Las Vegas thoughts and observations

Carl Edwards picked up his second win in a row this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, outlasting a couple late caution flags and a hungry Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win the UAW-Dodge 400. The victory is the sixth for Roush-Fenway Racing at Las Vegas. The win pushed Carl Edwards to the top of the Sprint Cup points standings, though that will likely change on Tuesday. The car Edwards drove to victory failed post race inspection. The infraction, the lid of the oil tank reservoir was off, has received 25 point penalties in the past, which would drop him to second in the standings, four behind Kyle Busch.

Thoughts and observations:

If Kyle Busch was the hottest driver in NASCAR entering Las Vegas, what does that make Carl Edwards now?

While Carl Edwards hit the jackpot in Las Vegas, it appears Tony Stewart rolled snake eyes over the weekend. Stewart crashed hard in both the Nationwide race on Saturday and the Sprint Cup race on Sunday. Reports indicated he had to be helped from the racetrack following his second hard hit in as many days. Lets hope he doesn't get hurt like he did in 2006 after crashing hard twice at Lowe's Motor Speedway, fracturing his right shoulder blade.

Speaking of crashing hard, Jeff Gordon took one heck of a shot when he and Matt Kenseth wrecked late in Sunday's race. The front end of his car just went everywhere. Yet, Jeff Gordon walked away unharmed, probably a little tender, but otherwise fine. Following the wreck Gordon let it be known that he wasn't happy with how the lower wall that he hit was constructed. For those that don't know, that lower wall has a big lip in it which allows emergency personnel to get on and off the track quickly. However, if a driver hits that wall, it turns nasty quick, just ask Gordon.

What in the world happaned to Jimmie Johnson this weekend? The three time defending champion of the UAW-Dodge 400, Johnson looked like a field filler this weekend, coming home a disappointing 29th. That's not normal for Johnson, so don't expect to see him do that again anytime soon.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has got to be getting more and more hungry after that second place run. I wouldn't be surprised to see him win in the next two or three races.

How about Travis Kvapil coming home a strong eighth. Yates Racing needs more strong runs like that from his two car team if they hope to lock down sponsorship for the full season.

Poor poor A.J. Allmendinger, the guy just can't catch a break. He has missed all three races thus far in the 2008 season and now word is spreading that Team Red Bull Racing might take him out of the No. 84 car and put a veteran driver behind the wheel to help them determine what the issue is with their team. They claim they aren't giving up on Allmendinger, but I've seen this sort of thing before. If Allmendinger doesn't turn it around soon he could end up sitting alongside Jacques Villeneuve, on the outside looking in.

Good runs for Jeremy Mayfield and Ken Schrader, both of whom finished on the lead lap and ran on the lead lap consistently all day long.

As the standings are right now, several drivers are on the outside looking in to the top 35 in points. Among them are rookie Dario Franchitti, Robby Gordon, rookie Sam Hornish Jr., Regan Smith and Kyle Petty. They've got two more races to get their acts together and they'd better do it quick, otherwise this season could be a rough one.