NASCAR
Stratta’s Six: Who Will Have the Winning Hand at Las Vegas Motor Speedway?
The true race to the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs begins this weekend. Following two weeks on drafting tracks, Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be the first intermediate race of the season. Las Vegas has a recent trend of kicking off deep postseason runs for its spring winner. Will that streak hold true in 2024? Here are some drivers to watch out for in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400.
Joey Logano
Sin City has been more than kind to Joey Logano of late. The Penske driver has a trio of wins all coming in the last five years. This includes back-to-back Pennzoil 400 victories (2019-2020), and a fall 2022 win. The latest triumph propelled the No. 22 to title number two. Should Logano even see the checkered flag this week, that would be a small victory itself. Despite laps led in both Daytona and Atlanta, Logano is buried at 31st in points. Returning to one of his most prolific tracks, Logano knows the biggest challenge will be Vegas’ treacherous bumps.
“Some of the big things at Las Vegas are just understanding the bumps down in (turns) one and two,” Logano said. “What’s OK and what’s too much? Even three and four a little bit there. Restarts have changed drastically than how we used to restart there to what it is now as a driver. Really just the balance of where the car goes on the long run compared to what it used to be is different too. The details of where the car goes on the long run and all those things is quite a bit different.”
Logano has been very hot or very cold in the desert. His three wins are his only Vegas top-fives since 2018. Still trying to learn the new Mustang nose as well, all Ford teams could be at a slight disadvantage. Tied as Las Vegas’ active wins leader (Brad Keselowski), Logano may have an ace up his sleeve at this track.
Kyle Larson
The most recent Las Vegas winner, Kyle Larson stood tall in victory lane here in October. This win secured the No. 5 team a Championship 4 berth, marking his second LVMS trophy. Larson was out front for much of last year’s Pennzoil 400 as well, eventually finishing runner-up to teammate William Byron. Vegas also marked Larson’s breakout win with Hendrick Motorsports three years ago. Driver 5 knows Vegas is one of his best tracks on the circuit. Larson owns four top-twos in the last six races. He is eager to have another strong showing Sunday.
“It was a close one last fall, but it was cool to hang on to win and earn a place in the Championship 4,” Larson said. “Another great moment was getting that first win – with the paint scheme that honors Ricky (Hendrick). We’ve run well at Las Vegas, won stages and races, so it’s definitely a track I look forward to racing at.”
Entering Sunday as the odds on winning favorite, the stars may align for another winning run by the 5. The West Coast swing has been very fruitful for Larson in recent years. The 5 has grabbed a left coast victory in two of the last three seasons. LVMS is also one of the few tracks where Larson’s had repeat success with HMS. Vegas could easily be the first step in Larson’s march toward a second Cup title.
Ryan Blaney
Still surprisingly winless at Las Vegas is reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney. Last fall’s sixth-place run here shifted the No. 12 team into title-winning form. Blaney did not earn any result worse than second after Las Vegas.
Blaney’s best LVMS result is fifth, coming on five separate occasions. The 12 came within mere inches of last week’s Atlanta win. Blaney now appears poised and confident enough to break back into victory lane. Blaney was arguably the best Ford at both LVMS races a year ago. This performance may just continue with a win.
William Byron
The defending Pennzoil 400 winner, William Byron led a commanding 176 laps a year ago. This was the first of six victories for the No. 24 team in their breakout season. Still riding high from the Daytona 500 win, Byron hopes to best the competition again. The spring Las Vegas race has been won by a Hendrick car each of the last three years. Byron eyes to continue this electric streak.
“We hope to be a little bit better this weekend,” Byron said. “We always hope that though. Last year we won the first race at Las Vegas, and then in the second race we had good short run speed but not long run speed. That’s something we’ve been working on this offseason. I think this is a race that the team has had circled to get back to. We want to keep the momentum going that we already have and these next few races coming up are crucial.”
The West Coast swing has been historically great for Kyle Larson. However, this was when Byron made his presence felt among the elite drivers tier a year ago. The 24 took two of the three wins out west. Running it back now, the No. 24 could have another long Sunday in store for the rest of the field.
Christopher Bell
Larson’s win last fall was anything but a Sunday drive, with Christopher Bell chasing him down over the closing laps. The No. 20 Toyota would finish a painfully close second, less than a tenth behind Larson. Trying to redeem one that got away, Bell aims one spot higher this weekend.
“Las Vegas has a ton of grip, probably the highest level of grip of any track we go to,” Bell said. “Last spring, the race at Vegas was completely different than we have seen with this car so far. It had a lot to do with colder ambient temperatures and no sun. We are expecting some cooler temperatures this weekend, especially on Sunday.”
“Last fall, it was obviously warmer and made the track more slick. Not sure how much rubber we will put down this weekend to widen the track. Vegas is a place where if you are typically faster than the guy in front of you, then you can pass them because you can move around. You can run the top, you can run the bottom, you can create momentum on guys. The same thing can be said if you are bad. You can’t hold off guys if they are faster than you. We obviously had a great car there last fall and came so close to winning there. Hoping we can put it all together and finally get a win with our Interstate Batteries Camry at a place that’s been good for us.”
Bell was heartbreakingly close to a major Playoff win at Las Vegas. This run was paid off though with a clutch win the very next week. While his veteran teammates have seen more success on this track, Sunday may just have CBell capture this checkered flag.
Ross Chastain
All of Team Trackhouse is still on cloud 99 from Daniel Suarez winning Atlanta. Can the Chevrolet team perhaps go back-to-back with Ross Chastain? Driver No. 1 does have three top-fives in the last four Las Vegas races, including second in 2022’s Playoff event. Chastain has been close to winning already this season, and anticipates another grade A chance on Sunday.
“We’ve obviously had strong cars for the first two races of the season and Daniel has too,” Chastain said. “Trackhouse as a whole has had good start to the season with Daniel’s win last week at Atlanta. This weekend is the first mile-and-a-half we’re going to. So we’ll get to see how much our off-season work is going to pay off for us. I enjoy racing at Vegas, and we’ve had some strong runs there in the Cup car with Trackhouse. Obviously I’ve won there in the Xfinity Series too.”
One of the most defining images of Atlanta last week was Ross Chastain congratulating his teammate on the win. The No. 1 was the first car to pull up alongside Suarez. This kicked off a party that ended on stage with Pitbull. Chastain’s speed and execution this season could have already netted a win or two. Over the next few weeks, Chastain should be a thorn in many driver’s sides up front.
Coming off back-to-back wildcard races, there’s still many questions left unanswered regarding who will be 2024 contenders and pretenders. Las Vegas being a more traditional and straightforward track may help the championship picture begin to take shape. The Pennzoil 400 will go green Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Las Vegas will also be a pivotal Round of 8 race in the fall. As a result, many drivers are hoping to put together a show stopping performance under the neon lights.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Sean Gardner/Getty Images
