NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas

For the second week in a row, NASCAR fans had to wait a little bit to get the official call on the race winner, but last week's Atlanta race ended in a jaw-dropping three-wide finish with Daniel Suarez earning his second NASCAR Cup Series win. Suarez beat Ryan Blaney by 0.003 seconds at the line, with Kyle Busch in third, 0.007 seconds behind the race winner. Wow!

 

This Week's Pick Strategy:
I always lean toward Busch when he gets some extra time driving in the Craftsman Truck Series. With his stellar record at Las Vegas, he is a definite no-brainer this weekend. I'll also be looking at the driver in that No. 2 position since it's the most proficient starting spot on the grid. I'm feeling good about Chevys this weekend, but the Fords should literally be a good bet as well.

 

Drivers with the Most Top 10s:

By Race and Track in the Last 5 Years (Last 10 races - 2019 to 2023)

Martin Truex Jr. - 9
Both with 7 - Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson

Both with 6 - Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin

All with 5 - Joey Logano, William Byron, and Ryan Blaney

Active Las Vegas Race Winners	Wins	Seasons
Brad Keselowski	3	2018, 2016, 2014
Joey Logano	3	2022, 2020, 2019
Kyle Larson	2	2023, 2021
Martin Truex Jr.	2	2019, 2017
William Byron	1	2023
Alex Bowman	1	2022
Denny Hamlin	1	2021
Kyle Busch	1	2009

Source: NASCAR.com

 

Top 10 Active Lap Leaders at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (All-Time &Active)

Rank	Active Drivers	Races	Led	Completed	% Led
1	Joey Logano	21	536	5,553	10%
2	Kyle Larson	15	447	3,842	12%
3	Denny Hamlin	24	392	6,361	6%
4	Brad Keselowski	21	359	5,565	6%
5	Martin Truex Jr.	24	313	6,442	5%
6	Kyle Busch	25	311	6,295	5%
7	Wiliam Byron	12	256	3,154	8%
8	Chase Elliott	13	178	3,294	5%
9	Ross Chastain	11	151	2,929	5%
10	Christopher Bell	8	93	1,963	5%

Source: NASCAR.com

 

Last Year's Pole Winner: Joey Logano

Last Year's Race Winner: William Byron

 

The Likely Suspects:  My Las Vegas go-to drivers include William Byron, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, and Ryan Blaney.

 

My 2 Cents:  My no-brainer pick is a tie between Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson. My next picks are Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, and Alex Bowman. I will round out my roster with Corey LaJoie and Justin Haley.

My Final Four: Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, and Corey LaJoie.

Second-Look Drivers: This week's second-look driver is Keselowski, a three-time winner at LVMS with a deep notebook from Team Penske. In his 21 starts here, Keselowski has an 11.5 average finish with 13 Top 10s and nine finishes inside the Top 5. Last fall he finished fourth after leading 38 laps. This could be the track where Keselowski gets back to his winning ways. Stay tuned.

Points to Ponder:

• The second starting position has produced more winners than any other in the field with six (18.75%). 
• Hendrick Motorsports leads the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with nine, followed by Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing with seven.
  
• Four manufacturers have visited Victory Lane in the NASCAR Cup Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, led by Ford with 14 victories and followed by Chevrolet (12).
• Kyle Larson (2017, 2018, 2022, 2023) leads the NASCAR Cup Series in runner-up finishes at Las Vegas with four second-place finishes.
• Kyle Busch leads the NASCAR Cup Series in Top-5 finishes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with 12 and is tied with Martin Truex Jr. in Top 10s with 15 each.

Remember, if you're playing Driver Group Game, make your initial picks by 1:50 p.m. ET on Sat., March 2 and your final picks by 3:30 p.m. ET on race day Sun., March 3.  

 

Enjoy the race!

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Carol D'Agostino has been playing Fantasy NASCAR for 17 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.