Despite worries over track changes, talent carries day

	After all of the concerns about track and tire changes, Jimmie Johnson proved a good driver and car are still what counts most. Harry How/Getty Images
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Maybe the track owner, NASCAR and Goodyear got it right this time.

The debate concerning the changes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will not end, but it was a pleasant surprise that no one was hurt and, at times, there was some good racing at the 1½-mile oval in Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400.

Heading into the race at the revamped track, there were dire predictions of carnage as new, higher banking in the corners and a new tire from Goodyear promised record-breaking -- and, some feared, dangerous -- speed in the 400-miler.

"I felt like I was on ice from lap one until the last one," second-place finisher Jeff Gordon said after the race.

But isn't racing supposed to be about being on the edge? Perhaps some teams were pushing the limits and just didn't like the result.

Of course, this isn't the first time track and tire changes have combined to grab the attention of drivers. When Speedway Motor Sports Inc., the company that owns Lowe's Speedway in Charlotte, as well as LVMS, ground down the asphalt in 2005, a new spec tire brought by Goodyear failed many times in the Coca-Cola 600 -- leading to another resurfacing of that track. Now that all was quiet in Charlotte, the company had turned its attention further West.

The preseason testing on the revised track resulted not only in a harder tire compound to reduce speeds, but a smaller fuel cell to force more pit stops, which would slow down the race.

By the time qualifying rolled around, an angry Tony Stewart went ballistic, blaming the tire maker after he had a disappointing 25th on Friday. The chaotic Busch race on Saturday, with a record 12 cautions, seemed to prove him correct.

"If you look at the last 36 hours and look at how many cars we've torn up ... if I were car owners, I would send bills to the race track," Stewart said. "Look at how many good teams and good drivers crashed today. Are they going to say that we forgot how to drive?"