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The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 14 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR sanctions races in three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series™, and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series™), four international series (NASCAR Brasil Series, NASCAR Canada Series, NASCAR Euro Series, NASCAR Mexico Series), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour) and a local grassroots series (NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in five cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races annually in 11 countries and more than 30 U.S. states.

Hamlin hits the jackpot with Las Vegas pole, leads Toyota sweep

Chris Graythen | Getty Images

October 3, 2026

By Holly Cain

NASCAR Wire Service

LAS VEGAS – Defending race winner Denny Hamlin capped a dominant Toyota performance in Saturday’s Busch Light Pole Qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway claiming his fifth pole position of the season and leading a Toyota top-five sweep of the NASCAR Cup Series starting grid for Sunday’s South Point 400 (5:30 p.m. ET on USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota turned a fast lap of 186.787 mph around the 1.5-mile Las Vegas high banks – edging his JGR teammate, Ty Gibbs in the No. 54 Toyota by a slight. 017-second. JGR’s Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe and 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick rounded out that top-five.

It marks only the second time Toyota has swept the top-five qualifying positions. The first time came at Indianapolis last season. It marks the JGR team’s first ever top-four sweep. It’s Hamlin’s 53rd career pole position and is his 19th top-10 start through the opening 30 races.

“It is important and the races we’ve really succeeded well here, we’ve started up front," the 45-year-old Virginian Hamlin said, conceding he was more nervous going into this session because of the extreme heat. After weeks of poor weather and cancelled qualifying sessions, Saturday’s edition took place under sunny Nevada skies and temperatures in the mid-90s.

“Today was executed by the team perfectly with how we approached the week and the adjustments we made to the car for temperatures seemed to be really good changes. I couldn’t have asked for today to go a whole lot better than it did."

Championship-eligible drivers filled the first 14 positions on the speed chart. Reigning series champion and current championship leader, Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson was sixth fastest in the No. 5 Chevrolet, with Team Penske Ford driver Austin Cindric, Hendrick’s William Byron, 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace and Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar rounding out the top-10 on the grid.

Team Penske teammates Ryan Blaney (20th) and Joey Logano (23rd) were the only outliers. They come into the race ranked fourth and fifth in championship, but will have to make their way forward. Logano’s four Las Vegas wins ties him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson for most all-time.

Hamlin is a three-time Las Vegas winner and has hoisted a trophy in Victory Lane the last two races at the track. A third straight win this weekend would match an all-time mark also held by Johnson. He’s won five times in 2023, but not since earning a three-race string of trophies at Nashville, Michigan and Pocono, Pa. from May 31-June 14.

Hamlin trails Larson by only 26 points after four races of the 10-race Chase schedule. Bell is third, 50 points back and Logano is fourth, 67 points off the pace.

“This sport is week by week, and we're all guilty of over-reacting on Mondays about what we just saw over the weekend," Hamlin said of predicting the race vibe on Sunday. “But, you know, the 5-car (Larson) could easily just drive right up through there and pass us and win the race again. You never know, or we could do the same thing he did last week [in a dominating win at Kansas Speedway].

“We just don't know," Hamlin said offering a slight smile at the Vegas venue. “If we all knew, then you guys should go place your bets and go make a lot of money.”

NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying - South Point 400

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Las Vegas, Nevada

Saturday, October 3, 2026

1. (11) Denny Hamlin (C) @, Toyota, 186.787 mph.

2. (54) Ty Gibbs (C) @, Toyota, 186.677 mph.

3. (20) Christopher Bell (C) @, Toyota, 186.220 mph.

4. (19) Chase Briscoe (C) @, Toyota, 186.136 mph.

5. (45) Tyler Reddick (C) @, Toyota, 186.111 mph.

6. (5) Kyle Larson (C) @, Chevrolet, 185.861 mph.

7. (2) Austin Cindric (C) @, Ford, 185.287 mph.

8. (24) William Byron (C) @, Chevrolet, 185.230 mph.

9. (23) Bubba Wallace (C) @, Toyota, 185.077 mph.

