Final practice shows high line the fastest and riskiest

LAS VEGAS -- Like most everything else in this town, it's a risky bet.

But drivers who expect to run up front in Sunday's UAW-Dodge 400 Sprint Cup Series race apparently will need to gamble on running the high line at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Catch-22: it may be the fastest way to the front, but it's also the most dangerous.

That was illustrated again during Saturday's final Cup practice at LVMS, when Clint Bowyer was running high and slapped the outside wall heading out of Turn 2 in his No. 07 Chevrolet coming into the backstretch. Kyle Petty had decided to follow Bowyer into the corner on the high line right before Bowyer lost it -- and Petty did all he could to keep from getting into him, but still clipped Bowyer with the left front fender of his No. 45 Dodge. Earlier during the first of two Saturday Cup practices, pole-sitter Kyle Busch was running the high line when his car bobbled and he grazed the outside wall.

Bowyer was forced to his backup car for Sunday's race, meaning he will start at the rear of the 43-car field. Petty was able to repair his car and did not have to go to a backup, and neither did Busch.

Nonetheless, that brought the total number of Cup cars that had spun, grazed an outside wall or outright wrecked during two days of practices to nine. Thus, a heavy price obviously can be paid for running the high line.

Several drivers said that the new car being run full-time on the Cup circuit this year, combined with the tires being supplied by Goodyear, make it difficult to run any other line if you want to have any chance of running up front.

"I don't think there is any doubt about it -- you are going to see people in the high line," said Jeff Burton, driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. "I won the Nationwide race in the high line [last year] and I truly believed I was going to win the Cup race last year in the high line as well. I think this year there will be a lot of people joining me up there."

Robbie Loomis, vice president of Petty Enterprises, agreed.

"I think with this car the tendencies are that it gets a little bit tighter," Loomis said. "By moving up, it keeps it just a little bit freer and arcs a little bit bigger so the car doesn't get as tight. You don't build up as much air in the right front tire. When you're up there, it's a fine line where that gray area is. You saw it [Friday] in qualifying, and then again in the practices. But I think they'll all get it figured out and we'll have a great race."

Loomis said he was pleased that at least Kyle Petty wouldn't have to go to a backup car. Bobby Labonte, Petty's teammate, wrecked his No. 43 Dodge during practice a day earlier and had been forced to a backup. Also wrecking badly enough Friday to be forced to the rear of the field in a backup car for Sunday's event was Juan Montoya in his No. 42 Dodge.

"We're not going to a backup. We're going to repair the left front fender and the nose on the [No. 45 Dodge]," Loomis said. "Kyle really likes the car."

Petty was able to run 19 laps in the first Saturday practice session, and his fastest lap of 174.436 mph was good enough to rate only 34th on the speed chart. The collision with Bowyer occurred on his first practice lap in the afternoon. (Continued)