The 2010 Shelby American at Las Vegas was a
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
Sprint Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States.
The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...
motor race that was held on February 28, 2010 at
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas Motor Speedway (track complex formerly known as Las Vegas Speedway Park from 1993 to 1996, Las Vegas Speedway in 1992, Las Vegas International Speedway from 1990 to 1992, as the Las Vegas International Speedrome from 1972 to 1990) is a ...
in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
,
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
as the third race of the
2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season The race consisted of 267 laps, 400.5 miles (645 km).
The race began with
Kurt Busch
Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American auto racing driver. He is best known for competing in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2000–2022, last driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. Busch is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series ch ...
, from
Penske Racing, on the pole. During the race there were ten different leaders, twenty lead changes, and seven cautions.
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE for Legacy Motor Club. Johnson has won seven Cup ch ...
, from
Hendrick Motorsports
Hendrick Motorsports is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All-Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 316 Cup Series ra ...
, ended up winning the 2010 Shelby American while
Kevin Harvick
Kevin Michael Harvick (born December 8, 1975) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and commentator for '' NASCAR on Fox''.
He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewa ...
finished 2nd and
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American stock car racing executive and former professional stock car racing driver who currently serves as the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, d ...
finished third after leading the most laps (219).
Race report
Practices and qualifying

In the first practice session on February 26, the fastest were
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born 20 September 1975) is a Colombian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to , IndyCar between 1999 and 2022, and the NASCAR Cup Series between 2006 and 2024. Montoya won seven Formula One Grand ...
,
Sam Hornish Jr.
Samuel Jon Hornish Jr. (born July 2, 1979) is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in 2017.
Hornish began his top-ti ...
,
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE for Legacy Motor Club. Johnson has won seven Cup ch ...
,
Mark Martin
Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959), nicknamed "the Kid", is an American former stock car racing driver. He most notably drove the No. 6 Ford Motor Company, Ford for Roush Racing for the majority of his career. From 1989 to 2009, Martin wo ...
,
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American stock car racing executive and former professional stock car racing driver who currently serves as the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, d ...
. During qualifying runs, Kurt Busch ran the fastest lap with a speed of and a time of 28.614 seconds to be on the pole position, while Casey Mears and Terry Cook failed to qualify. In the second practice session,
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and par ...
,
Greg Biffle
Gregory Jack Biffle (born December 23, 1969), nicknamed "the Biff", is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver.
After racing in the NASCAR Winter Heat Series in the mid-1990s, he was recommended to Jack Roush by former race ...
, Kurt Busch,
David Reutimann, and
Clint Bowyer
Clinton Aaron Bowyer (born May 30, 1979) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and commentator for ''NASCAR on Fox''. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado ...
were the fastest. In final practice Clint Bowyer, Juan Pablo Montoya, Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson, and
Marcos Ambrose
Marcos Ross Ambrose (born 1 September 1976) is an Australian former racing driver and current Garry Rogers Motorsport competition director. He won the Australian V8 Supercar series' championship in 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series, 2003 and ...
were the fastest. Unlike the first two practice sessions, final practice had one red flag because
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and broadcaster. A third-generation driver, he is the son of the late 7-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt and relative ...
spun to pit road.
Race summary
On February 28, 2010, at 3 p.m. EST, Las Vegas Motor Speedway's Chaplain Joe Freiburger said the invocation. Afterward,
America's Got Talent
''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...
winner Terry Fator sang the
national anthem
A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...
. Carroll Shelby and Kim Kardashian gave the command "Gentlemen, start your engines!" for the race.
On the start,
Kurt Busch
Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American auto racing driver. He is best known for competing in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2000–2022, last driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. Busch is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series ch ...
led the field to the green flag. On the same lap,
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American stock car racing executive and former professional stock car racing driver who currently serves as the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, d ...
passed Kurt Busch for the lead. On lap 2,
Kevin Conway collided with the
wall
A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or serves a decorative purpose. There are various types of walls, including border barriers between countries, brick wal ...
; to cause the first caution. On lap 5, Jeff Gordon led the field to the green flag. After the restart, the field became spread out, but on lap 45,
Mike Bliss
Michael Duane Bliss (born April 5, 1965) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. A journeyman NASCAR competitor and the 2002 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, he has run in all three national series.