10. (77) Carson Hocevar (C) @, Chevrolet, 185.027 mph.

11. (7) Daniel Suarez (C) @, Chevrolet, 184.862 mph.

12. (60) Ryan Preece (C) @, Ford, 184.433 mph.

13. (9) Chase Elliott (C) @, Chevrolet, 184.426 mph.

14. (17) Chris Buescher (C) @, Ford, 184.049 mph.

15. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 183.924 mph.

16. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 183.755 mph.

17. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 183.755 mph.

18. (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 183.755 mph.

19. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 183.511 mph.

20. (12) Ryan Blaney (C) @, Ford, 183.480 mph.

21. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota, 183.187 mph.

22. (35) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 183.125 mph.

23. (22) Joey Logano (C) @, Ford, 183.113 mph.

24. (41) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 182.599 mph.

25. (97) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 182.519 mph.

26. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 181.971 mph.

27. (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 181.849 mph.

28. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 181.720 mph.

29. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 181.372 mph.

30. (38) Zane Smith, Ford, 181.281 mph.

31. (88) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 180.632 mph.

32. (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 180.349 mph.

33. (33) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 179.671 mph.

34. (51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 178.459 mph.

35. (21) Josh Berry, Ford, 0.000 mph.

36. (4) Noah Gragson, Ford, 0.000 mph.

--30--

Did Kyle Larson just blow up the Chase at Kansas?

September 28, 2026

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kyle Larson won’t say it. No athlete in his position would.

But with his never-say-quit victory in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet took a giant step toward a third NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Is the title now Larson’s to lose? The demurral came quickly.

“No, no,” Larson said during his post-race press conference, laughing off the suggestion. “There are still six races, and I only have a 26, I think, point lead on Denny (Hamlin). That could be swallowed up in a hurry. I scored 76 points today.

“So, Denny could go have a max points day next week, and I could blow an engine, like Noah (Gragson) did in the first stage, and I'm down 70-some points right there.

“No, I don't look at it like that. I'm just really trying to do the best job I can, again. And, yeah, just show up to the racetrack and kind of block out all that stuff.”

It’s only natural for Larson to downplay his prospects, but here’s the reality. In the first four races of the Chase presented by Mobil 1, the defending series champ has gained 84 points on Hamlin, who entered the postseason as the top seed.

Larson is the only Chase driver who has performed at an elite level in all four Chase races. He was fifth at Darlington Raceway, first at World Wide Technology Raceway, second at Bristol Motor Speedway and first again at Kansas.

Yes, he leads Hamlin by only 26 points, an advantage that could disappear in a single race. But Larson also leads third-place Christopher Bell by 50 points and fourth-place Joey Logano by 67—and both Bell and Logano also are Chase race winners.

The remaining 12 Chase drivers range from 91 points behind (Ryan Blaney in fifth) to 187 points out of the running (Daniel Suarez in 16th).

“Yeah, I think in that side of things, yeah, you start paying less attention maybe to the other guys that you feel like are probably close to out of contention,” Larson acknowledged. “But yeah, you're still trying to run the best laps that you can and execute great restarts, good pit stops, all the things.

“Then, yeah, wherever the points kind of shake out at the end of the day, they shake out.”

The surge to the top of the standings isn’t all about Larson. His No. 5 team has done everything necessary to make him a winner.

On Sunday, for example, crew chief Cliff Daniels made a last-second call to bring Larson to pit road after the team, monitoring Chase Briscoe’s radio, heard that Briscoe was pitting from second place behind Larson.

That move kept the No. 5 car in the lead after pit stops cycled out, where pitting a lap later probably would have cost Larson the top spot.

“In this case we knew all week that if we're the leader coming to the final green flag pit stop in Stage 3 that we were going to have to cover that, depending on what the gap out back was,” Daniels said. “Of course, the gap out back was super close.

“Credit to the guys in our war room and our engineer here. They do what we all do to play the game, and you scan the other guy. We heard them call it out over the radio late trying to probably keep us from hearing it and making it to pit road in time.

