One-half of the desert tour was over as we left Phoenix and traveled to another desert in Nevada, aiming right for the heart of the state: Las Vegas, complete with a major race track...as if they didn't already have enough stuff there. The 1.5 mile track requires lots of precision and focus. Which drivers this weekend can keep their eyes on the prize?

Multiple cars had troubles in the first two practice sessions, trying out funky setups but no one damaged any vehicles. Moon Mochi and Slidewolf topped Practice One, giving them the final slots for Qualifying. They then traded spots for Practice Two, creating a buzz as the ones to beat so far. On Friday rain was in the forecast and the skies over the track grew dark nearer to qualifying time, threatening to wash out the session but no rain ever fell and drivers had to qualify on a cool, shady track instead of what they had practiced in--hot and sunny. Three of the first five cars out had a hard time adjusting to the conditions, and Tigris, Furris, and Bawlbowolf would start in the final three spots. After ten drivers the provisional pole was held by Eric and he kept it until the last few drivers took time. Raz Yoshi was able to snag the pole away, looking the strongest he has all season. Shockey Rai snuck between the two for second at that moment. Furry Mike took his laps and was able to beat the Yoshi by just thousandths of a second, but was blasted by Slidewolf, who topped him by three-tenths. Final driver Moon Mochi managed to tag the wall coming out of Turn 2, trying to get all the speed she could, but this loss of momentum would land her in 26th. With our field set, let's move on to Sunday since none of the drivers can remember much of Saturday night on the Strip anyway.

One very interesting rendition of the National Anthem and one botched fly-over later, the drivers were in their cars and pacing around the track. Slidewolf and Furry Mike were ahead of the field as the pace car headed off down pit road, and the #9 mashed the gas as the green came out and the race was on! The FURCAR racers dove into Turn 1 side-by-side most of the way through the 29-car field with the wolf taking the lead on the backstretch over Mike with Raz and Shockey right behind. The crowd, who was still on their feet from the green flag, wouldn't have to get up again to watch the incident in Turns 3 and 4 as Oren Hart, in twenty-first at the time, drove into the corner far too hard. He was unable to slow down enough to make the turn and tore up his right side as he slammed into the wall and bounced off back into the racing groove, missing almost everyone. Everyone except last week's winner, Bawlbowolf, that is. After a poor qualifying, Zeke started at the back and was trying to go to the low-side to outrun the car sliding down the track but got clipped, shearing off most of the tail-end of his car, giving he and Hart twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth respectively. After being released from the care center, Hart told reporters that he "wanted it too much too early"; Zeke had no comments.

Pits were open but only a couple cars came down from the back of the field to have the crews check to make sure their grills and front-end were clear from any debris. Slidewolf brought the field back to green and settled into the lead with Raz taking over second place as Furry Mike fell back and struggled to remain in the top-5.

Fuel was running low and it was time for pit stops to begin. Raz was one of the first to head down pit road, getting less-than-desirable fuel mileage. Four tires and fuel and he was off. Seven laps later the entire field had cycled through pit stops which were mostly eventless, save for Beino's pit crew missing a lug-nut on a rear tire and having to come down a second time to fix it. Croco Chilton was having a good start, up thirteen spots from where he started and he would need a good finish after his first two showings this year. Newcomer Silaria from One Horn Racing was also showing muscle staying pretty much right behind the croc just outside the top-10 after starting 25th, seeming to almost mirror everything he was doing. Whether the focus was intimidation or just to learn, that #05 car was looking very strong.

A few laps later Daytona 500 winner Jo Speed was seen slowing, came down pit road, and turned straight into the garage after saying the rear sway-bar had somehow sheared itself loose. At that same time Duroc Hog was overheard on his radio telling his crew chief that he had run over something on the track, unconfirmed but more than likely something from Speed's car. Two laps later Duroc's engine went up in smoke as he came out of Turn 4, and between him not being able to coast around the track back to the pits and the oils he was leaving a trail of, caution was thrown.

