Vegas long shots nearly break the bank on Sunday
LAS VEGAS -- The bookies got lucky.
In a city built on gambling, a number of long shots nearly paid off big in Sunday's Sprint Cup Series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In the end it was native son Kyle Busch taking the checkered flag, bowing to the crowd and even kissing the start/finish line after a performance as impressive as any of his eight victories a year ago. But oh, for the bettors in Las Vegas sports books who put cash on runner-up Clint Bowyer.
The odds of the Richard Childress Racing driver winning on Sunday? Try 75-to-1, which would have paid $1,500 on a $20 bet. Bowyer made the odds makers sweat, coming back from a lap down and even taking the lead when crew chief Shane Wilson decided to stay out on the final round of pit stops, which came with 25 laps remaining. Bowyer held on for nine laps before Busch overtook him, yet still managed his best finish since winning at Richmond last spring.
"Got to hand it to Shane," said Bowyer, who has a new team and crew chief this season. "I mean, that's where he shines. He studies his pit strategy and works hard on it. I really felt like that was going to be an area that I could improve on. I'm so proud of him, proud of his call, glad it worked out."
Bowyer outran teammate Jeff Burton -- who, despite being a two-time Las Vegas winner, held odds of 35-to-1 -- to place second.
"We were racing for second, but we were racing for the win," Bowyer said. "I mean, if you put yourself in position, you never know what can happen. There one lap, [Busch] got pretty loose off of [Turn] 2, kind of reopened the door for us. I mean, I wasn't thinking about finishing third, I was trying to think about winning."
Any brave gamblers who chose David Reutimann at similarly hefty 75-to-1 odds also found themselves sitting atop a potential fortune as the final laps wound down. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver had to start at the back because of an engine change, but crew chief Rodney Childers called for a late two-tire stop that helped the No. 00 grab solid track position. The result was a fourth-place finish, marking the first time in Reutimann's brief Sprint Cup career that the driver has cracked the top five. Next
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In a city built on gambling, a number of long shots nearly paid off big in Sunday's Sprint Cup Series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In the end it was native son Kyle Busch taking the checkered flag, bowing to the crowd and even kissing the start/finish line after a performance as impressive as any of his eight victories a year ago. But oh, for the bettors in Las Vegas sports books who put cash on runner-up Clint Bowyer.
The odds of the Richard Childress Racing driver winning on Sunday? Try 75-to-1, which would have paid $1,500 on a $20 bet. Bowyer made the odds makers sweat, coming back from a lap down and even taking the lead when crew chief Shane Wilson decided to stay out on the final round of pit stops, which came with 25 laps remaining. Bowyer held on for nine laps before Busch overtook him, yet still managed his best finish since winning at Richmond last spring.
"Got to hand it to Shane," said Bowyer, who has a new team and crew chief this season. "I mean, that's where he shines. He studies his pit strategy and works hard on it. I really felt like that was going to be an area that I could improve on. I'm so proud of him, proud of his call, glad it worked out."
Bowyer outran teammate Jeff Burton -- who, despite being a two-time Las Vegas winner, held odds of 35-to-1 -- to place second.
"We were racing for second, but we were racing for the win," Bowyer said. "I mean, if you put yourself in position, you never know what can happen. There one lap, [Busch] got pretty loose off of [Turn] 2, kind of reopened the door for us. I mean, I wasn't thinking about finishing third, I was trying to think about winning."
Any brave gamblers who chose David Reutimann at similarly hefty 75-to-1 odds also found themselves sitting atop a potential fortune as the final laps wound down. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver had to start at the back because of an engine change, but crew chief Rodney Childers called for a late two-tire stop that helped the No. 00 grab solid track position. The result was a fourth-place finish, marking the first time in Reutimann's brief Sprint Cup career that the driver has cracked the top five. Next
www.nascar.com