“I called it out to (spotter) Tyler (Monn). Of course, he called it out over the radio, and Kyle made it clean. That was important to try to defend the lead at that point.”

Larson’s pit crew was flawless as well. On every stop under caution, the No. 5 Chevrolet was first off pit road.

“Our pit crew was phenomenal all day,” Daniels said. “I believe their fastest stop may have been an 8.5 (seconds), and their slowest stop was an 8.7. Super tight in that window of consistency and speed.

“Those guys, even when we haven't been great performance-wise on track at times this year and during the summer, they've been really strong on pit road all year… For those guys to have a great day today, we would not have stayed in the race the way that we did without them.”

Bottom line? Larson’s team is beginning to look something like the juggernaut that carried former Hendrick driver Jimmie Johnson to five straight championships—and a record-tying seven overall.

Consider also that Larson has two wins and three second-place finishes in nine Gen 7 era starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which hosts the next race on the Chase calendar.

Still, Larson prefers to poor-mouth his success. After all, he started on the front row at Kansas according to metrics after qualifying was rained out.

“I'm not convinced that I was better than them (the Toyotas) because we didn't get to qualify, so I got to line up on the front row,” Larson said. “Logano was up there. His team has kind of struggled here over the NextGen era, I would say. He was kind of clogging the field up there that first run.

“So, yeah, I don't want to read into it… If a Toyota was out in the lead, they could have potentially looked better than us. It's just there was no qualifying. The weekend could have looked quite a bit different if, say, I qualify seventh. I don't know if it would have looked as good as it did today.”

There’s another unknown in the equation. It would be highly unusual for Larson not to face serious adversity at some point during a 10-race Chase. That’s the nature of the beast.

However, all indications from the first four postseason races suggest that Larson and his team will be able to handle any pitfalls that may come their way.

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Saturday Las Vegas Notebook

Notebook Items:

Christopher Bell aims to turn Las Vegas promise into a Chase payoff
Kyle Busch honored in his hometown of Las Vegas
Roush Fenway transition, Brad Keselowski exit
O'Reilly Series title contender Creed to new team in 2027

October 3, 2026

By Holly Cain

NASCAR Wire Service

Christopher Bell aims to turn Las Vegas promise into a Chase payoff

LAS VEGAS – Four races into the NASCAR Cup Series 10-race Chase to decide the 2026 championship, the gap between positions in points standings have spread out significantly heading into Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (5:30 p.m. ET on USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Reigning series champion, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson snapped a season-long winless drought with victories in two of the four Chase races – at Gateway, Ill. and last weekend at Kansas Speedway – and now holds a 26-point edge over Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin.

Both have three wins at Las Vegas, with Hamlin the two-time defending winner in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. The gap between Hamlin and third place in the title standings – his JGR teammate Christopher Bell is 50 points. Fourth place, Team Penske’s Joey Logano is 67 points back, his teammate Ryan Blaney, 91 points off the pace and JGR’s Ty Gibbs, 94 behind.

Bell is a two-time runner-up at Las Vegas and considers it one of his better tracks on the circuit and hopes he can make some gains with four drivers now separated by less than a single race.

“Winning just means a lot, winning is a good way to recover points, to separate yourself," Bell said. “I think depending on who you are, it’s important for me to close the gap on Kyle and for Kyle important to get away from the field.

“We’ve got to stop going negative here and get some positive points on the five-car," he added. “I’m really happy with where we’re at. We’re still in the hunt and not many of us can still say that. I’m happy with where we’re at, just need some positive traction on the vibe."

“It’s about it all coming together at the right time. Here at Vegas I’ve had a lot of different runs throughout the race where I’m able to lead the race and be in position to win, it just hasn’t together in stage 3, the closing run of the race. It’s one of my favorite tracks, and probably the place I’ve led the most laps but haven’t won. We’ve been close and in contention every time, hopefully this week’s the week."

Kyle Busch honored in his hometown of Las Vegas

The weekend’s NASCAR stop in Las Vegas in the first since two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and Las Vegas native Kyle Busch passed away in May at the age of 41 from severe pneumonia and sepsis.