The #50 was found to have a punctured radiator due to whatever he had hit. The field came down to pit while cleanup crews worked on the track and the lane was bustling with activity. Some crews only changed two tires for track position and leader-up-to-that-point Slidewolf ended up back in eighth with Tigris taking the point, all the way up from her second-to-last-place starting position. One car hadn't left pit road; the hood was up on the #30 and the Krome Studios team was frantically going about the car as the yoshi pounded the steering wheel. Under the next few pace laps, the car would be pushed behind the wall, another lackluster finish for the team as this time a transmission failure was the culprit.

Tigris took the field to green, and the mix of four tires vs two tires was visibly apparent after a few laps. Slidewolf was picking off cars and had made it to third after going by Kenku when another two-versus-four battle ended not so cleanly. Ice road lion, who had a full set of fresh tires, had a great run coming out of Turn 2 and was attempting to fly past K'gra in the low lane, but, as he came up out of the corner, the coyote (no he's not a lion, go figure) hadn't cleared her enough and clipped her nose with his rear-quarter and turned himself into the wall, ending the day for both of them.

After another caution and cleanup, we were green again and Shockey Rai led the halfway lap. Slidewolf's dominance was beginning to wain as he lost a spot on the track for the first time in the day (that being not on pit road) as he lost third to Moon Mochi. The race would continue to stay green while Rai and Duzzy Valo would swap the lead multiple times with the Chilton and Silaria "train" still moving up until they were in third and fourth. There was enough green flag running to start putting cars a lap down, the first being Beino, who hadn't really had a good car all weekend. Chris Furris and Zero would fall next.

After another round of pit stops with forty laps to go, Valo had taken the lead after Shockey Rai's adjustments under the last pit stop weren't affecting his car as he'd hoped and he was falling out of the top-5 and even out of the top-10 before the day was over. The new leader sent Wildfox and Chance Morgan down a lap and there were reports from the #9 crew that Slidewolf's car had lost a cylinder as was evident by him running much slower lap times than the rest of the field but he was keeping above FUCAR's minimum safe speed requirement so at least he was able to still score laps instead of sitting in the pits. Chilton finally managed to separate himself from Silaria as he gained ground on Valo, last year's Rookie of the Year. The croc was hungry for a win after two DNFs in his first two races. with 15 laps to go he had closed the gap to a car length but Valo was still hiding something up his sleeve as from that point on Croco would gain no more time on the leader. They weaved around traffic and with just five laps to go put Roxeanne Clement and Belic a lap down and even Beino a second time.

Eric, who had been quiet most of the day, was suddenly challenging Silaria for third place, coming out of nowhere like a phantom or something, just waiting to strike, but the rookie held strong and in the final laps prevented Eric from passing. Up front there wasn't much going on in the way of battle, Croco was trying desperately to pull back up to Valo's bumper but as the white flag came out he still wasn't within striking distance. They completed the final lap and Duzzy Valo would claim the checkers in Vegas, the first win of his career! The dejected croc came across right behind but would later point out the fact that it was a "damn good finish" compared to earlier in the season. Cheesebeagle slipped silently into third while Silaria managed to take fourth place. Eric tried but failed to take fourth place. Edscott was able to catch up to those two and in the final corner dove to the low side. With his run Edscott came within half a car-length in beating them both but ultimately would be scored sixth. With his second impressive run in as many weeks rookie Dart Wuffy would come home in seventh place just ahead of Tigris. Mark and Furry Mike would finish nose-to-tail. The final five on the lead lap came to the checkers in a big mess, jockeying for position and all five would finish within one car-length with the final scoring being Erickson, Mochi, Rai, Caldoon, and Kenku in fifteenth.

With the former Rookie of the Year's victory today, he continues a trend in 2013 of three different winners (and three first-time winners) in the first three races of the year. Valo was enjoying his first FURCAR victory as he rolled around the track and eventually to the flag-stand where he was handed the flag itself and proceeded to burn rubber until his tires had popped and his engine had overheated. While he later apologized to the crew for having to push the car all the way to victory lane, they didn't mind much, considering it was victory lane they were going to.

