The 2024 NASCAR Cup Collection season continues in earnest on Sunday in Sin Metropolis, and William Byron already has a leg up on the competitors.
With two superspeedway races behind him, the Daytona 500 winner is raring to see how his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet will carry out with NASCAR’s intermediate speedway guidelines bundle within the Pennzoil 400 Introduced by Jiffy Lube at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“I am curious to see who’s quick, who’s bought the aero benefit or drawback, and the place all that stacks up,” Byron mentioned on Monday on the Hendrick campus after Daytona Worldwide Speedway president Frank Kelleher offered him with the rewards of his Feb.19 Daytona 500 win.
“You are able to do a whole lot of work within the wind tunnel and all these items, however if you get to the race monitor, that is the proof. So, we’ll see. Hopefully, we’re actually good. Hopefully, our automotive drives nicely.”
If the No. 24 Camaro performs because it did a 12 months in the past, Byron can be a powerful contender to win a second race in three 2024 begins. Final season at Las Vegas, Byron swept the primary two levels of a Cup race for the primary time in his profession, led 176 of 271 laps and beat teammate Kyle Larson to the end line by 0.622 seconds in additional time.
One other driver looking forward to a superb end result at Las Vegas is Joey Logano, who has three victories on the 1.5-mile monitor on the north aspect of the town — tied with former teammate Brad Keselowski for many amongst full-time energetic drivers.
Logano gained the pole place for the Daytona 500 and certified second for final Sunday’s race at Atlanta, however his finishes did not match the standard of his begins. The driving force of the No. 22 Crew Penske Ford ran thirty second at Daytona and twenty eighth at Atlanta, leaving him thirty first within the NASCAR Cup standings and badly in want of enchancment this weekend.
The excellent news is that Vegas is considered one of Logano’s finest tracks. His common end there’s 10.0 in 21 begins, with seven prime fives and 12 prime 10s to his credit score.
Larson has a fair higher document Las Vegas than Logano. After ending second to Byron final March, the driving force of the No. 5 Chevrolet gained the Playoff race in October by 0.082 seconds over fast-closing Christopher Bell.
In 15 Las Vegas begins, Larson boasts two victories, 4 runner-up finishes and 11 prime 10s — for a median results of 9.9. After crashing out of the Atlanta race for the fourth time in 5 begins after the reconfiguration of the monitor, the 2021 collection champion ought to be a contender on Sunday.
–Can another NASCAR Xfinity driver cease the juggernaut named Austin Hill?
There’s an previous axiom that posits that it is higher to be fortunate than good.
So, what occurs when you might have each elements in your favor?
Reply: You are Austin Hill, and also you win back-to-back NASCAR Xfinity Collection races to begin the 2024 season.
Hill gained the rain-delayed United Auto Leases 300 at Daytona on Feb. 19, taking the checkered flag within the season-opener for the third straight 12 months.
5 days later, he gained at Atlanta when Richard Childress Racing teammate and pole winner Jesse Love-and a number of others-ran out of gas late in an occasion that went to additional time.
On Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Hill will attempt to win his third straight race in The LiUNA! (5 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
There is a streak on the road for Chevrolet, too. Chevrolet drivers have swept two straight Cup/Xfinity/Truck tripleheader weekends and want to prolong that success within the three nationwide collection at Las Vegas.
Las Vegas native Riley Herbst seems to be to disrupt that string of victories within the No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. Herbst bought his breakout Xfinity Collection win final 12 months at his residence monitor throughout a streak of 5 straight top-four finishes to finish the season.
“I am pumped,” Herbst mentioned. “Not solely am I going residence, however I am additionally going to a monitor meaning the world to me. I began my racing profession simply subsequent to the massive monitor on the Las Vegas Bullring. That win final October meant every part. I had waited so lengthy for it and, truthfully, it simply made it that rather more significant to get it at my residence monitor.
“There’s undoubtedly confidence going into this race, not solely from me, however from the whole No. 98 Monster Power crew. We have had velocity at each race since then, and I do know we will exit and contend for the win once more. We nonetheless should do every part proper, however I am assured on this crew.”
–Can another driver beat Kyle Busch in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck race?
Of the 32 drivers entered in Friday evening’s Victoria Voice Basis 200 Introduced by Westgate Resorts (9 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), solely 4 have recorded victories at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Foremost amongst them is Kyle Busch, who gained final Saturday at Atlanta and prolonged his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Collection document to 65 victories. Busch has a track-record 4 Vegas wins, three from the pole.
He is additionally the defending winner of Friday’s race. In taking the checkered flag final 12 months after switching from Toyota to Chevrolet, Busch broke a streak of seven straight Toyota victories at his residence monitor.
Having offered his eponymous Kyle Busch Motorsports, Busch now drives a Chevrolet for the present proprietor, Spire Motorsports. As a full-time NASCAR Cup Collection driver, Busch can compete in solely 5 Truck Collection races per season, per NASCAR guidelines.
“Clearly, my objective yearly within the Truck Collection is to go five-for-five with the races that I can run,” Busch mentioned. “You possibly can’t be excellent when you do not win the primary one, so we have that one beneath our belts. Now it is on to the subsequent one.”
With one victory every, reigning collection champion Ben Rhodes (2017), Grant Enfinger (2018) and Christian Eckes (2021) are the opposite former Las Vegas winners in Friday’s discipline.