A hugely popular and beloved racer – especially here in his hometown – there have been several notable honors from re-naming of a street outside Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s Bullring to “Rowdy Road” – a nod to Busch’s nickname. It intersects with “Busch Brothers Drive” a little farther away.

Just outside the Bullring grandstands, a tribute marker to Busch was unveiled this week as part of the Kyle Busch Classic. His older brother Kurt will drive the pace car Sunday.

Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – the same number Busch drove for the team from 2003 to 2007 - is carrying a tribute point scheme reminiscent of the Kellogg’s colors Busch once drove for the team.

Busch’s signature will be prominently displayed above the passenger-side window and “Tiny Kyle,” a playful nickname Busch gave Larson will be on the opposite side.

Busch was formally inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame this week at the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas. His wife, Samantha and son 11-year-old Brexton were there to accept the honor on his behalf. In an emotional speech Samantha reminded that Busch never allowed his immense talent “to be an excuse for not working hard."

“Because he wanted the next generation to go further. .. and there are so many drivers racing today because Kyle believed in them," she continued.

As she spoke about his great talent on the track, she smiled and recalled how people would think, “only Kyle Busch could do that," – to which Brexton leaned into the microphone and declared with a smile, “only Kyle Busch would do that” as the room erupted in laughter and applause.

“Kyle’s legacy is in the people he made better," Samantha added. “It’s in the drivers he mentored, the mark he left on the sport, the opportunities he created, the fans that still call themselves ‘Rowdy Nation.’ It’s in every young driver that says, ‘I want to be like Kyle Busch one day.’"

Looking into the audience Samantha reiterated how she wished Kyle could be the one there accepting this honor, but promised for their children Brexton and four-year-old Lennix, “I hope they will always know this, their dad did not just win races, he changed the sport."

Roush Fenway transition, Brad Keselowski exit

Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing and owner-driver Brad Keselowski announced this week that they would be parting ways at the end of the season. On Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway both entities spoke about the situation.

The 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski was guarded but optimistic and RFK President Chip Bowers said the team was equally optimistic about moving forward repeatedly reiterating the team has nothing but good will for Keselowski, even as the team pursues a third charter.

Keselowski, who owns, drives, and serves as competition director at RFK, formally addressed the media Saturday at Las Vegas after releasing a statement for social media earlier this week saying, in part, he wished the team well and was proud of the progress he shared in since buying into the company in 2021 and moving into those roles for the 2022 season.

“This is not acrimonious," RFK’s Bowers stressed of Keselowski’s situation. “If Brad would like to go race somewhere else, if Brad would like to be an owner somewhere else, or if Brad would like to lead competition somewhere else, he is more than happy to do so. There are some things we’ll need to work out privately in terms of his equity, but we’ll do that privately and it make take some time.

“Brad is an above-board pro, so we have no concerns he’s going to take information from us. We want Brad to be highly successful. So, whatever it is he wants to do, we want him to be able to pursue it. It’s just unfortunate we couldn’t figure out a way to make it work here. But it’s nobody’s fault. These things happen."

Shortly after qualifying his No. 6 RFK Racing Ford 16th on the grid for Sunday’s race, Keselowski spoke with the media for the first time since announcing the news. He reminded that he was finishing the fifth and final year of his contract with the team.

He said he was open to a lot of alternatives from competing fulltime in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series where a title would make him the first to win championships in all three NASCAR premier series. He also said he’s open to pursuing ownership with a different team. But he was definitely not ready to stop driving.

“You know, go through these kind of road bumps and it's part of the process, and I understand that," Keselowski said of the situation. “But you know, I've grown through this process. I'm super comfortable with my abilities to own and operate a team. Feel like I can do it at the highest levels. Bullish on the future to do it. So that wouldn't have been possible without this experience.”

He said he was hopeful that he would be in some race car come the 2027 season-opening Daytona International Speedway Speedweeks.

“When I’m in a vehicle in Daytona I’ll be confident of that, but right now I think there’s enough interest where I’m not sweating it," Keselowski said. "There are things to work through, but there’s enough interest to where I’m confident that I’ll be somewhere next year.”

