2019 South Point 400 Explained

Type:NASME
Race Name:South Point 400
Details Ref:[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Year:2019
Race No:27
Season No:36
Location:Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas
Course Mi:1.5
Course Km:2.4
Distance Laps:267
Distance Mi:400.5
Distance Km:640.8
Avg:142.555mph
Pole Driver:Clint Bowyer
Pole Team:Stewart-Haas Racing
Pole Time:30.180
Most Driver:Joey Logano
Most Team:Team Penske
Most Laps:105
Car:19
First Driver:Martin Truex Jr.
First Team:Joe Gibbs Racing
Network:NBCSN
Announcers:Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Ratings:2.384 million[9]
Radio:PRN
Booth Ann:Doug Rice and Mark Garrow
Turn Ann:Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4)

The 2019 South Point 400 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 15, 2019, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5miles asphalt intermediate speedway, it was the 27th race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, first race of the Playoffs, and the first race of the Round of 16.

Report

Background

Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada outside the Las Vegas city limits and about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a 1200acres complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Entry list

DriverTeamManufacturer
00 Landon Cassill (i) Chevrolet
1 Chevrolet
2 Ford
3 Chevrolet
4 Ford
6 Ford
8 Daniel Hemric (R) Chevrolet
9 Chevrolet
10 Ford
11 Toyota
12 Ford
13 Chevrolet
14 Ford
15 Ross Chastain (i) Chevrolet
17 Ford
18 Toyota
19 Toyota
20 Toyota
21 Ford
22 Ford
24 Chevrolet
27 Joe Nemechek (i) Chevrolet
32 Ford
34 Ford
36 Matt Tifft (R) Ford
37 Chevrolet
38 Ford
41 Ford
42 Chevrolet
43 Chevrolet
47 Ryan Preece (R) Chevrolet
48 Chevrolet
51 B. J. McLeod (i) Ford
52 Garrett Smithley (i) Ford
53 J. J. Yeley (i) Ford
66 Joey Gase (i) Toyota
77 Chevrolet
88 Chevrolet
95 Toyota
Official entry list

Practice

First practice

Clint Bowyer was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 30.327 seconds and a speed of 178.059mph.[10]

PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime
114 30.327 178.059
224 30.470 177.223
348 30.483 177.148
Official first practice results

Final practice

Kurt Busch was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 30.461 seconds and a speed of 177.276mph.[11]

PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime
11 30.461 177.276
222 30.546 176.783
32 30.626 176.321
Official final practice results

Qualifying

Clint Bowyer scored the pole for the race with a time of 30.180 and a speed of 178.926mph.[12]

Qualifying results

PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime
114 Ford 30.180
241 Ford 30.189
34 Ford 30.206
410 Ford 30.252
51 Chevrolet 30.318
68 Daniel Hemric (R) Chevrolet 30.366
73 Chevrolet 30.454
89 Chevrolet 30.463
948 Chevrolet 30.488
1034 Ford 30.490
1138 Ford 30.527
1217 Ford 30.531
1311 Toyota 30.539
1424 Chevrolet 30.567
1542 Chevrolet 30.590
1647 Ryan Preece (R) Chevrolet 30.615
176 Ford 30.618
182 Ford 30.619
1988 Chevrolet 30.620
2018 Toyota 30.633
2121 Ford 30.672
2222 Ford 30.674
2312 Ford 30.706
2419 Toyota 30.721
2595 Toyota 30.726
2620 Toyota 30.740
2713 Chevrolet 30.742
2837 Chevrolet 30.774
2936 Matt Tifft (R) Ford 30.808
3000 Landon Cassill (i) Chevrolet 30.839
3143 Chevrolet 30.893
3215 Ross Chastain (i) Chevrolet 31.027
3332 Ford 31.081
3452 Garrett Smithley (i) Ford 31.411
3551 B. J. McLeod (i) Ford 31.413
3653 J. J. Yeley (i) Ford 31.538
3777 Chevrolet 31.572
3827 Joe Nemechek (i) Chevrolet 32.070
3966 Joey Gase (i) Toyota 32.086
Official qualifying results

Race

Stage results

Stage OneLaps: 80

PosDriverTeamManufacturerPoints
1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 10
2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 9
3 10 Aric AlmirolaStewart-Haas Racing Ford 8
4 41 Daniel Suárez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 7
5 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 6
6 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 5
7 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 4
8 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 3
9 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2
10 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1
Official stage one results

Stage TwoLaps: 80

PosDriverTeamManufacturerPoints
1 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 10
2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 9
3 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 8
4 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 7
5 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6
6 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 5
7 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 4
8 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 3
9 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2
10 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1
Official stage two results

