March 17, 2025
Las Vegas Motor Speedway has always been a relatively good race track for AJ Allmendinger, especially considering he isn't known for his oval racing, and the gamble paid off for fantasy managers that backed him this weekend, as the Kaulig Racing driver scored his first top-10 finish of the season on Sunday afternoon in the Pennzoil 400. In addition to crossing the finish line in eighth place at the conclusion, Allmendinger also ended up with a sixth-place result in the first stage. He now sits 23rd in the points standings after five races. Good news for Allmendinger fans: the Cup Series heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway next, where The Dinger has been strong at recently with finishes of eighth or better in each of the last three races there.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Frontstretch
March
17,
2025
Hendrick
Motorsports
driver
Kyle
Larson
raced
well
at
Las
Vegas
and
ran
inside
the
top
10
for
most
of
the
race
on
Sunday,
finishing
in
the
ninth
position.
Beginning
the
race
from
10th,
Larson
had
one
of
the
faster
cars
in
read more...
March
17,
2025
Trackhouse
Racing's
Ross
Chastain
continued
to
show
why
Las
Vegas
is
one
of
his
better
tracks
by
finishing
fifth
during
Sunday's
race.
Starting
from
the
19th
position,
Chastain
spent
awhile
figuring
out
how
to
navigate
to
the
front
and
during
the
read more...
March 17, 2025
After a couple of races of failing to score a great finish, Daniel Suarez of Trackhouse Racing finished second. Starting from the 23rd position, Suarez progressively made his way through the field over the course of the race through moves on track or pit strategy. He was 14th by the end of the first stage, making him unable to score stage points, but he did place seventh at the end of the second stage, and scored a few there. Suarez made his way to the lead in the latter portions of the race by taking advantage of two tire strategies to maintain track position, gaining the lead and ultimately leading 12 laps before battling with Josh Berry. By lap 254, Suarez lost the lead for the final time thanks to his car getting loose, allowing Berry to slip by while Suarez settled for being the runner-up to this week's race. This is a new career-best finish for Suarez in the Cup Series at Las Vegas in 16 starts.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
March 17, 2025
23XI Racing has always been fast on flat 1.5-mile ovals, and Sunday's Las Vegas race was no exception, even though neither Bubba Wallace nor his teammate Tyler Reddick ended up with good finishes. Despite starting 20th, Wallace drove up to fourth at the end of Stage 1 and then took the lead twice before being passed by both Kyle Larson and William Byron. However, while attempting to make a four-wide pass on Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, and Noah Gragson for sixth in the outside lane on a restart, Blaney, Wallace, and Gragson came together and Wallace ended up finishing 28th and a lap down, which was not representative of how he ran. Nonetheless, he definitely had improved speed this year, likely thanks to his new crew chief Charles Denike, who led over 1,000 laps with Christian Eckes in the Craftsman Truck Series last year. The fact that he's been pretty unlucky and is still 11th in points is a great sign.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 17, 2025
Alex Bowman started sixth and finished seventh at Las Vegas, so you might figure he had his typical run-of-the-mill run where he ran in the back half of the top 10 of the race without really contending, but his run was actually a lot stronger than that. Bowman led two laps early after passing Austin Cindric after the first restart before Cindric repassed him, but then while running fifth on Lap 90, he pitted for a loose wheel and fell to 35th. He gained considerably after staying out of the pits on the eighth caution and quickly re-entered the top 10 for good after that, running as high as fourth in the latter stages. It remains to be seen whether he will have the speed to dominate a race again (which he hasn't for a while), but Sunday was an encouraging sign.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 17, 2025
In a race where all the Team Penske drivers and their Wood Brothers satellite entry for Josh Berry seemed quite fast, Austin Cindric outdueled Alex Bowman to win Stage 1 at Sunday's Las Vegas race -- his first stage win on a non-drafting oval since Gateway in 2022. He still continuously ran in the top 10 until he had to pit a second time during the caution for Shane van Gisbergen's crash for a loose wheel, but he eventually worked his way up to sixth. If all the cars that stayed out of the pits on the eighth caution had ended up running out of fuel, which seemed very possible at one point, Cindric might've been in the hunt for the win since there were times he was ahead of William Byron and Kyle Larson -- the latter of whom he out-finished. Perhaps this suggests he has more staying power after strong qualifying sessions than he did in previous years.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 17, 2025
William Byron entered Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas as the points leader and expanded his lead over Christopher Bell to 29 points after a fourth-place finish. Byron entered the race as one of the pre-race favorites and did briefly lead twice for 10 laps after passing Bubba Wallace then Michael McDowell for the lead before his teammate Kyle Larson passed him both times. Larson looked faster than Byron for most of the race, but Byron was rarely far behind and ended up passing all the drivers on the main pit strategy by race's end. However, the usual contenders out-thought themselves in choosing to pit during the eighth caution and many others didn't, which (along with contact from Ross Chastain) prevented them from catching the unusual podium finishers of Josh Berry, Daniel Suárez, and Ryan Preece on the other strategy.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 17, 2025