What comes next remains very much unknown not only to Keselowski but also his RFK teammates, Chase-qualified drivers Ryan Preece and Chris Buescher. They both expressed support for Keselowski and desire for the team to move forward in a positive way. They credit much of RFK’s recent success to Keselowski’s presence there.

“I’m not a part of those conversations," Preece said of any awareness in Keselowski’s decision and the impending impact on the team’s ownership group, which also includes NASCAR Hall of Famer Jack Roush and the Fenway Sports Group.

“I think I was surprised for sure, but this is racing and this can happen," Preece said, adding. “Just because something changes doesn’t mean you can’t still try to win races and build a lot of fast cars."

Buescher also insisted any details of the situation weren’t his own to be addressed.

“I certainly have a great friendship with Brad as a team owner, a boss and a mentor, so a loss from my point, but I want the best for him going forward, whatever that looks like," Buescher said. “I feel confident RFK will keep after it and working to improve ourselves and be involved in more Chases and more race wins.

“Brad has brought so much into RFK and we owe a lot of the resurgence to him and his input and the things he’s been able to implement and push us towards. He’s helped lay a great foundation to keep moving that ball forward."

As an owner-driver himself, Denny Hamlin was asked Saturday about where he saw the Keselowski situation from a distance. Hamlin drives for Joe Gibbs Racing and is a co-owner in the 23XI Racing team.

"I just couldn't imagine taking on both [roles] and I've got a pretty high tolerance for workloads," Hamlin said of Keselowski serving as driver and competition director.

“So, it'll be something that certainly is going to be a pretty big change over there. Obviously, there was a jump in performance, when he went over there, and whether that be through – could that be manufacturer stuff? Could that be technical stuff? Very wide range of reasons why teams run better after certain times or not, but, you know, the proof will be in what happens years down the road, right? And so, it certainly is going to be a big reset for the whole Roush Fenway group.”

O'Reilly Series title contender Creed to new team in 2027

The current NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship leader, Californian Sheldon Creed, announced Saturday before the Focused Health 302 (7:30 p.m. ET on CW, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) race green flag, that he will be moving from his current Haas Factory Team ride to Sam Hunt Racing in 2027 in a multi-year deal.

Creed goes into the weekend with three wins on the season, including two in the three Chase races to date – giving him an 11-point advantage on JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier atop the championship standings.

The move – with six races still remaining on the schedule – is especially notable, considering his position in the title run.

“Obviously announcing this this morning, and then we're right back to work, and just trying to run as good as we can every week," said the former NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion Creed. “And I think Sam's (Hunt, owner, Sam Hunt Racing) a big supporter of our 00 [Haas] team, and trying to finish strong.”

“I've had the privilege to race, obviously, for RCR (Richard Childress Racing), JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing), now Haas, run good with all of them, but finally found Victory Lane this year, and numerous times now, being the points leader, is massive for us," Creed continued.

“I think, for the 00 group, for my team, but yeah, looking down the road, obviously, haven't gotten a Cup opportunity, and obviously, that's still my end goal. But if I don't ever get that call, I felt like Sam's (Hunt Racing) is somewhere I can race for the next 15 years and make a good living and be able to raise my family and just try to build a good life.”

--30--

NASCAR Weekend Preview: Las Vegas Motor Speedway

High Stakes, Familiar Favorites as Cup Series Chase Hits Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS - Coming into the halfway point of the 10-race Chase to crown the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series champion, historically speaking, the storylines for Sunday’s South Point 400 (5:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway look very familiar to the course this Chase has already established.

The No. 1 seed entering the Chase, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin is the defending race winner and has actually won the last two Las Vegas races - including from pole position last October. A win Sunday would mean Hamlin joins seven-time series champ Jimmie Johnson as the only driver to win three consecutively at the track.

That last Chase race at the Vegas 1.5-miler looks a lot like the current championship battle with Hamlin besting the day’s most dominant driver, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson to the checkered flag and Hamlin’s JGR teammate Christopher Bell finishing third. The trio are currently ranked atop the 2026 championship standings.