Racing career
Bliss ...
collided with the wall to bring out the second caution. The restart happened on lap 52, with Jeff Gordon leading. One lap later,
Greg Biffle
Gregory Jack Biffle (born December 23, 1969), nicknamed "the Biff", is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver.
After racing in the NASCAR Winter Heat Series in the mid-1990s, he was recommended to Jack Roush by former race ...
passed Gordon, and the third caution came out. The third caution came out because the caution lights did not turn off. On the lap 56 restart, Greg Biffle led the field to the green flag, but one lap later, Jeff Gordon reclaimed the lead.
The race then experienced a 30 lap run that ended because
Sam Hornish Jr.
Samuel Jon Hornish Jr. (born July 2, 1979) is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in 2017.
Hornish began his top-ti ...
spun to bring out the fourth caution. All the leaders pitted, but the first one off pit road was
Matt Kenseth
Matthew Roy Kenseth (born March 10, 1972) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and the current competition advisor for Legacy Motor Club in the NASCAR Cup Series. Most recently, he raced part-time in the Superstar Racing Exper ...
. On lap 92, Matt Kenseth led them down for the restart. One lap later, though, the fifth caution came out because
Jamie McMurray
James Christopher McMurray (born June 3, 1976), nicknamed "Jamie Mac", is an American former professional stock car racing driver and currently an analyst for ''Fox NASCAR'' and CW. He raced in the NASCAR Cup Series on a full-time basis from 2003 ...
collided with
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born 20 September 1975) is a Colombian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to , IndyCar between 1999 and 2022, and the NASCAR Cup Series between 2006 and 2024. Montoya won seven Formula One Grand ...
.
A. J. Allmendinger
Anthony James Allmendinger (born December 16, 1981), nicknamed "the Dinger,” is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet ZL1 for Kaulig Racing.
Allmendinger ...
was also involved in the accident. The restart happened on lap 97 with Kenseth still the leader, but on lap 98, Jeff Gordon passed him. On lap 107, the sixth caution came out because the caution lights inadvertently turned on. Most lead lap cars made their
pit stop
Pitstop may refer to:
* Pit stop, in motor racing, when the car stops in the pits for fuel and other consumables to be renewed or replenished
* ''Pit Stop'' (1969 film), a movie directed by Jack Hill
* ''Pit Stop'' (2013 film), a movie directe ...
, but
Scott Speed
Scott Andrew Speed (born January 24, 1983) is an American race car driver who has competed in numerous disciplines, including open-wheel racing, open-wheel, stock car racing, stock car, and rallycross racing.
In , Speed became the first American ...
stayed out to become the leader.

On lap 113, Scott Speed led the field to the green flag. Also, on the restart, Scott Speed had a horrible start, that caused Jeff Gordon to pass him. From lap 113 to 228, a long green flag run happened. On lap 158, green flag pit stops began. During the pit stops the leaders were
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE for Legacy Motor Club. Johnson has won seven Cup ch ...
,
Kevin Harvick
Kevin Michael Harvick (born December 8, 1975) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and commentator for '' NASCAR on Fox''.
He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewa ...
,
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and par ...
,
Tony Stewart
Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed "Smoke", is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver, and former NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing. He currently competes in the NHRA Top Fuel class. He is a four-t ...
. Afterwards, the top-five drivers were Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth,
Jeff Burton
Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed "the Mayor", is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He is a member of the Burton racing family. He scored 23 career victories in the NASCAR ...
, and Kevin Harvick. Then on lap 212, green flag pit stops happened again. After the pit stops the leader was Jeff Gordon. On lap 228, the seventh caution came out because Kevin Conway collided with the wall. Clint Bowyer stayed off pit road to lead on the restart. Immediately after the start, on lap 233, Jeff Gordon reclaimed the lead. On lap 251, Jimmie Johnson passed Jeff Gordon for the lead. Jimmie Johnson kept the lead to win his second consecutive race in 2010.
Race results
References
{{2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup , state=collapsed
Shelby American
Shelby American, Inc. is an American high performance vehicle, high performance automobile company founded by driver Carroll Shelby. The Shelby American name has been used by several legally distinct corporations founded by Shelby since his ori ...
Shelby American
Shelby American, Inc. is an American high performance vehicle, high performance automobile company founded by driver Carroll Shelby. The Shelby American name has been used by several legally distinct corporations founded by Shelby since his ori ...
NASCAR races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
February 2010 sports events in the United States