Joey Logano returns to Las Vegas much like he left it in the fall – ranked number one. (Photo: (Photo: Erik Smith | The Podium Finish)
LAS VEGAS – NASCAR inches its way back East from Fontana, California for the bright lights and glamor of Las Vegas with Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Gone away are the chilly, stormy but memorable action from the second round of the 2023 season. Now, it’s time for Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a NASCAR Cup Series staple since 1998.
Although the 1.5-mile speedway has changed quite a bit with progressive banked corners between 18 to 20 degrees, it is still one of the most competitive stops of the circuit. Corner entries in Turns 1 and 3 seem inviting for passing opportunities before the exits off Turns 2 and 4 bring a sense of humility and trepidation especially for double wide racing.
Much like Fontana, it may be beneficial to run on the outside line to avoid that dreaded aero push on the inside, especially going into and exiting Turns 2 and 4. Trouble can ensue if a driver finds their car “washing up” or pushing closer to the higher groove or wall.
For drivers like Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain and Joey Logano, life has been pretty good with Las Vegas and recent times. Those like Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Blaney continue to build some momentum for the year while Kyle Larson, William Byron and Christopher Bell hope for kinder times in “Sin City.”
Once the flag waves the green flag to kick off this new season, it is anyone’s guess as to who will prevail in this year’s Pennzoil 400. For the time being, come along for the ride this and each race weekend with Podium Preview.
This weekend, Cody Shoppe, Jasmine Sharpe, Kobe Lambeth, Luis Torres, Matt Sisoler, Sean Folsom, Teresa Bennink and yours truly ponder about the strong start for Richard Childress Racing and ECR-powered teams and the potential turnaround for Hendrick Motorsports.
Podium Perspectives
Question 1
Kyle Busch looks for more strong race weekends for the RCR and ECR-powered teams. (Photo: Erik Smith | The Podium Finish)
Richard Childress Racing and the ECR powered teams are off to a terrific start this year. Despite it being so early in 2023, how long can they sustain their momentum, particularly ahead of their Hendrick Motorsports counterparts?
Sisoler : I think this charge from RCR and the ECR-powered teams has gotten them up there to that level of a Hendrick level team, and I think they’ve got a good chance to stay up there with them, especially with a driver like Kyle Busch on the team. He won’t accept mediocrity at a team for very long. If it’s not working, he’s gonna demand change to try and fix the problems.
Torres : Las Vegas will be a true test in how well the overall camp will fare. We know Kyle Busch is a legend in NASCAR and winning last Sunday wasn’t a surprise. It’s Austin Dillon who I’m curious how he’ll do without worrying about being the number-one driver at RCR. If he isn’t awfully far behind Busch, Dillon could prove some folks wrong and honestly, finally have a proper teammate he can mesh well with. Team chemistry comes a long way in NASCAR.
Hendrick is in a very weird ordeal. They’re also in catch up mode because even though Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott had good 2022 seasons, improvements are crucial as they are nowhere near as superb as folks realize. RCR could well be on par or ahead of HMS real soon. Vegas could be super revealing how the start of 2023 could shape up.
Lambeth : This may surprise some people, but I think Kyle Busch can lead Richard Childress Racing’s early season charge to match other Chevrolet teams such as Hendrick Motorsports and Trackhouse Racing in performance. I believe RCR will exceed expectations and continue getting solid results with Busch and teammate Austin Dillon.
As the 2023 season goes on, I expect to see HMS back to its winning ways, despite the most recent setback with Chase Elliott fracturing his tibia in a snowboarding accident. However, I feel like RCR is on the brink of becoming an organization that consistently contends for wins and championships again regularly and Rowdy leading the way.
Question 2
Kyle Larson hopes for a better race result for himself and his Hendrick Motorsports peers at Las Vegas. (Photo: Christopher Vargas | The Podium Finish)
Hendrick Motorsports has won two of the past Cup spring races at Las Vegas. Can they continue their victorious stretch? If so, who will carry their colors to Victory Lane? Defend your answer.
Sharpe : It’s not a secret that Hendrick Motorsports is a powerhouse within the Cup Series. The fact the team has been able to win two spring Vegas races shows their strength in not only their vehicles, but also their drivers.
Yes, due to unfortunate circumstances Chase Elliot is unable to race because of a leg injury, but there are three other Cup drivers on the team that are just as capable of snagging a win. It’s great to see Josh Berry get a chance to be behind the wheel this weekend. He has proven he has talent within JRM and it does not shock me that he was picked to be Chase’s fill-in.
I’m more curious to see how everyone else has been able to hone in on the Next Gen and unlock its true potential. This time last year the car was still brand new and teams were trying to figure out what ran best. It seems by now most have gotten a hang of the vehicle, but maybe some have been able to push ahead further than others.
Personally, I do not believe HMS will snag the victory this weekend because of how dominant the other teams have been. With Kyle Busch’s win last week at Fontana, it appears that Hendrick has some fierce competition just within the same manufacturer.
Team Trackhouse last year proved they could put up a decent fight and are also with Team Chevy. Glancing over to the other manufacturers and Ford showed their brute strength earlier this year at Daytona during practice.