Larson, a three-time Vegas winner, takes a 26-point lead over fellow three-time Las Vegas winner Hamlin into Sunday’s green flag – the largest lead atop the standings so far in the Chase. Bell is 50 points back. Team Penske teammates Joey Logano – a four-time Vegas winner – and Ryan Blaney are 67 and 91 points, respectively, behind Larson. Among the championship top-five, Bell and Blaney have never hoisted a trophy at Las Vegas.

Although the top end of the standings was relatively tight following the opening three Chase races, Larson’s two wins now in four Chase races has separated the contenders considerably. Nine positions among the 16 Chase drivers changed following Larson’s dominant win last week at Kansas Speedway.

The driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was in the midst of a season-long winless streak before claiming wins at two of the four Chase tracks (St. Louis and Kansas) and Larson is now averaging an incredible 2.25 finish to open the Chase.

The worst finish for the two-time and reigning series champion in the last seven Las Vegas races is 11th and his 881 laps led are most in the series. Larson has six top-two finishes in 11 races driving the No. 5 Chevrolet. And it’s not just Vegas where he has been successful. His 20 stage wins in the Next Gen car at 1.5-mile tracks are almost double that of any other driver (12) and his 2,192 laps led ARE double that of any competitor. Hamlin is second with 1,020 laps led on 1.5-milers.

This weekend, Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet will carry a paint scheme honoring the late, two-time series champion and Las Vegas native Kyle Busch, who also drove that car number for Hendrick early in his career.

“Vegas has been a good track for us in the past, and after the run we had at Kansas [Speedway], we’ve been building our intermediate program to be better and better," Larson said. “Hopefully, we can go there, execute another good weekend, qualify well and score a lot of points.”

Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, is enjoying similar success on this brand of track and certainly keeping the competition honest. He’s finished among the top-five in the last eight races on 1.5-mile tracks with an average finish during that run, a series-best 2.4.

Bell, driver of the No. 20 JGR Toyota and winner of the Chase-opener at Darlington, S.C. is a two-time runner-up at Las Vegas. He’s finished top-five in nine of the last 11 races at 1.5-mile tracks and has been top-five in the last five Las Vegas races.

Interestingly, Logano and Blaney have struggled a bit in the desert of late. Although Logano leads the series in wins at Vegas, the three-time series champ has had only a single top-10 showing with an average finish of 20.3 in the last six races at 1.5-milers. His Team Penske Ford teammate Blaney has an average finish of 30th in the last four Las Vegas races. He has only four top-10 finishes in the last nine 1.5-mile races, however, those four top-10s have come in the last four races.

There are plenty of other former Las Vegas winners with varying motivations this week, including Chase driver, Hendrick’s William Byron (2023), who has earned top-10 finishes at all six 1.5-mile tracks this season.

Wood Brothers Racing driver Josh Berry claimed his first career NASCAR Cup Series win here in 2025 and would love another in his final year with the legendary team before moving to Legacy Motor Club. Hendrick’s Alex Bowman is a former winner (2022) and would love to score another trophy after announcing next year he is stepping away from fulltime competition.

Former series champion Brad Keselowski - a three-time Las Vegas winner and owner-driver of the No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Ford, announced this week stunning news that he will not be back at RFK next season. A press conference with the team is scheduled for Saturday.

Six different drivers have hoisted the trophy in the six races at 1.5-mile tracks this year. Byron’s average finish of 6.3 in that span is second to Hamlin with 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace (10.0), Hendrick’s Chase Elliott (11.2), 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Blaney next best (11.5).

Good news for the weekend, the weather looks to be as promising as the sport has experienced in the last few weeks, with forecasts calling for low 90-degree marks and plenty of sun.

Qualifying has traditionally been a strong sign of performance at Las Vegas with five of the last seven races won from a front row starting position. And interestingly, the race winner has swept both Stage 1 and Stage 2 five times – most of any track.

