GFT Facts & Stats Friday: NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
1 March 2024
By Bob Francis, Managing Editor
Go Full Throttle Racing News
LAS VEGAS, NV — The NASCAR Cup Series moves out west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this Sunday, March 3 for the Pennzoil 400 Presented by Jiffy Lube (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio); the second race on a 1.5-mile track, but on a far different track configuration than last week’s high bank Atlanta superspeedway. The rules package for NASCAR intermediate tracks is 670 horsepower vs. the restricted 550 HP used the two previous races at Daytona and Atlanta.
A total of 18 different NASCAR Cup Series drivers have won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. NASCAR hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson leads the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with four victories (2005, 2006, 2007, 2010).
RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski (2014, 2016, 2018) and Team Penske’s Joey Logano (2019, 2020, 2022) lead all active Cup drivers this weekend in wins at Las Vegas with three victories each.
Eight of the 18 NASCAR Cup Series Las Vegas Motor Speedway winners are active this weekend.
Hendrick Motorsports’ driver Kyle Larson became the ninth different driver to win multiple races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with his victory at the 1.5-mile track in the Playoff race last October. Now, the 31-year-old, Larson, is looking to become the fourth different driver to win consecutive Cup races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway; joining Jeff Burton (1999–2000), Matt Kenseth (2003, 2004) and Jimmie Johnson (2005–2007).
Larson has made 15 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway posting one pole, two wins (2021, 2023), seven top fives and 11 top 10s. He has also led 447 and has put up an average finish of 9.9 — series-best among active drivers and second all-time to NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt with a 7.7.
Larson also leads the series in runner-up finishes at Las Vegas with four.
Five different winners in last five races at Las Vegas
Las Vegas loves winners, and this weekend 37 different drivers will compete for the NASCAR Cup Series win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Pennzoil 400 Presented by Jiffy Lube on Sunday, March 3 at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Las Vegas has produced five different winners in the last five Cup races — Denny Hamlin (Sept. 2021), Alex Bowman (Mar. 2022), Joey Logano (Oct. 2022), William Byron (Mar. 2023) and Kyle Larson (Oct. 2023). Will we see a sixth different winner this weekend?
A total of 18 different drivers have won in the NASCAR Cup Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and eight of the 18 are active this weekend, led by RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski (2014, 2016, 2018) and Team Penske’s Joey Logano (2019, 2020, 2022) with three wins each.
No driver has ever won their first NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but 14 drivers this weekend will be attempting to get their first career victory — Josh Berry, Harrison Burton, Ty Gibbs, Todd Gilliland, Noah Gragson, Kaz Grala, Daniel Hemric, Carson Hocevar, Derek Kraus, Corey LaJoie, John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Preece, Zane Smith and J.J. Yeley.
Data, Box Scores, and Betting Odds
Top 10 from NASCAR Box Scores
Go Full Throttle AI Prediction Model Output (pre-qualifying)
Here are our NASCAR Fantasy Live initial picks for Las Vegas. These will be updated after Practice and Qualifying on Saturday.
*Performance to Date: Top 2 % in our TMD NASCAR league at 65th
Other drivers our model predicts in the Top 10 are Logano, Keselowski, Hamlin, and Truex Jr.
Las Vegas Odds Top 5 Outright Winner
Go Full Throttle NASCAR AI Driver Rankings following Atlanta
Next report will be live from the Media Center at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday as we bring you the latest news from the track and our models update with data from Practice and Qualifying, scheduled for 2pm ET/11am local time.
*NASCAR Wire Service contributed to this story.
