Rollin' the dice at Vegas... | More >> | Recap Archives: 2005 | 2004 | 2003
Start - 10th | Competitors - 27| High - 1st | Low - 21st | Finish - 5th | analyzer report
Race Report - March 15th, 2005Nestled in the mountains of Nevada is a sleepy little town called Las Vegas. Some report that fortunes can be made there but you can't win if you don't roll the dice sometimes. The NASSCAR lightning division rolled into Sin-City on this mid March day and twenty-seven gladiators took to the field of battle for a showdown under clear and sunny skies.
The AMSOIL Chevy pilot placed the ECI Express mid pack in qualifying but other agendas were in play as driver Kevin Inglin along with the crew chief felt that they had the winning hand and played a conservative strategy until the end. Banking on either long runs or big crashes, riding in the back was the order of the day. The reason you ask - tire wear. Las Vegas speedway is hard on right front Goodyears and those who manage their tires best leave with the most amount of chips when the checkered flag falls; at least that's the way it's supposed to work out.
For the early part of the run things played out conservatively and it wasn't until a late stage green flag run changed the complexion of the race and gave the AMSOIL team a leg up on the competition When others were diving to pit road for tires, the ECI Chevy was rolling along through the full fuel load. A subsequent caution shuffled the deck and allowed the planned strategy to kick into high gear.
Sitting second with twenty to go, Kevin mustered all he could for Francois Couillard but a late race run resulted in a loss of momentum and two cars slipped by. Kevin charged back for another shot at a top three but contact between himself and David Gray with three laps to go resulted in an wide slide across the frontstretch pavement. Kevin gathered it back in but not before he dropped to fifth place. He cruised across the start finish line just two laps later and pulled off the first top five of the season.
