Las Vegas is a track where gambling has won races, but sometimes that may not be enough to win a race. When the Kobalt Tools 400 started Joey Logano was the leader, but he was quickly dethroned by two drivers. Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson.

Throughout the race drivers came and went to the front, occasionally leading a lap, but it was clear the race was Johnson and Harvick’s to lose. But, as is the case with racing, surprises happen. Jimmie was leading the race by a moderate margin when Kevin blew past him. Johnson slowed and entered the pits, reporting that he had a loose wheel.

For a time it seemed Johnson would return to the front to challenge Harvick, but it was not meant to be. As Johnson was fighting to get back on the lead lap his tire blew, sending him sailing into the wall. And, after repairing the damage to his car and returning to the track, he blew another tire and slammed the wall. That was the end for him.

During his first blow out another top driver was damaged. Jeff Gordon, who started at the rear due to a car change, was behind driver Jeb Burton when Johnson wrecked, and as Jeb slowed to avoid Jimmie, Jeff rammed his rear bumper. Gordon was damaged enough that he was not a factor for the rest of the race, and after the end of the race Gordon apologized to Jeb for the contact.

After Johnson’s accidents the race resumed, only to have another incident. Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne were racing side by side out of turn 4 when Carl slid up the track and bumped Kasey into the wall. As they continued down the front stretch Kahne drove close to Edwards, and as they entered turn 1 Kasey bumped Carl into a slow spin. Which put Carl in the inside wall. Edwards took the blame for Kahne hitting the wall, but it seemed that Kasey most likely tried to bump Edwards as retaliation.

As the laps wound down drivers made their final pit stops, with some taking gambles on tires. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was among these. He took the lead from Harvick because of this, but he was not there for long. Harvick drove by Jr. and into the lead in just a few laps, and Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Newman quickly followed. As the laps wound down it was clear that unless something happened to Harvick, he would win the race. However something did happen. As the final ten laps approached Kevin began to report a problem with his car. From what he was saying it was either a vibration in the car or a tire going down. Either way, it was clear that Truex Jr. and Newman were closing over the final laps. Fans and crew members held their breath as they waited for the bad luck that had plagued Harvick all of last year to strike. But Kevin managed to get his car through the final dozen or so laps without losing the lead, and he claimed his first victory of the 2015 season. Kevin was so excited tha he blew his rear tires as he did his burnout. His crew will have to do a lot of work on that car if they want to take it to another race.