It’ll be interesting to see how things unfold, but if I was Hendrick, I would be looking at how the other teams are able to stay in the game even with less funding overall.
Tiongson : I think we will and we may need to throw it back to 2021. In this case, Kyle Larson seems to be the favorite based on his practice and qualifying efforts.
Sure, he did not win the pole for Sunday’s race. However, race pace is more important and I like what I saw from the No. 5 team with short and long run pace. If Larson and his No. 5 team learned anything from last Sunday’s Fontana setback, I look for them to apply these toward their first victory of the 2023 season.
If Larson does not prevail, I think Alex Bowman has the makings to carry the Hendrick colors into Las Vegas’ winner’s circle. Blake Harris has that No. 48 team looking more stout and competitive compared to past years where they may have hovered inside the top 10 before mounting a charge for the win.
Bennink : Chevy had an unfortunate setback this week, having to replace Chase Elliott with Josh Berry after Elliott had a snowboarding accident. Before that news was released I was leaning toward a Ford in Victory Lane. Fords have a good showing at Las Vegas as they have won three of the last five spring races, and five of the last 10 races at the track. Ford teams ran well last week with three finishing in the top 10 with their other fast cars getting caught up in incidents, ending their chances of winning.
Joey Logano is my favorite this weekend. Logano’s history at Las Vegas includes one pole, twelve top 10’s, seven top 5’s, and has ceebrated wins three times.Logano also holds the series best average finish of 8.474. If Logano needs any extra motivation to end the day with the checkered flag in his hands, the title sponsor of the race is Pennzoil.
Shoppe : I expect Hendrick drivers, Kyle Larson and William Byron, to contend Sunday with solid top five-10 runs. I know we are very early on in the year but they haven’t really shown much dominance yet. Chase Elliott’s impressive run to second in Fontana was the best we’ve seen Hendrick yet and with him out for the foreseeable future, there are some question marks surrounding Hendrick Motorsports’ current potential.
We’ve rolled the dice twice and it’s been quite nice so far with our laps around Las Vegas Motor Speedway! Let’s rewind to last Sunday’s Pala Casino 400 at Auto Club Speedway, Race No. 2 of 36, and consider our race and points reports!
Kyle Busch made a few TPFers quite happy.
Michigan’s Matt Sisoler ranks number one.
Next, let’s take a look at the top 10 starters for Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas!
Row 1
Joey Logano and William Byron (Photo: Myk Crawford | The Podium Finish)
Row 2
Ryan Blaney and Ty Gibbs (Photo: Myk Crawford | The Podium Finish)
Row 3
Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson (Photo: Myk Crawford | The Podium Finish)
Row 4
Brad Keselowski and Ross Chastain (Photo: Myk Crawford | The Podium Finish)
Row 5
Austin Cindric and Christopher Bell (Photo: Myk Crawford | The Podium Finish)
Lastly, here’s our picks for Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas!
We’re quite split with our decision. (Photo: Christopher Vargas | The Podium Finish)
Sharpe : Joey Logano, the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series champion, is willing to do anything to stay on top. His aggression is often looked down upon, but with how heated the playing field is this year, that may be the key in order to beat the competition.
Shoppe : Look, it’s the Pennzoil 400, he’s in the Pennzoil car, he won the last time we were here, and he’s on the pole! Hard not to go with reigning champ Joey Logano to win in Vegas!
Torres : Chevrolet are poised to make some noise at 1.5-mile circuits and for a period of time, I’d plan on picking one racer from that camp. However, one pick I had in mind was Chase Elliott and he’s sidelined for an unknown period of time.
As I thought about it more, I went against a Chevy driver and went with a Ford guy. Joey Logano won at LVMS last fall which punched his ticket into the Championship 4 — he would win his second Cup. I expect Logano to be tough on race day and him leading the field to green helps.
Sisoler : It’s Logano at Las Vegas. He runs well here all the time, and looked very quick in practice and qualifying. If you’re gonna bet on anyone, I’d bet on the car with black 22s on the door.
Tiongson : It’s a safe pick but Joey Logano seems to be the likely driver to win Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He won the pole and he won last fall’s Playoff race. Look for the two-time and reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion to emerge victorious.
Lambeth : Building on momentum from last Sunday’s big win in Fontana, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if Kyle Busch wins back-to-back Cup races by taking home his second consecutive checkered flag as a Richard Childress Racing driver!
Folsom : With Kyle Busch getting some major track time this weekend in Truck and Xfinity and considering his past wins at Las Vegas, I think he’s got a great chance at winning!
We’re ready for some racing. How about you? What do you think are the biggest storylines heading into the race? Who are your favorites to win? Tweet us now @ThePodiumFinish and tell us now!
Thanks as always to the TPF team for their amazing efforts this week as we celebrate our 15th anniversary of operations!
The opinions and thoughts expressed in Podium Preview are solely of the authors. They do not reflect any organizations affiliated with the participants and author outside of TPF. This weekly feature is strictly for entertainment purposes. Ultimately, they are not indicative of TPF, the organization and its staff.
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