NASCAR viewer’s guide for Las Vegas Motor Speedway

By Oct 12, 2022, 7:00 AM EDT
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It’s down to four races and eight drivers.

The Cup playoffs will continue Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as the Round of 8 opens.

After the wild finish to last Sunday’s race at the Charlotte Roval, eight drivers remain in the hunt for the Cup championship. In order of their point standing, they are Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe.

The list has Hendrick Motorsports with two spots, Team Penske with two, Joe Gibbs Racing with two and Stewart-Haas Racing and Trackhouse Racing with one each.

MORE: NBC Sports NASCAR Power Rankings

Bell made the round with a comeback victory last Sunday at Charlotte, and Briscoe squeezed into the last spot with a late-race rally.

Where have the champions gone?

Of the eight drivers remaining in the championship chase, only two — Chase Elliott and Joey Logano — own Cup titles, Elliott winning in 2020 and Logano in 2018.

Kyle Larson, the defending champion, was eliminated from playoff contention last Sunday at Charlotte.

Three active champions — Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. — failed to qualify for the playoffs, Busch losing his shot because of injury. Former champs Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick departed in the Round of 16.

Welcome, youngsters

By average age, this season’s Round of 8 driver list is the youngest — at 30.1 years old — in playoff history.

At 24, William Byron is the youngster championship contender. The oldest, at 41, is Denny Hamlin. Other than Hamlin and Logano (32), the field is made up of 20-somethings.

MORE: Playoff grid resets after Charlotte win by Christopher Bell

Byron, Bell, Briscoe and Chastain are making their first appearances in the Round of 8. Logano has been in the Round of 8 eight times and is the leader in that category.

Calculating the Round of 8

Is there a favorite in the Round of 8?

The numbers say it’s Denny Hamlin, now in his 17th full-time Cup season and still searching for his first championship.

Hamlin and Joey Logano are the only Round of 8 drivers who own race victories at each of the three tracks in the round — Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway and Martinsville Speedway. Hamlin was won once at Vegas, three times at Homestead and five times at Martinsville. No one else in the playoffs is close to that total.

Next is Logano, with two wins at Vegas and one each at Homestead and Martinsville.

Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell have not won at any of the Round of 8 tracks in the Cup Series.

Entry lists

Thirty-six teams are entered in Sunday’s Cup race at Las Vegas. Xfinity invader AJ Allmendinger is on the list.

Las Vegas Cup entry list

Thirty-eight entries are on the list for Saturday’s Xfinity race (3 p.m. ET, NBC), including Hailie Deegan, Trevor Bayne, John Hunter Nemechek and Jeffrey Earnhardt.

Las Vegas Xfinity entry list

This week’s schedule and forecast

(All times Eastern)

Friday, Oct. 14

Forecast: Sunny. High of 92.

8:35 – 9:05 p.m. — Xfinity practice (USA Network)

9:05 – 10 p.m. — Xfinity qualifying (USA Network)

Saturday, Oct. 15

Forecast: Sunny. High of 90.

12:05 – 12:50 p.m. — Cup practice (NBC Sports App, USA Network coverage begins at 12:30 p.m.)

12:50 – 2 p.m. — Cup qualifying (USA Network)

3 p.m. — Xfinity race (201 laps, 301 miles; NBC, Peacock, Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Sunday, Oct. 16

Forecast: Mostly sunny. High of 85.

2:30 p.m. — Cup race (267 laps, 400 miles; NBC, Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

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North Wilkesboro’s worn surface will prove challenging to drivers

By Mar 22, 2023, 12:00 PM EDT
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NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — Three Cup drivers got their first chance to experience North Wilkesboro Speedway’s worn racing surface Tuesday and said tires will play a key role in the NASCAR All-Star Race there on May 21.

Chris Buescher, Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick took part in a Goodyear tire test Tuesday. That test was to continue Wednesday.

The verdict was unanimous about how important tire wear will be.