With Bawlbowolf and Speed having terrible days and Caldoon having a mediocre day, those top three spots in the overall standings remain unchanged though Speed closes to within three points of the leader. Valo jumped up seven spots with his victory, but the biggest gainer was Croco Chilton, stealing ten positions with his strong finish. Hart's last-place finish came with a consolation prize of negative nine positions on the overall list, while Swift Fox, whose car failed pre-race inspection, lost ten positions and Raz Yoshi continued his downward slide and sits in twenty-seventh place out of thirty-three but last of all drivers who have competed in all three races this season.

We leave Las Vegas with no big gambles to speak of, no one really rolling the dice. Perhaps the drivers were too worn out from the Vegas night-life. But all were still treated to quite a show out here in the desert. Regardless, another race is in the books and the teams head all the way to Tennessee next week to a completely different style of racing at Bristol Motor Speedway. Short-track racing, baby. There will likely be no one that doesn't have cosmetic damage to their car by the time that checkered flag falls. Whose got the will to win at Bristol? Tune in next week and find out!

Best possible driver combination: 228 points - Kenseth, Kahne, Kyle Busch, Edwards, Martin, Stenhouse Jr.

Week 3 Standings – Las Vegas 3/12/13

WEEK

1) (21) Duzzy Valo (G-Shep Racing #09) – 214

2) (23) Croco Chilton (Crocosaur Racing #15) – 213

3) (23) Cheesebeagle (RaceToTheCheese Racing #300) – 209

4) (25) Silaria (One Horn Racing #05) – 206 (ROOKIE)

5) (5) Eric AKA Phantom (Phantom Impulse Racing #41) – 205 (ROOKIE) (tie broken by higher top-5 finisher)

6) (9) Edscott (SABco Autosport #42) – 205

7) (8) Dart Wuffy (Wolf’s Den Racing #88) – 202 (ROOKIE)

8) (29) Tigris (HyperLynx Racing #84) – 201

9) (7) Mark (Howling Wolves Racing #64) – 199

10) (2) Furry Mike (WWE-Furs Racing #21) – 198 (ROOKIE)

11) (22) Jasper Erickson (iBolt! Racing Group #25) – 194 (ROOKIE)

12) (26) Moon Mochi (Monster Blue Eyez Nation #42) – 193 (tie broken by more top-5 finishers)

13) (4) Shockey Rai (Carolina Speed Racing #86) – 193

14) (24) Jackie Rae Caldoon (Tanuki Trax #02) – 192

15) (18) Kenku (Wonder Drink Racing #88) – 191 (tie broken by higher top-5 finisher)

16) (15) Belic (Kodiak Racing #76) – 191

17) (12) Roxanne Clement (Sunshine Racing AMX #53) – 188

18) (17) Chance Morgan (Tygerfox Racing #70) – 184 (tie broken by top-5 finisher)

19) (16) Wildfox (Wildfox Motorsports #34) – 184

20) (11) Zero (Alcoholocaust Motorsports #00) – 183

21) (1) Slidewolf (Team Vault-Tec #9) – 181

22) (28) Chris Furris (K9 Racing North America #85) – 180

23) (19) Beino (Yoshi Motorsports #13) – 179

24) (14) K’gra (Ragdoll Physics Racing #21) – 178

25) (13) Ice road lion (Jetpack Racing #40) – 176

26) (3) Raz Yoshi (Yoshi Motorsports #30) – 175

27) (6) Duroc (Hog Juice Racing #50) – 173

28) (10) Jo L.T. Speed (Flame Driven Motorsports #44) – 172 (ROOKIE)

29) (27) Zeke Bawlbowolf (Zeke Bawlbowolf Racing #29) – 170 (ROOKIE)

30) (20) Oren Hart (Sunshine Racing AMX #77) – 162

SEASON (points behind next driver, positions moved this week)

1) Zeke Bawlbowolf (Zeke Bawlbowolf Racing #29) – 539 (ROOKIE) (n/a, +0)

