NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

 

When Kyle Busch pulled his No. 8 Lucas Oil Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet into Victory Lane last Sunday at Fontana, he silenced the naysayers and even quieted some of the haters. In the process, he also broke a few records. The win was Busch's 61st career victory, the most among active drivers and ninth all time as well as his fifth career win at Auto Club Speedway. Also, it so happened to be 54 races since he won on an asphalt track.

But that's just the beginning. Busch now holds the record for most consecutive seasons with a win at 19 (2005-2023), breaking a tie with NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty (18 seasons, 1960-1977). Ironically, his first Cup Series win came at Auto Club in 2005 in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

While this is great news for the No. 8 team and Rowdy Nation, it's not so much for his competitors as the series heads to Kyle's home track, Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In his 23 Cup Series starts here Busch has earned two poles, one win, 11 top fives and 14 top 10s with an average finish of 10.8 – third-best among active drivers. 

 

This Week's Pick Strategy:
Think Fords and Chevys and veteran drivers. I'm leaning more toward the Fords this week though, as they edge out the Chevys here in wins. Plus, did you know that five reigning NASCAR Cup Series champions have gone on to win at Las Vegas the following season? Hello Joey Logano. Even more interesting is that no NASCAR Cup Series driver has ever won their first career race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. So, this may not be the week to go out on a limb for a driver who hasn't gotten a Cup win yet.

 

Drivers with the Most Top 10s:

By Race and Track in the Last 5 Years (Last 10 races - 2018 to 2022)

Martin Truex, Jr. - 9
Kyle Busch - 8

All with 7- Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson

Both with 6 - Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney
Denny Hamlin - 5

Active Las Vegas Race Winners	Wins	Seasons
Brad Keselowski	3	2018, 2016, 2014
Joey Logano	3	2022, 2020, 2019
Kevin Harvick	2	2018, 2015
Martin Truex Jr	2	2019, 2017
Alex Bowman	1	2022
Denny Hamlin	1	2021
Kyle Larson	1	2021
Kyle Busch	1	2009

Source: NASCAR.com

 

Top 10 Active Lap Leaders at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Rank	Active Drivers	Races	Led	Completed	% Led
1	Kevin Harvick	27	679	6,883	10%
2	Joey Logano	19	527	5,103	10%
3	Denny Hamlin	22	359	5,823	6%
4	Brad Keselowski	19	316	5,027	6%
5	Kyle Busch	23	311	5,757	5%
6	Martin Truex Jr	22	301	5,904	5%
7	Kyle Larson	13	251	3,304	8%
8	Chase Elliott	12	178	3,028	6%
9	Ross Chastain	9	151	2,391	6%
10	Ryan Blaney	13	80	3,305	2%

Source: NASCAR.com

 

Recent Pole Winners:  

2022 Christopher Bell

2021 Kevin Harvick (Set by metric qualifying)

Recent Race Winners:
2022 Alex Bowman

2021 Kyle Larson

The Likely Suspects:  My Las Vegas go-tos include Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, and Alex Bowman.

 

My 2 Cents:  My no-brainer pick is Joey Logano. My next picks are Ross Chastain, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, and Alex Bowman. I will round out my roster with Corey LaJoie and Harrison Burton.

My Final Four: Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Corey LaJoie.

Second-Look Drivers: I have two drivers to watch this weekend: Chris Buescher and his boss at RFK Racing, Brad Keselowski. Keselowski is a three-time winner at LVMS with a deep notebook from Team Penske, not to mention Jack Roush's record here with 16 wins, including seven in the Cup Series.

Buescher has gotten off to a great start this season, currently sitting sixth in the standings. He makes his 13th Cup start at Las Vegas, where he has earned an average finish of 17.5 with one top 10 (ninth – 2020). Three of his career-best finishes at Vegas have come in the last five races. Most recently, Buescher finished 18th last spring and 15th in the fall.

 
Points to Ponder:

• The second starting position has produced more winners than any other in the field with four (13.33%). 
• Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing and Hendrick Motorsports lead the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with seven victories each. 
• Four manufacturers have visited Victory Lane in the NASCAR Cup Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, led by Ford with 14 victories; followed by Chevrolet (10).
• Kyle Larson (2017, 2018, 2022) leads the NASCAR Cup Series in runner-up finishes at Las Vegas with three second-place finishes.
•  Kyle Busch leads the NASCAR Cup Series in top-five finishes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with 11 as well as in top 10s with 14.
• No NASCAR Cup Series driver has won their first career race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
  

Remember, if you're playing Driver Group Game, make your initial picks by 1:45 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 4th and your final picks by 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 5.  

 

Enjoy the race!

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Carol D'Agostino has been playing Fantasy NASCAR for 16 years. She launched  NASCAR Fantasy Fusion for Skirts & Scuffs in October 2011. Each week, Carol pores through statistics and combs through her personal notebooks to arm fans with analysis and picking strategies that will leave their friends wondering how they got so smart. Carol also does race coverage for Skirts & Scuffs at Richmond Raceway and occasionally at her home track, Dover International Speedway. She is also part of the distinguished NASCAR Expert Picks panel at frcs.pro. formerly called Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. When she isn’t wielding her fantasy-racing superpowers, you’ll find Carol hammering out a news release or creating a marketing strategy at a small niche public relations firm she founded called Purple Cat or executing downtown revitalization projects for a small town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.