“This place has got a lot of character to it,” Reddick said. “Not a lot of grip and it’s pretty unforgiving. It’s a really fun place.”

Dillon said: “If you use up your tire too early, you’re going to really be in trouble. You really got to try to make those four tires live.”

Buescher said: “The surface here was so worn out already that we expect to be all over the place. The speeds are fairly slow just because of the amount of grip here. It’s hard to get wide open until you’re straight.”

Reddick noted the drop in speed over a short run during Tuesday’s test. That will mean a lot of off-throttle time.

“I think we were seeing a second-and-a-half falloff or so over even 50 laps and that was kind of surprising for me we didn’t have more falloff,” he said. “But, one little miscue, misstep into Turn 1 or Turn 3, you lose a second sliding up out of the groove and losing control of your car.”

“That’s with no traffic. Maybe with more traffic and everything, the falloff will be more, but certainly we’re out of control from I’d say Lap 10 on. You have to really take care of your car. … It’s really hard 30-40 laps into a run to even get wide open.”

Chris Buescher runs laps during a Goodyear tire test at North Wilkesboro Speedway, while Austin Dillon is on pit road. (Photo: Dustin Long)

One thing that stood out to Dillon was how the facility looks.

While the .625-mile racing surface remains the same since Cup last raced there in 1996, most everything else has changed.

In some cases, it is fresh red paint applied to structures but other work has been more extensive, including repaving the infield and pit road, adding lights for night racing, adding SAFER barriers, the construction of new suites in Turn 4 and new stands along the backstretch.

“It’s cool to see how much they’ve done to the track, the suites, the stands that they’re putting in,” Dillon said. “To me, the work that is going in here, we’re not just coming for one race. We’re coming here for a while. I’m excited about that.”

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Drivers to watch in NASCAR Cup race at COTA

By Mar 22, 2023, 7:00 AM EDT
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Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, has attracted an entry list that includes talent beyond that of the tour regulars.

Jordan Taylor, who is substituting in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet for injured Chase Elliott, brings a resume that includes 31 IMSA class wins, two 24 Hours of Daytona overall wins and two IMSA wins at COTA.

MORE: NBC Driver Rankings: Christopher Bell is No. 1

Jenson Button won the Formula One championship in 2009 and has five F1 starts at COTA. He is scheduled to be a driver for the NASCAR entry in this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Kimi Raikkonen, entered by Trackhouse Racing as part of its Project 91 program, won the 2007 F1 championship and has eight F1 starts at the Austin track.

They will draw attention at COTA this weekend, along with these other drivers to watch:

FRONTRUNNERS

Brad Keselowski

  • Points position: 5th
  • Best seasonal finish: 2nd (Atlanta I)
  • Past at COTA: 19th and 14th in two career starts

Keselowski hasn’t been a star in road course racing, but his 2023 season has started well, and he figures to be in the mix at the front Sunday. He led the white-flag lap at Atlanta last Sunday before Joey Logano passed him for the win.

AJ Allmendinger

  • Points position: 17th
  • Best seasonal finish: 6th (Daytona 500)
  • Past at COTA: 5th and 33rd in two starts

The Dinger is a road course expert. Last year at COTA, he was involved in tight racing on the final lap with Ross Chastain and Alex Bowman before Chastain emerged with the victory.

Ross Chastain

  • Points position: 3rd
  • Best seasonal finish: 3rd (Auto Club)
  • Past at COTA: Two straight top fours, including a win

Chastain lifted Trackhouse Racing’s profile by scoring his — and the team’s — first Cup victory at COTA last season. He’s not shy about participating in the last-lap bumping and thumping that often mark road course races.

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

Chris Buescher

  • Points position: 13th
  • Best seasonal finish: 4th (Daytona 500)
  • Past at COTA: 13th and 21st in two starts

Buescher has never led a lap at COTA and is coming off a 35th-place finish at Atlanta after being swept up in a Lap 190 crash. Although he has shown the power to run near the front this year, he has four consecutive finishes of 13th or worse.

