Am I still riding the high from the Ambetter Health 400? Absolutely. Atlanta Motor Speedway saw an incredible race that featured a bit of everything. To cap it all off, the finale featured Daniel Suarez capturing his second career win in a three-wide photo finish narrowly beating out Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch. The thrilling conclusion will likely talked about for years to come. Next up? A trip to Las Vegas Motorspeedway for the first non-Superspeedway race of the season – the 2024 Pennzoil 400. NASCAR hopes the momentum from a strong Atlanta race carries on to the rest of the season starting this weekend.
2024 Pennzoil 400 Entry List
The entry list for Sunday’s race at Las Vegas remains extremely similar to last week’s race at Atlanta. The most notable change sees Derek Kraus making his NASCAR Cup series debut in the #16 for Kaulig Racing. Kraus ran full-time in the trucks from 2020 to 2022 and ran part-time in the Xfinity Series last year.
Bright Lights, Big Wheels, Sin City ✨#Pennzoil400 | #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/xWAUUQK9FP
— Las Vegas Motor Speedway (@LVMotorSpeedway) March 1, 2024
As mentioned above, Las Vegas Motor Speedway marks the first points race of 2024 that won’t be run on a drafting-style track. LVMS is a traditional 1.5-mile oval – the style of track that NASCAR runs most on. You’ll see the cars spread out much more during Sunday’s race compared to the first two races of the season.
Race Odds and Predictions
2023 saw Hendrick Motorsports sweep both races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. William Byron took the spring race and Kyle Larson claimed victory in the fall. Larson (+450) and Byron (+900) sit atop the list of favorites for Sunday’s race. Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman will likely be competitive on Sunday as well considering how dominant Hendrick looked at Vegas last spring.
Beyond the Hendrick camp, Las Vegas native Kyle Busch tends to run well at his home track. I’d also expect Penske Motorsports to place at least one car in the top five. Austin Cindric narrowly missed out with a 6th place finish last spring and Ryan Blaney finished the same in the fall race. Blaney holds a ton of momentum at the moment coming off of his championship season and at +130 to finish top five, I’d take the driver of the #12.
However, I’m going in a bit of a different direction with my pick for Sunday’s race. I believe Tyler Reddick (+1200) in the #45 will take his Toyota to Victory Lane in the 2024 Pennzoil 400.
Check out the schedule below so you don’t miss any on-track action from Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Friday 03/01
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying – 4:05 p.m. CT on FS1
NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying – 6:05 p.m. CT on FS1
Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 (NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series) – 8:00 p.m. CT on FS1
Saturday 03/02
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – 1:50 p.m. CT on FS1
The LiUNA (NASCAR Xfinity Series) – 4:00 p.m. CT on FS1
Sunday 03/03
Pennzoil 400 (NASCAR Cup Series) – 2:30 p.m. CT on FS1
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