On Sunday, the celebs of the NASCAR Cup Collection will take to the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the working of the Pennzoil 400 (4 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Right here is every part you want to know forward of Sunday’s race in “Sin Metropolis.”
Favourite: Kyle Larson (+400, per DraftKings)
It’s laborious to imagine that the two-time Cup Collection champion and 32-time winner has gone winless since his Kansas Speedway win final Might. After qualifying fifth on Saturday and heading to considered one of his finest tracks, a return journey to Victory Lane could also be in retailer.
Larson has led essentially the most laps in 5 of his 10 begins on the monitor with Hendrick Motorsports and even holds the file for essentially the most laps led (819). The brand new Chevrolet physique should pose some considerations, however with 5 top-two finishes in eight Subsequent Gen begins at LVMS, anticipate Larson to be in rivalry as soon as once more.
Underdog: Ryan Preece (+4000, per DraftKings)
After winning the exhibition Cook Out Clash at Bowman Grey Stadium to unofficially kick off the season, the common season has solely produced one prime 10 in 4 races thus far. That could possibly be about to alter on Sunday.
Preece was third and ninth within the two Las Vegas races final season and has six top-10 finishes in his final eight 1.5-mile races. After posting the second-fastest lap of any Ford in Saturday’s qualifying session (eighth), the weekend is already off to a great begin for the RFK Racing driver.
Toyota trying to translate dominant qualifying effort into one other race win
Led by pole winner Christopher Bell, Toyotas swept the highest 4 beginning positions for the seventh time within the producer’s historical past on Saturday.
Whereas Tyler Reddick grew to become the first driver to win the primary three races of a season, Joe Gibbs Racing remains to be looking for its first 2026 win. With Bell, Hamlin and Ty Gibbs locking down the primary three spots on the grid, Toyota couldn’t have requested for a greater begin to the weekend as JGR searches for its first win of the season.
Alex Bowman sidelined for one more week
On account of vertigo that forced him to get out of his No. 48 Chevrolet in the course of the race at Circuit of The Americas two weeks in the past, Bowman will miss his second consecutive race on Sunday at Las Vegas. Present O’Reilly Auto Elements Collection full-timer Justin Allgaier will fill in after Anthony Alfredo served because the reduction driver at Phoenix and completed thirty third after getting caught up in a crash.
Bowman is a earlier winner at Las Vegas (2022), however he presently sits final within the standings (thirty sixth) after a depressing begin to the season. As least for another week, he might be watching the race and lacking out on priceless factors that could possibly be a problem to beat.
Las Vegas is first of 9 1.5-mile races in 2026
With the return of Chicagoland Speedway and the autumn race on the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval, there might be 9 races on 1.5-mile tracks this season. After back-to-back drafting-style races, a highway course and a one-mile monitor to start the season, NASCAR’s finest will add a 1.5-mile problem to that listing with Sunday’s 400-miler at Las Vegas.
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