NASCAR at Las Vegas 2022: Odds, Preview and Top Storylines
For the 29th time, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada will play host to a NASCAR Cup Series race.
Drivers participating in the Pennzoil 400 will take to the 1.5-mile tri-oval track on Sunday for a 400-mile race or the equivalent of 267 laps.
Not surprisingly, last year's winner, Kyle Larson, is the odds-on favorite to win it again this time around.
The 29-year old Hendrick Motorsports driver also won last week's Wise Power 400 at Auto Club Speedway, so he'll likely be motivated to start a winning streak.
Joey Logano, who last won the season-opening Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, is the betting favorite to come in second behind Larson, with Chase Elliott threatening for third.
But with the combination of the standard intermediate track and NASCAR’s new car, the field will more than likely be wide open on Sunday.
Pennzoil 400 Information
1 of 3
Date: Sunday, March 6
Odds
2 of 3
Kyle Larson: +500 (bet $100 to win $500)
Joey Logano: +800
Chase Elliott: +800
Ryan Blaney: +1000
Denny Hamlin: +650
William Byron: +1200
Kyle Busch: +1200
Tyler Reddick: +1400
Martin Truex Jr.: +1600
Alex Bowman: +2000
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Preview and Top Storylines
3 of 3
What's becoming apparent as the NASCAR Cup Series season continues to race forward, is the fact that the Next Gen cars are as big of a story as the actual drivers.
As drivers are getting used to the new cars, names that fans don't usually hear are making noise during races and finishing in the top 10.
But when it comes to winning, its the familiar names from the top teams that will likely prevail.
That will hold especially true now, since NASCAR has extended practice time for the Pennzoil 400.
Race teams can now use that time to become more acclimated to the radically redesigned cars.
"This is a new process as we go straight into practice, straight into qualifying, straight into impound," Kevin Harvick told Ron Kantowski of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "The amount of work that needs to be done going to the racetrack with setups is going to be much more important than what it was in the past,” said the veteran driver.
"There’s just not a lot you can do once you hit pit road."
Another thing to keep an eye on is Hendrick Motorsports' teammates Larson and Elliott.
Last week, at Fontana, Larson block-squeezed teammate Elliott into a wall, an incident that almost overshadowed his win.
"I’m going to tell him exactly how I told you guys, and he’ll take it for what it is," Larson told Pat DeCola of NASCAR.com. "Either way I’m sure he’ll still be upset even if we’re on the same page or not. It’s just a conversation that we’ll have, and we’re both young, we both respect each other a lot, so we’ll both be racing for wins for many years to come.
"I’m not too worried about it. I think if anything it’s probably a small bump in the road. I think if things happen more so in the future, then yes, it gets out of hand. But Hendrick Motorsports I don’t think will ever let it get to that point, and like I said, we have enough respect for each other that I don’t think it will get out of hand at all."
That, as they say, remains to be seen.
Both Larson and Elliott are believed to be a strong threat to win at Las Vegas, so it will be interesting to see if there's some added tension in the waning laps.
Another driver to watch is Logano, who is just ahead of Ryan Blaney as the active driver with the best average finish in Vegas with 8.6.
Then there's rookie Austin Cindric, who won the Daytona 500.
The 23-year old Team Penske phenom is adapting quickly into the Cup Series and may continue to surprise and make Pennzoil that much more of a must see in Sin City.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
