Gambling in the Desert: Las Vegas Race Review and Analysis

 



Rolling the dice, while gambling in Las Vegas,  William Byron took home the checkered flag in the Pennzoil 400.  This is Byron’s 5th career win and his 1st of the 2023 season.  The 25-year old joins Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Kyle Busch as the only three drivers locked into the playoffs. 



With an overtime restart and a late pit stop for the leading pack, Martin Truex Jr. decided to stay out instead of taking fresh tires, and fuel.  After leading 176 laps, and sweeping the stages, William Byron was able to surge past Truex Jr., and rode off into the Vegas sunset for the victory.   



(William Byron in Victory Lane in Las Vegas)


Today’s top running order included some drivers who needed a good finish, after struggling at Daytona and Auto Club. Kyle Larson finishes 2nd, alongside fellow Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman in 3rd.  In a career-best finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Bubba Wallace comes home 4th for 23XI Racing, as the top-finishing Toyota.  Rounding out the top-5 is Christopher Bell in a strong run for Joe Gibbs Racing, following him in 6th is Austin Cindric, in a rebound day for Team Penske.  


Seventh is awarded to Martin Truex Jr., for Joe Gibbs Racing, as a late race gamble didn’t pay off for a victory, but it does for a top-10 finish.  Eighth place goes to Justin Haley for Kaulig Racing,  who essentially found an extra gear passing numerous cars in the overtime restart.  Ninth goes to the lone Stewart-Haas car that had a consistent day, which was Kevin Harvick.  Making the cut in 10th, to finish out the top-10 is Daniel Suarez for Trackhouse Racing.  



Honorable mentions go out to Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing in 11th, along with Ross Chastain in 12th for Trackhouse Racing.  Ryan Blaney was in 13th for Team Penske, and Kyle Busch for Richard Childress Racing made contact with the outside wall early on but stayed consistent around the top-10 in today’s race falls in line 14th.  


Tyler Reddick, in 15th for 23XI Racing ran strong, as he completed the entirety of today’s race for the first time in 2023, after two DNF's to start the season.  Scaling a few positions down, Corey LaJoie for Spire Motorsports keeps his 3-race streak alive of top-20 finishes, slotting in 20th.  




(The Class of the field in Vegas: Byron, and Larson)


Looking for a resurgence heading into Phoenix are Harrison Burton, Austin Dillon, Noah Gragson, Joey Logano, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola, Chase Briscoe, and Ryan Preece.  The most notable name out of this group is Joey Logano of Team Penske.  Logano qualified on the pole, along with being 3rd in Saturday’s practice, but wrecked out after being pinched by Brad Keselowski coming out of turn 4. This ultimately derailed a solid afternoon, and certainly a fast race car for one of the favorites to win entering this weekend.



This led to Logano spinning, and damaging his toe-link, which resulted in eventually being out of the race in 36th.  The Stewart-Haas Racing camp struggled as a whole besides Kevin Harvick. The second highest finishing Stewart-Haas Ford was Aric Almirola, who made contact with the outside wall which was the reason for the overtime finish, crossed the line in 16th position. Ryan Preece, and Chase Briscoe were both scored 23rd, and 28th.





Although they struggled, look for Stewart-Haas Racing to be one of the stronger organizations performance wise next weekend in Phoenix.  Some other teams that could headline next week, as contenders are Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske, Trackhouse Racing, and Hendrick Motorsports next week in the Desert.  



Leaving Las Vegas behind, we saw true green flag racing across all three series this weekend.  Four cautions took place, with only two being responsible for single-car wrecks. A late race caution and pit road strategy shuffled the finishing order, as Kyle Larson was the odd man out after leading 63 laps with majority coming in the final stage.  The Gen-7 car has continued to deliver on intermediate tracks, as it did this weekend, resulting in an 8.8 out of 10 in my opinion. 



Now entering the final race of the west coast swing, brings us to Phoenix Raceway.  The track in Avondale, Arizona which is 1-mile long, that races like a short track, will not see the Craftsman Truck Series.  The Truck Series will return in Atlanta, on March 18th.  Practice and qualifying for the Xfinity Series will be at 12:35 pm ET on Saturday, followed by the United Rentals 200 at 4:30pm ET on FS1.  The debut of the new Cup Series short-track package will occur at Phoenix Raceway.  A 50-minute practice will start at 6:35 pm ET for the Cup Series on Friday.  Qualifying will be at 2:05pm ET on Saturday, followed by the United Rentals Work United 500 at 3:30pm ET, Sunday, only on FOX.  


( All images credited to https://www.foxsports.com/nascar/cup-series.)


For next week's race information please view the link down below:

Phoenix Raceway's Website




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