Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV (3/16/2001) --- Winning a race just seems to do something to a man, and after winning last week's race in such dominant fashion, Bob was driving like a man possessed this afternoon. After scorching the field to grab his second pole in 3 races, he quickly demonstrated that he had the car to beat as soon as the green flag fell to start the race, as he immediately pulled out to a commanding lead.
“Rookie” sensation Jay tried to slow the field (and Bob) down twice when, on the first lap, he got into the 36 car in turn one, but failed to bring out a caution flag. Then on lap 13, he came down on the 17 car and spun them both sideways to a stop right in the middle of the track, forcing Speed to stand on the brakes to avoid hitting them. This incident didn't bring out a yellow flag either, but instead put Jay and Speed way at the back of the field, while Bob just extended his lead.
The first yellow flag flew on lap 14 when the 25 car came down the track to pinch off Coyote from passing low, and Coyote tapped him and spun down low on the track, then slid back up the track directly into the path of the 40 car, the 26 car, the 8 car, and the 5 car, causing a massive pile up that left Coyote's car severely damaged. Bob then led a procession of cars onto pit road on lap 15, while Stenzo strategically stayed out in 7th place. At the drop of the green flag on lap 18, Stenzo rocketed to the front of the pack to lead an impressive 46 of 93 laps, which would lock up the bonus points for the most laps led, narrowly beating Bob who led 41.
On lap 36, Jay got into the 31 car to bring out caution number 2, and almost spun while racing the 20 car back to the line. Everyone hit the pits on lap 37 while under caution. Speed's team decided on a two-tire stop hoping to lead a lap or two, but Stenzo's team had the same idea and won the race off pit road. The two-tire strategy seemed to work well at first, as Stenzo and Speed were easily able to stay out front, but the left-side tires just couldn't hold up for 56 laps, and they slowly allowed those that had put on 4 fresh tires to catch up to them in the closing laps of the race.
After gradually working his way back up through the field, Bob finally reclaimed the lead from Stenzo on lap 68, and would go on to win his second race in a row. On lap 88, Jay inadvertently wrecked the 9 car to bring out the 3rd and final caution of the day, then hit the pits to fix his damage and put on some new rubber. The race restarted on lap 92 for a one lap shootout, with Bob in the lead, the 88 car in second, and Stenzo in 3rd. At the drop of the green flag Bob pulled away to claim the win, while Stenzo barely managed to squeeze past the 88 car heading into turns 3 and 4 to grab 2nd place, then moved down onto the apron along the front stretch to make sure he kept it from the hard-charging 88 car (as seen above). Season points leader Speed held on for 10th place and another top 10 finish. Jay finished in 23rd after his late race wreck and ended up the last car on the lead lap. Coyote finished one lap down in 24th.