Alex Bowman

  • Points position: 20th
  • Best seasonal finish: 3rd (Las Vegas I)
  • Past at COTA: Two straight top 10s

Bowman’s four-race run of consistent excellence (finishes of fifth, eighth, third and ninth) ended at Atlanta as he came home 14th and failed to lead a lap. At COTA, he is one of only four drivers with top-10 finishes in both races.

William Byron

  • Points position: 28th
  • Best seasonal finish: 1st (Las Vegas I, Phoenix I)
  • Past at COTA: 11th and 12th in two starts

Involvement in an accident at Atlanta ended Byron’s two-race winning streak. He’ll be looking to lead a lap at COTA for the first time.

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Three Reaume Brothers Racing team members suspended by NASCAR

By Mar 21, 2023, 5:49 PM EDT
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Three members of the Reaume Brothers Racing No. 33 Craftsman Truck Series team have been suspended for three races by NASCAR after a piece of tungsten ballast came off their truck during last Saturday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The suspensions were announced Tuesday.

Crew chief Gregory Rayl and crew members Matthew Crossman and Travis Armstrong were suspended because of the safety violation. Mason Massey is the team’s driver.

MORE: Xfinity driver Josh Williams suspended for one race

In a tweet following the announcement of the penalty, the team said it will not file an appeal. “The ballast became dislodged only after the left side ballast container had significant contact with the racing surface,” according to the statement. “We would like to be clear that there was no negligence on the part of RBR personnel.”

NASCAR also announced Tuesday that Truck Series owner/driver Cory Roper, who had been suspended indefinitely for violating the substance abuse policy, has been reinstated.

The Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series are scheduled to race this weekend at Circuit of the Americas.

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Josh Williams suspended for one race after Atlanta infraction

By Mar 21, 2023, 5:31 PM EDT
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NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Josh Williams has been suspended for one race because of his actions during last Saturday’s Xfinity race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Williams will be ineligible to participate in Saturday’s Xfinity race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. He would be able to return for the April 1 race at Richmond, Virginia.

Williams was penalized for a “behavioral” infraction, specifically disobeying a NASCAR request.

In a tweet after the suspension was announced, Williams said: “I stand behind what I did and I don’t regret any decisions I made. I stand behind NASCAR for these decisions and will continue and always support them.” He said Alex Labbe will drive the team’s No. 92 car at Circuit of the Americas this weekend.

MORE: Three Reaume Brothers Racing team members suspended

NASCAR officials ordered Williams off the track during Saturday’s race after his car was involved in an accident. Debris falling from his car prompted a caution flag, leading NASCAR to order him to park.

Instead of going to the garage area, Williams parked his car at the start-finish line and walked to pit road.

Williams was escorted to the NASCAR hauler office at the track. He waited there until the conclusion of the race and then met with officials for about 20 minutes.

MORE: NBC Power Rankings: Christopher Bell rises to the top

Section 8.8.9.I of the Xfinity Series Rule Book states that with the Damaged Vehicle Policy, NASCAR can order a car off the track: “At the discretion of the Series Managing Director, if a damaged vehicle elects not to enter pit road on the first opportunity or if a damaged vehicle exits pit road before sufficient repairs had been made and thereafter causes or extends a caution (e.g. leaking fluid, debris, etc.), then said vehicle may incur a lap(s) or time penalty or may not be permitted to return to the Race.”

Williams later admitted he had violated a rule but said he was frustrated by the NASCAR decision.

“We all work really hard and to only run ‘X’ amount of laps and then to have something like a piece of Bear Bond and put us out of the race, it’s really frustrating,” Williams said after his meeting with series officials. “Small team. We work really hard. We’ve got to make our sponsors happy, right? It doesn’t do any good sitting in the garage. It is what it is. We’ll learn from it and move on.

“I told them I was a little bit frustrated,” Williams said of NASCAR’s call, “but it was in the rule book.”

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