Practice is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday followed by Busch Light Pole Qualifying at 5:35 p.m. ET – both sessions broadcast on TruTV, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Creed Looks to Stay Hot as Allgaier Targets Las Vegas Comeback

After the last off-weekend of the season, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series returns to championship competition this week at Las Vegas with Saturday’s Focused Health 302 (7:30 p.m. ET on CW, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Haas Factory Team driver Sheldon Creed, who has two wins in three Chase races to date, is turning in a career year, hoisting his first ever series trophy at Atlanta then answering with clutch back-to-back wins at St. Louis and Bristol last month. He now holds the championship lead by 11 points over six-race winner JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier.

JR Motorsports’ Carson Kvapil is 37 points off Creed’s pace and reigning series champion, Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love is 41 points back.

Interestingly, none of the 2026 No. 1 seeds entering the Chase – Hamlin in NASCAR Cup Series, Allgaier in the ORAP Series nor Layne Riggs in the Craftsman Truck Series – are leading the championship standings now.

Creed’s third-place finish there in March was best among the 12 Chase drivers.

Nine different drivers have won the last nine Vegas races. Aric Almirola, who does not compete fulltime, is the defending race winner and current NASCAR Cup Series championship leader Larson won this Spring. Three of the last six Las Vegas races have been won by a non-championship contenders. And no driver has ever won the Las Vegas Chase race and gone on to win the title that same year.

Allgaier (Spring, 2025) and RCR’s Austin Hill (Spring, 2023) are the only fulltime drivers with a Las Vegas trophy. Allgaier started from pole position in this race last year and finished third. He is 116 laps away from surpassing Kyle Busch’s series’ high mark for most laps led at Las Vegas.

“Las Vegas has been a really strong track for us in the past," said Allgaier, who is riding a record 10 consecutive top-10 finishes at the track and has a series best 21 top-10s all-time there.

“Something about this place has always suited my driving style and I can’t think of a better place to go to then here to try to reclaim that point lead. We were solid here in the spring and I know that [crew chief] Andrew [Overstreet] and everyone on this team have worked tirelessly through the off weekend to ensure we are going to be even stronger when we hit the track on Saturday.

“If we can just go out and execute like we know we can, I feel like we will have a great chance to have a great night on Saturday.”

Of note: The last four Las Vegas races have been won by drivers aged 30 or over. … Only four of 38 races have gone into overtime and none since 2019. …The driver who leads the most laps has won 63 percent of the races. … Only twice has there been a last lap pass for the win – the last coming by NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, who got around Keselowski for the 2011 victory.

Practice gets underway at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday followed by Kennametal Pole Qualifying at 3:05 p.m. ET.

--30--

nascar cup series

NASCAR Cup Series schedule 2026

(All times Eastern)

Date	Race	Track	Time
Feb. 1	Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray	Bowman Gray Stadium	8 p.m.
Feb. 12	Duel 1 at Daytona	Daytona International Speedway	7 p.m.
Feb. 12	Duel 2 at Daytona	Daytona International Speedway	8:45 p.m.
Feb. 15	Daytona 500	Daytona International Speedway	2:30 p.m.
Feb. 22	Autotrader 400	EchoPark Speedway	3 p.m.
March 1	DuraMax Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas	3:30 p.m.
March 8	Straight Talk Wireless 500	Phoenix Raceway	3:30 p.m.
March 15	Pennzoil 400	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	4 p.m.
March 22	Goodyear 400	Darlington Raceway	3 p.m.
March 29	Cook Out 400	Martinsville Speedway	3:30 p.m.
April 12	Food City 500	Bristol Motor Speedway	3 p.m.
April 19	AdventHealth 400	Kansas Speedway	2 p.m.
April 26	Jack Link's 500	Talladega Superspeedway	3 p.m.
May 3	Wurth 400	Texas Motor Speedway	3:30 p.m.
May 10	Go Bowling at the Glen	Watkins Glen International	3 p.m.
May 17	All-Star Race	Dover Motor Speedway	3 p.m.
May 24	Coca-Cola 600	Charlotte Motor Speedway	6 p.m.
May 31	Cracker Barrel 400	Nashville Superspeedway	7 p.m.
June 7	FireKeepers Casino 400	Michigan International Speedway	3 p.m.
June 14	Cup Series race at Pocono	Pocono Raceway	3 p.m.
June 21	Anduril 250	Naval Base Coronado	4 p.m.
June 28	Toyota/Save Mart 350	Sonoma Raceway	3:30 p.m.
July 5	Cup Series race at Chicagoland	Chicagoland Speedway	6 p.m.
July 12	Quaker State 400	EchoPark Speedway	7 p.m.
July 19	Window World 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway	7 p.m.
July 26	Brickyard 400	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	2 p.m.
Aug. 9	Iowa Corn 350	Iowa Speedway	3:30 p.m.
Aug. 15	Cook Out 400	Richmond Raceway	7 p.m.
Aug. 23	Cup Series race at New Hampshire	New Hampshire Motor Speedway	3 p.m.
Aug. 29	Coke Zero Sugar 400	Daytona International Speedway	7:30 p.m.

