All three top level NASCAR Series were active this past weekend at Nevada’s 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kyle Larson dominated Sunday’s Cup Series Pennzoil 400 (led a race-high 103 laps) and scored his 7th career victory. The latest results and upcoming scheduled events for XFINITY, Camping World and NASCAR feeder series are also included below as well as details on all tracks mentioned in this column.
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Sun, Mar 7, Pennzoil 400 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway – 267 laps.
– No practice or qualifying. NASCAR’s qualifying metric set the starting lineup for Sunday’s event based on race finishes, point standings and fastest race laps. This placed Kevin Harvick (#4 Ford Mustang) P1 on the starting grid. William Byron (#24 Chevrolet Camaro) was set in the P2 spot on the front row. #5 Kyle Larson, #19 Martin Truex Jr., #34 Michael McDowell, #11 Denny Hamlin, #1 Kurt Busch, #9 Chase Elliott, #48 Alex Bowman and #2 Brad Keselowski, respectively formed the rest of the top-10 in the lineup. Did not make the 40-car field: No one, only 38 entries.
– Kyle Larson (#5 Chevrolet Camaro) led a race-high 103 of the 267 laps run and scored his 7th victory in 227 NCS races. This is his 1st victory and 3rd top-10 finish in 2021. It is his 1st victory and 7th top-10 finish in 10 races at Las Vegas. Brad Keselowski (2nd) posted his 11th top-10 finish in 16 races at LVMS and his 2nd top-10 finish in 2021. Kyle Busch (3rd) earned his 11th top-10 finish in 20 Las Vegas races. Chase Briscoe (21st) was the highest finishing Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contender. Polesitter Kevin Harvick finished one lap down in 20th place.
– NCS points leader: Denny Hamlin (finished 4th) leads the point standings by 38 points over Brad Keselowski.
TOP 16 – NCS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. Denny Hamlin 0
2. Brad Keselowski +8
3. Kyle Larson +5
4. Chase Elliott +1
5. Christopher Bell +2
6. Joey Logano -3
7. Kevin Harvick -5
8. Martin Truex Jr. +1
9. Michael McDowell -5
10. Kurt Busch -4
11. William Byron +2
12. Austin Dillon -1
13. Ryan Preece -1
14. Kyle Busch +4
15. Ryan Blaney +9
16. Chris Buescher -1
– Next: Sun, Mar 14, Instacart 500 – Phoenix Raceway – 312 laps.
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Sat, Mar 6, Alsco Uniforms 300 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway – 200 laps.
– No practice or qualifying. NASCAR’s qualifying metric set the starting lineup for Saturday’s event based on race finishes, point standings and fastest race laps. This placed Myatt Snider (#2 Chevrolet Camaro) P1 on the starting grid. Austin Cindric (#22 Ford Mustang) completed the front row in the P2 spot. #18 Daniel Hemric, #19 Brandon Jones, #10 Jeb Burton, #11 Justin Haley, #02 Brett Moffitt, #51 Jeremy Clements, #8 Josh Berry and #16 AJ Allmendinger, respectively formed the rest of the top-10 in the lineup. Did not make the 40-car field: #77 Ronnie Bassett Jr., #31 Jordan Anderson and #03 Andy Lally.
– AJ Allmendinger (#16 Chevrolet Camaro), making his first series start at LVMS, scored his 6th victory in 31 NXS races. This is his 1st victory and 2nd top-10 finish in 2021. Daniel Hemric (2nd), who led a race-high 74 laps, posted his 3rd top-10 finish in six Las Vegas races and his 4th top-10 finish in 2021. Brandon Jones (3rd) earned his 6th top-10 finish in nine races at Las Vegas. Josh Berry (7th) was the highest finishing ROTY contender. Polesitter Myatt Snider finished 32nd, 9 laps down from the leaders.
– NXS points leader: Austin Cindric by 21 points over Daniel Hemric.