2) Jo L.T. Speed (Flame Driven Motorsports #44) – 536 (ROOKIE) (-3, +0)

3) Jackie Rae Caldoon (Tanuki Trax #02) – 532 (-4, +0)

4) Eric AKA Phantom (Phantom Impulse Racing #41) – 528 (ROOKIE) (-4, +5)

5) Mark (Howling Wolves Racing #64) – 527 (-1, +1)

6) Furry Mike (WWE-Furs Racing #21) – 524 (ROOKIE) (-3, +1)

7) Kenku (Wonder Drink Racing #88) – 517 (-7, +1)

8) Zero (Alcoholocaust Motorsports #00) – 516 (-1, -4)

9) Slidewolf (Team Vault-Tec #9) – 514 (-2, -4)

10) Moon Mochi (Monster Blue Eyez Nation #42) – 513 (-1, +0)

11) Shockey Rai (Carolina Speed Racing #86) – 507 (-6, +0)

12) Roxanne Clement (Sunshine Racing AMX #53) – 498 (-9, +1)

13) Dart Wuffy (Wolf’s Den Racing #88) – 493 (ROOKIE) (-6, +2)

14) Beino (Yoshi Motorsports #13) – 491 (-2, -2)

15) Tigris (HyperLynx Racing #84) – 480 (-11, +5)

16) Croco Chilton (Crocosaur Racing #15) – 473 (-7, +10) (tie broken by top-5 finish)

17) Ice road lion (Jetpack Racing #40) – 473 (-0, -3)

18) Cheesebeagle (RaceToTheCheese Racing #300) – 471 (-2, +6)

19) Belic (Kodiak Racing #76) – 470 (-1, +0)

20) Edscott (SABco Autosport #42) – 468 (-2, +3)

21) Duzzy Valo (G-Shep Racing #09) – 462 (-6, +7)

22) Duroc (Hog Juice Racing #50) – 459 (-3, -6) (tie broken by no one)

23) K’gra (Ragdoll Physics Racing #21) – 459 (-0, -5)

24) Jasper Erickson (iBolt! Racing Group #25) – 450 (-9, +3) (ROOKIE)

25) Wildfox (Wildfox Motorsports #34) – 444 (-6, +0)

26) Oren Hart (Sunshine Racing AMX #77) – 443 (-1, -9)

27) Raz Yoshi (Yoshi Motorsports #30) – 441 (-2, -5)

28) Silaria (One Horn Racing #05) – 354 (-87, +3) (ROOKIE)

29) Chance Morgan (Tygerfox Racing #70) – 333 (-21, +1)

30) Chris Furris (K9 Racing North America #85) – 291 (-42, +3)

31) Swift Fox (SF Racing #45) – 276 (ROOKIE) (-15, -10)

32) Kai Lehtonen (Fluffy Fasttrack Motorsports #3) – 176 (-100, -3) (ROOKIE)

33) Kasey The Husky (KTH Racing #35) – 131 (-45, -1)

ROOKIES (points behind next rookie)

1) Zeke Bawlbowolf (Zeke Bawlbowolf Racing #29) – 38 points (n/a)

3) Dart Wuffy (Wolf’s Den Racing #88) – 34 points (-4)

5) Eric (Phantom Impulse Racing #41) – 32 points(-2)

2) Jo L.T. Speed (Flame Driven Motorsports #44) – 30 points (-2)

4) Furry Mike (WWE-Furs Racing #21) – 29 points (-1)

9) Silaria (One Horn Racing #05) – 19 points (-10)

6) Swift Fox (SF Racing #45) – 16 points (-3)

7) Jasper Erickson (iBolt! Racing Group #25) – 15 points (-1)

8) Kai Lehtonen (Fluffy Fasttrack Motorsports #3) – 6 points (-9)

SEASON STATS:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1puSi7iCherQmpBOGdRR3JlR3c/edit?usp=sharing&pli=1

CAREER STATS:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1puSi7iChereEZ6TEFnLVFTSGFXY2JjNndkeXFxQQ