Final stage results

Stage ThreeLaps: 107

PosGridDriverTeamManufacturerLapsPoints
1 24 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 53
2 3 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 267 51
3 18 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 267 34
4 8 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 39
5 23 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 267 35
6 19 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 32
7 14 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 39
8 15 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 267 39
9 22 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 267 47
10 17 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 267 27
11 9 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 26
12 7 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 267 31
13 4 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 267 32
14 21 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 267 23
15 13 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 26
16 27 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 267 21
17 6 8 Daniel Hemric (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 267 20
18 28 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 266 19
19 20 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 266 18
20 2 41 Daniel Suárez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 266 24
21 25 95 Matt DiBenedetto Leavine Family Racing Toyota 266 16
22 11 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 266 15
23 31 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 266 14
24 10 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 266 13
25 1 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 266 12
26 12 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 265 11
27 16 47 Ryan Preece (R) JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 265 10
28 33 32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 265 9
29 30 00 Landon Cassill (i) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 265 0
30 29 36 Matt Tifft (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 264 7
31 32 15 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 262 0
32 36 53 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 260 0
33 35 51 B. J. McLeod (i) Petty Ware Racing Ford 259 0
34 38 27 Joe Nemechek (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 257 0
35 34 52 Garrett Smithley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 255 0
36 26 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 254 2
37 37 77 Reed Sorenson Spire Motorsports Toyota 250 1
38 39 66 Joey Gase (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 249 0
39 5 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 187 8
Official race results

Kyle Busch/Garrett Smithley incident

Late in the race, Kyle Busch was battling for position with William Byron when #52 Honest Abe Roofing driver Garrett Smithley, who was laps down, couldn't move down to get out of the way of the lead lap cars. Kyle Busch also didn't have enough time to move down, and Busch would hit Smithley in the rear. Busch would have major front end damage, saying "think the nose is knocked in. Fucking destroyed". Busch would go on to finish 19th, and Smithley 35th, 12 laps down.

Busch was noticeably frustrated during post race interviews, saying:On Monday, September 16, Smithley would defend his actions on Twitter, tweeting ¨Held my line... 2 cars got around.¨ Fans were split on the issue- some saying Smithley should have gotten out of the way, while others saying Busch should have moved his line earlier. On the same day, Smithley would post an announcement on Twitter, defending his racing career up to that point and saying that he wasn't mad at Busch.[13] Busch would criticize the skill of lapped car drivers, saying “We’re at the top echelon of motorsports, and we’ve got guys who have never won Late Model races running on the racetrack. It’s pathetic. They don’t know where to go. What else do you do?¨ On September 20, Smithley would tweet ¨Even when I don’t do anything @KyleBusch blames me. Went outta my way to give him room tonight. Think he might have thought I was in a different car. ‍♂️¨. As of now, nothing more has been said, but the question of skill needed in NASCAR has remained, recently brought up by Quin Houff´s incident with Matt Dibenedetto at the 2020 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500.

Race statistics

Media

Television

NBC Sports called the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the call in the booth for the race. Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race.

Radio

PRN covered the radio call for the race which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race in the booth when the field raced through the tri-oval. Rob Albright called the race from a billboard in turn 2 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2 & Pat Patterson called the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan, Wendy Venturini, and Heather DeBeaux worked pit road for the radio side.

Standings after the race

PosDriverPoints
21Martin Truex Jr.2,082
32Kevin Harvick2,079 (–3)
13Joey Logano2,075 (–7)
34Kyle Busch2,063 (–19)
15Brad Keselowski2,058 (–24)
16Chase Elliott2,057 (–25)
57Denny Hamlin2,056 (–26)
18Kyle Larson2,044 (–38)
49William Byron2,040 (–42)
210Ryan Blaney2,039 (–43)
111Alex Bowman2,037 (–45)
212Aric Almirola2,033 (–49)
313Ryan Newman2,027 (–55)
614Kurt Busch2,019 (–63)
15Clint Bowyer2,012 (–70)
516Erik Jones2,007 (–75)
Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings
PosManufacturerPoints
1Toyota991
2Ford958 (–33)
3Chevrolet916 (–75)

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2019 schedule. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. August 3, 2019. May 5, 2018.
  2. Web site: Las Vegas Motor Speedway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. August 3, 2019. January 3, 2013. April 28, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170428042515/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/las-vegas-motor-speedway.html. dead.
  3. Web site: Entry List. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 9, 2019. September 9, 2019.
  4. Web site: First Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 13, 2019. September 13, 2019.
  5. Web site: Final Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 13, 2019. September 13, 2019.
  6. Web site: Starting Lineup. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 14, 2019. September 14, 2019.
  7. Web site: South Point 400 Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 15, 2019. September 15, 2019.
  8. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. September 15, 2019. September 15, 2019.
  9. Web site: 2019 South Point 400 ratings. https://web.archive.org/web/20190920042411/http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/skedball-weekly-sports-tv-ratings-9-9-9-15-2019.html. dead. 20 September 2019. ShowBuzzDaily. Mitch Metcalf. 17 September 2019.
  10. Web site: Utter. Jim. Clint Bowyer tops Friday's first Cup practice at Las Vegas. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. September 13, 2019. Las Vegas. September 13, 2019.
  11. Web site: Utter. Jim. Kurt Busch fastest in Friday's final Cup practice at Las Vegas. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. September 13, 2019. Las Vegas. September 13, 2019.
  12. Web site: Utter. Jim. Clint Bowyer wins Las Vegas pole - his first in 12 years. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. September 14, 2019. Las Vegas. September 14, 2019.
  13. Web site: 2019-09-16. Garrett Smithley rebukes Kyle Busch to 'tell my story and defend myself'. 2021-05-04. NASCAR Talk NBC Sports. en-US.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "2019 South Point 400".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.