TOP 12 – NXS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. Austin Cindric 0
2. Daniel Hemric +1
3. Brandon Jones +2
4. Jeb Burton 0
5. Justin Haley +1
6. AJ Allmendinger +4
7. Myatt Snider -5
8. Harrison Burton -1
9. Jeremy Clements -1
10. Brandon Brown -1
11. Michael Annett +6
12. Noah Gragson +15
– Next: Sat, Mar 13, Call 811 Before You Dig 200 – Phoenix Raceway – 200 laps.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NTS)
Fri, Mar 5, Bucked Up 200 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway – 134 laps.
– No practice or qualifying. NASCAR’s qualifying metric set the starting lineup for Friday night’s event based on race finishes, point standings and fastest race laps. This placed Ben Rhodes (#99 Toyota Tundra) P1 on the starting grid. Sheldon Creed (#2 Chevrolet Silverado) completed the front row in the P2 spot. #4 John Hunter Nemechek, #88 Matt Crafton, #98 Christian Eckes, #38 Todd Gilliland, #18 Chandler Smith, #19 Derek Kraus, #52 Stewart Friesen and #42 Carson Hocevar, respectively formed the rest of the top-10 in the lineup. Did not make the 40-truck field: No one, only 40 entries.
– John Hunter Nemechek (#4 Toyota Tundra) scored his 7th victory in 105 NTS races. This is his 1st victory and 3rd top-10 finish in 2021. It is his 1st victory and 3rd top-10 finish in seven races at Las Vegas. Cup Series regular Kyle Busch (2nd) posted his 5th top-10 finish in five races at LVMS. Austin Hill (3rd) earned his 5th top-10 finish in seven Las Vegas races.
Chandler Smith (19th) was the highest ROTY contender. Polesitter Ben Rhodes finished 10th.
– NTS points leader: John Hunter Nemechek by 14 points over Ben Rhodes.
TOP 10 – NTS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. John Hunter Nemechek +1
2. Ben Rhodes -1
3. Sheldon Creed 0
4. Matt Crafton +1
5. Chandler Smith -1
6. Stewart Friesen +10
7. Grant Enfinger +7
8. Todd Gilliland +3
9. Johnny Sauter 0
10. Carson Hocevar -4
Next: Sat, Mar 20, Vet Tix/Camping World 200 – Atlanta Motor Speedway – 130 laps.
NASCAR Feeder Series
ARCA Menards Series:
Sat, Feb 13, Lucas Oil 200 – Daytona Int’l Speedway – 80 laps (+2 laps OT).
Winner: Corey Heim – P1: Drew Dollar – Points Leader: Corey Heim
Next: Fri, Mar 12, * General Tire 150 – Phoenix Raceway – 150 laps.
* Combo race with ARCA Menards West
ARCA Menards East:
Sat, Feb 27, Pensacola 200 – Five Flags Speedway – 200 laps.
Winner: Sammy Smith – P1: Sammy Smith – Points Leader: Sammy Smith
Next: Sat, May 8, Music City 200 – Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway – 200 laps.
ARCA Menards West:
Season opener: Fri, Mar 12, * General Tire 150 – Phoenix Raceway – 150 laps.
* Combo race with ARCA Menards Series
Whelen Modified Tour:
Season opener: Thu. Apr 8, Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 200 – Martinsville Speedway – 200 laps.
Pinty’s Series:
Season opener: Sun, May 23, TBA – Sunset Speedway
Peak Mexico Series:
Season opener: Sun, Apr 11, TBA – Autodromo del Ecocentro de la Union Ganadera
Track Details
Atlanta Motor Speedway – 1.54-mile oval – Hampton, Georgia
Autodromo del Ecocentro de la Union Ganadera – 0.79-mile oval – Queretaro
Daytona Int’l Speedway – 2.5-mile tri-oval – Daytona Beach, Florida
Five Flags Speedway – 0.5-mile oval – Pensacola, Florida
Las Vegas Motor Speedway – 1.5-mile tri-oval – Las Vegas, Nevada
Martinsville Speedway – 0.526-mile oval – Martinsville, Virginia
Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway – 0.596-mile oval – Nashville, Tennessee
Phoenix Raceway – 1-mile tri-oval – Avondale, Arizona
Sunset Speedway – 0.333-mile oval – Innisfil, Ontario