vegas, where he is winless with three top fives.

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