John Andretti, Driver of the No. 34 Window World Impala, Las Vegas
Motor Speedway Fast Facts:
* Andretti has made seven NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Las Vegas
Motor Speedway
* Andretti's best Sprint Cup finish at LVMS is 12th-place (1999, No.
43 Petty Enterprises Pontiac)
* In Sprint Cup competition, Andretti has an average starting position of
27.1 and an average finish of 28.1
* Andretti has led nine laps in Sprint Cup competition at LVMS
* Andretti has one Camping World Truck Series start at LVMS (2008, No. 15
Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota). Andretti started in 24th-place and
finished in fourth-place
John Andretti Comments on Las Vegas Motor Speedway:
"They changed the banking at (Las) Vegas (Motor Speedway)
recently. The thinking was that stock car drivers don't like flat
tracks. I love flat tracks. I think that you need to know how to drive
on a flat track more than a banked track. At Vegas they decided that
they wanted more side-by-side racing. I think they already had it, but
they changed the surface and now it's different. It's a
little racier at times, but it's still a narrow track. A lot of
the racing depends on the tire that they bring to the track because if
the tires have good grip, you'll see good side-by-side racing. If
it doesn't, especially with the new car, you'll slide up to
the outside wall and stay up there wherever you can find grip. A change
in race track conditions doesn't always solve the problem, but
that was the idea. They have a great race track in Vegas and I'll race
the Window World Chevy on any configuration, but I just preferred the
flat version.
"Last week we finished 31st at California (Auto Club Speedway). It
wasn't what we were hoping for, but everything is in perspective.
Is Jimmie Johnson looking back and worried about us in his quest for a
fourth championship? No. He hasn't lost an ounce of sleep over
it. On the other hand, we're trying to step up for Bob Jenkins
(owner, Front Row Motorsports) and trying to become that next-level
team. Hopefully we'll work into becoming a top-20, top-15 team, a
contender and so forth. The first step is probably going to be the
easiest. If you start last in a race, the first few positions are always
the easiest to make up. We just need to make this step a solid one and
build on what we've done well. We had a great race in Daytona.
California wasn't as strong, but we'll learn from it and
hopefully the Window World team will be stronger in Vegas because of
it."
-credit: frr
