After two drafting tracks, we’re off to the bread and butter of NASCAR: intermediates! We’ve got a windy, 1.5-mile track right next to Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas!
Here’s what to look for:
–Joey Logano has notched his second Pole of the season, and is starting on the front row for the third straight week — wow! This is great news for him and bad news for everyone else, of course; in a season where Logano has had struggles early, he comes to a track that he’s won at three times in the last ten races…at the Pennzoil 400 in the Pennzoil car…
–William Byron was our winner here last Spring, leading 176 of 271 laps. Hendrick Motorsports has had a pretty good record here lately, winning each of the last Spring races.
–Kyle Larson ran runner-up in the Spring, and followed that up with a 1st place finish in the Fall. He earned more points than any other driver here in 2023. Oh, and he’ll be starting on the front row, too!
–Austin Cindric is starting 3rd today, and had a great finish last week at Atlanta. He’s off to a pretty good start this year (despite the Daytona madness), and is a teammate to Joey Logano who has had wild success here (see above!). Pretty poor average finish here though, just a 19.3 in four races. If he really has turned the corner, expect him to finish much better!
–Christopher Bell was 5th and 2nd at Vegas last year, and today he’ll start 10th. The combination of Joey Logano / Penske Fords and the Hendrick Motorsports stranglehold on the Spring race will make a pretty good obstacle for Bell and the Toyotas. With John Hunter Nemechek piloting the #20 to victory in the Xfinity Series race last night, today is as good a chance as any to break those streaks with the #20 Cup car.
Coverage of the race starts on FOX at 3:30pm, green flag scheduled for 3:49pm.
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