One week after leading at Phoenix due to his alternative-tire strategy, Ryan Preece surprisingly delivered the best finish of his career on a non-drafting oval in Sunday's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas, finishing third in a race where his two RFK Racing teammates Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski did not run very well. Although Preece qualified 12th, he fell through the field during Stage 1 before he made a furious charge from 20th to 11th at the end of Stage 2. The team made a visionary move to stay out of the pits on the caution for the multi-car crash that took out Ryan Blaney, then managed to catch a caution before they needed to pit again. This propelled Preece to third on the final restart. Although he dropped to fifth after being passed by William Byron and Ross Chastain, when they made contact he regained third as the repercussions from the contact broke the momentum of all the drivers chasing him.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 16, 2025
Christopher Bell is on a roll to start the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. In addition to winning at Atlanta a few weeks ago, Bell ended up in victory lane at both COTA and Phoenix over the last two weeks, giving the Joe Gibbs Racing driver three wins in just four races this year. Can he add a fourth at Las Vegas this weekend? Bell's No. 20 Toyota was definitely the car to beat the last time we were here (last October), but he's going to have his work cut out for him if he's going to compete for the win on Sunday. After qualifying 13th for this weekend's Pennzoil 400, Bell's No. 20 team changed the throttle body, which will require NASCAR's most recent winner to drop to the rear of the field at the start on Sunday. Despite this setback, though, Bell should still contend in the race. He has three top-five results in his last four starts at this track.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Bob Pockrass / FOX Sports
March 16, 2025
Kyle Larson should be in contention for his first win of the 2025 Cup Series season this Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This is one of Larson's best tracks on the schedule, and he has won two of the last three here--including a dominating effort in this race one year ago, where the No. 5 Chevrolet was out front for 181 laps en route to victory lane. Additionally, in five of the last eight races at Las Vegas, Larson has finished first or second. Also worth noting is the fact that Larson has led for over 20% of all of the laps on 1.5-mile tracks in the Next Gen era. This weekend, the No. 5 Chevrolet looked stout in practice, ranking fourth-fastest with the fifth-best 20-lap average. "Yung Money" qualified 10th for this weekend's Pennzoil 400, so he has some Place Differential upside in DFS contests as well.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Speedway Media
March 16, 2025
Once again, Ryan Blaney is the chalk DFS pick at Las Vegas. After blowing a right rear tire during practice on Saturday afternoon, Blaney backed his No. 12 Ford into the fence, damaging the back end and forcing his Team Penske crew to repair the car. Luckily, the team didn't have to pull out the backup car, and Blaney will be able to start the race in the vehicle he planned to this weekend. Blaney ended up 28th-fastest in practice but seemed to have a better car than that, especially on the long run, as his 15-lap average during practice was ninth-quickest on the board. Here in Sin City, Blaney has finished seventh or better in 10 of his 17 career Cup Series starts. In DFS contest this weekend, you have to play him at $9,300--especially in cash games--simply for the massive Place Differential upside.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: NASCAR X Account
March 16, 2025
Ross Chastain fired out of the gates fast at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend, as the No. 1 Chevrolet was the fastest car in practice on Saturday afternoon. Chastain's lap (187.846 mph) was faster by over two-tenths of a second than the second-fastest driver, Bubba Wallace. And really, it shouldn't be that surprising. Statistically, Chastain has been one of the best at Las Vegas in the Next Gen era, with an average finish of 5.5 over the last six races. Over that span, the Melon Man has just one result worse than seventh at Las Vegas, and that was a 12th-place effort in 2023. There's no doubt that the No. 1 Chevrolet is fast this weekend, and Chastain makes a good DFS pick because of that. He also has Place Differential upside, as he qualified back in 19th for Sunday's race. At a palatable $8,300 on DraftKings, Chastain is a solid DFS pick this weekend with high upside.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
March
16,
2025
Chris
Buescher
has
never
finished
better
than
ninth
at
Las
Vegas
Motor
Speedway
in
16
career
Cup
Series
starts,
but
that
doesn't
mean
that
there
isn't
upside
for
the
Roush-Fenway
Keselowski
Racing
driver
in
the
Pennzoil
400
this
weekend.
The
No.
read more...
March 16, 2025
Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports obtained a starting position of 16th after qualifying for this week's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This is the lowest starting position of all four Hendrick entries for Sunday's race at the Nevada track. In 15 starts at Las Vegas in the Cup Series, Elliott has five top-10 finishes, with his last being collected in 2022. Through four races so far this season, Elliott has three top-15 finishes, including two top-10s in the last two weeks. In practice, Elliott ranked 16th in overall lap averages while ranking close to or inside the top 10 in all other categories. Considering his salary for this week's race ($9,000 on DraftKings), his salary, and recent 2025 seasonwide performance, Elliott is worth consideration for all DFS formats as one of the sneakier options available.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
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