CONCORD, N.C. – The NASCAR Cup Series will head to west to kick off the Round of 8 as Las Vegas Motor Speedway plays host to stock car racing’s most prestigious tour.
Sunday afternoon’s race will be the second of the Cup Series season to utilize Las Vegas’ facilities. The organization hosted the third race of the season in the Nevada desert, allowing for teams to gain experience on the track before returning in the postseason. While the conditions will be slightly different than they were in March, having a notebook that has shown success in the past will carry vital importance.
Thanks in part to William Byron’s victory in March, the Rick Hendrick-owned team now has eight victories at Las Vegas. Jimmie Johnson leads the team with four, while team vice chairman Jeff Gordon, Byron, Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman have each earned a single victory in Nevada. Byron's spring race win highlighted a one-two-three finish for Hendrick Motorsports.
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Coming off of a stellar Round of 12, Byron holds with a 20-point cushion over the projected cutline to advance into the Championship 4. Statistically, 1.5-mile tracks have been kind to the driver of the No. 24 Relay Payments Chevy this season. The group is the only team to have multiple wins on this type of track (Las Vegas and Texas Motor Speedway) and the squad has earned 218 points on all 1.5-mile circuits, the most of any driver. In addition, he is coming off a Round of 12 that saw him post a sparkling 1.67 average finish (second-best all-time in this playoff format) with a win and two runner-up finishes. Byron will look to sweep the Las Vegas races this season with a win on Sunday afternoon.
While the Round of 12 had its up-and-downs for Larson, he and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team were able to advance into the Round of 8. Now sitting three markers above the cutline, the Elk Grove, California, native has his eyes set on another Championship 4 appearance. From a historical standpoint, it would be difficult to pick better tracks for Larson to close the season at. The driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy is the most recent winner at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Martinsville Speedway. As for this weekend, a runner-up finish in March at Las Vegas should be an encouraging sign for fans of the iconic No. 5. He also has a win and two runner-up finishes in five Las Vegas starts with crew chief Cliff Daniels.
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Despite not being a part of the driver championship fight, Chase Elliott has quietly had one of the best postseason runs in recent memory as he and the No. 9 team make a push for the owner championship. Consistency has been the calling card for this team during its playoff run with five top-10 finishes and 226 points, which is tied for second among all drivers in that stretch. If he wants to earn a Championship 4 bid, he’ll need to carry this momentum to Las Vegas as he sits 19 markers below the cutline to begin the round. While he did not compete here in March due to injury, he does have three top-five finishes and five top-10s in 12 starts.
Coming down the stretch, Bowman and the No. 48 Ally Racing team have to be excited about the tracks that lay ahead. Despite missing the 2022 playoff race due to injury, his last two starts at Las Vegas have been strong with a win (in the spring 2022 race) and a third-place result (in the spring 2023 race). The third-place finish in the spring is tied for his best result in his first season with new crew chief Blake Harris. On top of that, 1.5-mile tracks have been a strong point for Bowman this season. In four races on tracks of that length, the 30-year-old driver has the second-best average finish in the field (9.25).
"I like Las Vegas (Motor Speedway)," Bowman said. "I feel like it is a good mile-and-a-half track for me, especially having a win there. Having an average finish of 2.0 in my starts there in the Next Gen car obviously makes me feel really confident. Hendrick Motorsports has a good intermediate program, so I think we will have a competitive No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 this weekend. Looking ahead in general, I feel confident because I have run well there in the past."
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Here is what you need to know to catch this weekend’s action.
WHAT TIME IS PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING?
Group practice will take place at 12:35 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 14, with coverage beginning on USA Network. Group qualifying will immediately follow practice and begin at 1:20 p.m. ET with coverage also on USA Network.
Elliott, Larson and Bowman will be in Group A while Byron is in Group B.
WHAT TIME IS THE RACE?
The 400.5-mile Cup Series race is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 15 at 2:30 p.m. ET with coverage on NBC. A post-race show will take place on Peacock.
CAN I LISTEN ON THE RADIO?
The race will be broadcast on the PRN Radio Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (channel 90).
CAN I STREAM ONLINE?
Yes. Download the NBC Sports App or Peacock for online coverage. Fans can also keep up with the action on Twitter by following @TeamHendrick.
FIVE FAST FACTS HEADING INTO LAS VEGAS
Stats courtesy of Racing Insights
1-2-3: March’s race at Las Vegas was the first time in track history that a team had finished in the top-three spots.
8.00: Elliott’s average finish in the playoffs. This is the second-best of any driver during this stretch.
13: Of the 20 opportunities to score stage points at Las Vegas (10 races), Bowman has earned points mid-race 13 times.
96: Combined points scored by Larson in the spring races at Las Vegas and Martinsville, which are the two tracks in the Round of 8 that the series has already visited this year. He leads the Cup Series in this category.
135: Byron’s total of 135 points in the Round of 12 was the most by any driver during that stretch.