NASCAR Cup Series playoff race schedule 2026

(All times Eastern)

Date	Race	Track	Time
Sept. 6	Southern 500	Darlington Raceway	5 p.m.
Sept. 13	Enjoy Illinois 300	World Wide Technology Raceway	3 p.m.
Sept. 19	Bass Pro Shops Night Race	Bristol Motor Speedway	7:30 p.m.
Sept. 27	Hollywood Casino 400	Kansas Speedway	3 p.m.
Oct. 4	South Point 400	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	5:30 p.m.
Oct. 11	Bank of America ROVAL 400	Charlotte Road Course	3 p.m.
Oct. 18	Freeway Insurance 500	Phoenix Raceway	3 p.m.
Oct. 25	Yellawood 500	Talladega Superspeedway	2 p.m.
Nov. 1	Xfinity 500	Martinsville Speedway	2 p.m.
Nov. 8	Cup Series Championship Race	Homestead-Miami Speedway	3 p.m.

2027 NASCAR CUP SERIES SCHEDULE

Date	Event / Racetrack
Saturday, February 13	Wheatley Vodka Clash (Daytona International Speedway)
Sunday, February 21	DAYTONA 500
Sunday, February 28	EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)
Sunday, March 7	Circuit of the Americas (Austin)
Sunday, March 14	Phoenix Raceway
Sunday, March 21	Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Sunday, March 28	OFF WEEK
Sunday, April 4	Darlington Raceway
Sunday, April 11	Bristol Motor Speedway
Sunday, April 18	Martinsville Speedway
Sunday, April 25	Talladega Superspeedway
Sunday, May 2	Texas Motor Speedway
Sunday, May 9	Kansas Speedway
Sunday, May 16	Dover Motor Speedway
Sunday, May 23	NASCAR All-Star Race (North Wilkesboro Speedway)
Sunday, May 30	Charlotte Motor Speedway
Sunday, June 6	Nashville Superspeedway
Sunday, June 13	Pocono Raceway
Sunday, June 20	Michigan International Speedway
Sunday, June 27	Chicagoland Speedway
Sunday, July 4	Iowa Speedway
Sunday, July 11	Sonoma Raceway
Sunday, July 18	EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)
Sunday, July 25	Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Sunday, August 1	San Diego (Naval Base Coronado)
Sunday, August 8	OFF WEEK
Saturday, August 14	Bristol Motor Speedway
Sunday, August 22	World Wide Technology Raceway (St. Louis)
Saturday, August 28	Daytona International Speedway
Sunday, September 5	Darlington Raceway
Saturday, September 11	Richmond Raceway
Sunday, September 19	Watkins Glen International
Sunday, September 26	New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Sunday, October 3	Kansas Speedway
Sunday, October 10	Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Sunday, October 17	Charlotte Motor Speedway
Sunday, October 24	Phoenix Raceway
Sunday, October 31	Talladega Superspeedway
Sunday, November 7	Martinsville Speedway
Sunday, November 14	NASCAR Championship (Homestead-Miami Speedway)

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