LAS VEGAS -- NASCAR SPRINT CUP UAW-Dodge 400

Site: Las Vegas

Schedule: Friday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 3:30 p.m.); Sunday, race (FOX, 12:30 p.m.).

Track: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (D-shaped oval, 1.5 miles, 20 degrees banking in turns).

Race distance: 400 miles, 267 laps.

Last race: Carl Edwards charged past reigning champ Jimmie Johnson with 13 laps remaining and goes on to win the rain-delayed Auto Club 500. Johnson came out of the final pit stop in the lead with 26 laps remaining, but Edwards came from third to grab the eighth win of his career. The race was stopped Sunday night after 87 of the scheduled 250 laps, and resumed Monday.

Last year: Johnson beat teammate Jeff Gordon to win his third straight Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Johnson had few problems navigating his way around the track, which was under intense scrutiny all weekend because of changes owner Bruton Smith made to the 1.5-mile speedway. Johnson overcame a pit-road penalty and a minor brush with the wall to lead 89 of the 267 laps en route to the 150th NASCAR victory for Hendrick Motorsports.

Fast facts: Johnson also won three straight Coca-Cola 600s at Lowe's Motor Speedway from 2003-05. Gordon is the last driver to win the same event four consecutive times, the fall event at Darlington from 1995-98. ... There have been six different winners through the first 10 years of this event. Matt Kenseth (2003-04) and Jeff Burton (1999-2000) have also won in consecutive years. ... Gordon followed a disappointing 39th-place finish at Daytona by placing third at Fontana. Johnson was 27th at Daytona. ... Tony Stewart has two top-10s in his last three starts at Las Vegas. ... The Car of Tomorrow will make its Las Vegas debut this weekend. ... The first Cup event at Las Vegas was held on a one-mile dirt track in 1955. It was shortened from 200 laps to 111 due to darkness and won by Norm Nelson. This event has been held every year since 1998.

Next race: Kobalt Tools 500, March 9, Hampton, Ga.

On the Net: http://www.nascar.com

___

NASCAR NATIONWIDE

Sam's Town 300

Site: Las Vegas

Schedule: Saturday, qualifying (Speed Channel, Noon), race (ESPN2, 1 p.m.).

Track: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (D-shaped oval, 1.5 miles, 20 degrees banking in turns).

Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.

Last race: Tony Stewart was dominant in winning his second straight Nationwide race, holding off hard-charging Kyle Busch again. Stewart beat Busch, his teammate in the Sprint Cup series, in a 1-2 Toyota sweep in the Nationwide season-opener at Daytona. He made it look a lot easier in the rain-postponed race at Auto Club Speedway as he led 136 of the 150 laps on the 2-mile track formerly known as California Speedway.

Last year: Jeff Burton nudged a spinning Busch across the finish line to win a chaotic, caution-marred Sam's Town 300. The race had 12 cautions for 58 laps, and the postrace debate overshadowed a spectacular finish that denied Busch a victory on his home track. The repaved track made speeds high and forced Goodyear to bring a hard left tire to the track.