Vegas Vacation? Not for Past Champions

It wasn't a particularly good weekend at Las Vegas for former champions of the Sprint Cup series in the UAW-Dodge 400.

Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Dale Jarrett, and Matt Kenseth all had trouble at some point during the event that saw a record 11 cautions.

Defending two-time champion Jimmie Johnson was just horrendous all day.

The highest-finishing past champ was Bobby Labonte in the 17th-position. The rest are counted down by their finishing position:

20th - Matt Kenseth, No. 17 USG Sheetrock Ford

Kenseth had a very decent run going Sunday and looked to be the more-dominant of the Roush Fenway group through the middle parts of the race. His trouble came after contact with Gordon off of turn 2 with four laps remaining.

Gordon's No. 24 got tight, slid up the track, and barely clipped Kenseth's rear, spinning the No. 17 from 2nd-place. Kenseth saved the car with two flat tires, pitted and would up 20th after leading 70 laps.

29th - Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet

Terrible wouldn't even begin to describe the type of handling that Johnson experienced Sunday at Las Vegas. Crew chief Chad Knaus threw two or three kitchen sinks at the car throughout the race and nothing worked.

By the time it was all over, Johnson found himself two laps down and basically running a glorified testing session and pit stop practice. Of all the finishers, this could be the most shocking with the brutal consistency were used to from Johnson & Co.

35th - Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Dupont/Nicorette Chevrolet

Gordon's day at Vegas was starting to make us believe that despite the suspension problem at Daytona, 2008 was going to be another impressively consistent season in the Sprint Cup series for the 4-time champ. He led 19 laps and spent little time out of the Top-5.

That was the case, at least, until Gordon and Kenseth got together off of turn 2. It ended with Gordon finishing 35th after one of his hardest crashes ever, and also left the No. 24 22nd in the season standings.

38th - Kurt Busch, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge

The Las Vegas native was hoping to win his first race at his home track Sunday after starting 9th on the grid. On lap 53 though, things started to go south for Busch.

The No. 2 was cited for being too fast on pit road during green flag stops and had to serve a pass-through penalty, dropping Busch a lap down. He eventually fought back towards the front until lap 255 -- just 12 from the finish. Busch exploded a right front tire and pounded the wall off of turn 4.

The impact completely destroyed Busch's front-end and right side.

39th - Dale Jarrett, No. 44 UPS Toyota

Jarrett, the 1999 champion, certainly hasn't started his final five races very well and that didn't change at Las Vegas. He'll be hanging up the wheel for good after the Sprint Showdown in May, and two late crashes at Vegas and California have taken him out of those events.

Sunday, Jarrett wasn't having an incredibly stellar day, but with 36 laps to go he got loose in turn 1, slid up, and hit the wall with the rear-end. It was enough to end the run for Jarrett who wrecked very similarly in California.

43rd - Tony Stewart, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota

The last time that Stewart finished 43rd was in the 2007 Daytona 500. That crash, while hard, didn't leave as much of an impact on the two-time champion.

Stewart wrecked hard on Saturday during the Nationwide Series event and bruised up his foot a little bit. On Sunday, another exploded right-front tire shot Stewart straight in to the turn 3 wall with a jarring impact. Stewart was left a little bit dazed and felt some pain in his lower back, but by the time he was released from the infield care center, he was feeling better.

Stewart was definitely sore on Monday, but he managed to participate in the Phoenix test sessions for Sprint Cup teams.