Breaking Down NASCAR Weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

1. Chandler Smith edges Kyle Busch for the victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j81j_itrkc

The stars were out for the Friday Nights Truck Series race, and we're not talking about the ones up in the sky. The field had a who's who of contenders looking to win a trophy, including two-time Cup Series Champion and Las Vegas native Kyle Busch.

The breathtaking opening sequence saw Kyle Busch take the lead from Zane Smith only to be tracked down about ten laps later. The two were then halted by a caution that forced them to pit road for fuel and tires. Smith came out of pit road near the lead, but Busch was shuffled back a bit. 

Smith would get collected in a spin during the restart and sent to the back of the field after making repairs. As for Busch, he would retake the lead from the rookie driver, Carlson Hocevar on lap 43, but it wasn't without an impressive showing from the newcomer. After an intense battle at the front, Busch took the lead but was later forced to relinquish it under caution.

The action really heated up with only 22 laps to go when Chandler Smith made a power move during a restart and blew past Busch. Christian Eckes also made it by Rowdy but Busch would eventually gain the spot back. With 13 laps to go, Chandler Smith and John Hunter Nemechek were hung up in the draft by their own boss on a restart, allowing Busch to grab second.

When he did finally get up to the bumper of leader, Christian Eckes, a last-second lane change sent the young man into the inside wall of the track. Busch went by relatively unscathed, bringing up yet another restart for fans to enjoy. This set up the penultimate restart where we would see Zane Smith take an early lead before getting overtaken by Chandler Smith

Busch fell back to third at this point and was struggling to keep pace with the other two drivers. He tried to mount one more comeback on the final lap of the race but could not capitalize on his momentum. This put Chandler Smith and Zane Smith side by side on the final lap before Chandler was able to slightly pull ahead win Friday night's race. This puts him in the playoffs come Fall, giving him a chance to run for a championship. As for Busch, he ended up third, which was probably disappointing to a guy that ran up front all day.

Fortunately for Busch, things swung around in his favor when Smith was later disqualified for a technicality. Smith moved to the bottom of the rankings and Busch was bumped up to second place.