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NASCAR at Las Vegas 2021: Odds, TV Schedule, Live Stream and Drivers
March 6, 2021
NASCAR begins its first West Coast swing of the 2021 Cup Series campaign Sunday.
The Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be the first competition held outside the state of Florida this season.
The first three races produced a trio of long-shot winners in Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell and William Byron. With three of the 16 playoff positions already locked up, the pressure is on some of the top drivers to regain control at the front of the pack and avoid any postseason bubble stress at the end of the season.
Some of the most established drivers on the circuit have won at the 1.5-mile track. Kurt Busch captured the previous race in Nevada, and Joey Logano has two wins in the past four Las Vegas races.
Pennzoil 400 Schedule
Date: Sunday, March 7
Start Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
TV: Fox
Live Stream: FoxSports.com and Fox Sports app
Odds
Kevin Harvick: +600 (bet $100 to win $600)
Martin Truex Jr.: +600
Brad Keselowski: +800
Joey Logano: +800
Chase Elliott: +900
Denny Hamlin: +900
Kyle Larson: +1000
Ryan Blaney: +1300
Kyle Busch: +1300
Kurt Busch: +1800
William Byron: +1800
Starting Lineup
Preview
Although there have been three unexpected winners on the Cup Series circuit, the established names are still at the top of the points standings.
Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick, who went back-and-forth with victories in 2020, top the points standings through three races.
Harvick ended up with the pole position for Sunday's race based off the formula NASCAR is using, with no qualifying sessions taking place at most tracks.
The No. 4 car driver will start alongside Byron, with Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. occupying the second row. Hamlin will start on the third row next to McDowell.
Starting position could turn out to be key at Las Vegas since six of the past eight first-place finishers at the track began the race inside the top 10.
Ford has been the dominant manufacturer at the track lately, with Team Penske's Logano and Brad Keselowski leading the charge with five wins since 2014.
Keselowski could be the top driver to watch Sunday. The No. 2 car driver owns three victories at Las Vegas and starts five positions ahead of his Penske teammate.
Truex broke up Ford's dominance with victories in March 2017 and September 2019, and he could cash in on his co-favorite status if a Ford does not reach Victory Lane.
The Joe Gibbs Racing competitor has improved his finishing position in each of the three races and is coming off a third-place mark at the season's first 1.5-mile race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Truex was in the mix for the lead with Byron and Kyle Larson, but he missed out on second after Tyler Reddick shot up the field to take silver.
If another long shot were to take over the race, Chris Buescher could be the man for the job. He led a bulk of the early laps at Homestead and has a pair of top-20 finishes from the past two races.
Buescher drives a Roush Fenway Racing Ford, so he may have the right setup under the hood to make a run at the top.
If another unexpected winner were to come out of Las Vegas, it would cut the list of available playoff spots to 12 and squeeze out some of the more inconsistent top drivers.
Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and Ryan Blaney are among the more notable names beneath the top 15 in points. If they do not win, they need to put in more consistent runs to start making moves up the points standings.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from Racing Reference.
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