What to Watch: Revamped Chevrolets face biggest test yet as Las Vegas looms

Track: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Track length: 1.5 miles
When: 4 p.m. ET
Where to tune in: FS1, HBO Max, FOX One, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Race purse: $11,233,037
Race distance: 267 laps | 400.5 miles
Stages: 80 | 165 | 267
Sunday’s starting lineup | Cup Series pit-stall assignments

Las Vegas sets tone for intermediates to come in 2026

LAS VEGAS — Chevrolet took a calculated gamble when it updated its body panels for this year. It’s only fitting that its first opportunity to hit the jackpot in 2026 comes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Vegas marks the first traditional 1.5-mile oval of the season, offering Ford and Toyota a relatively standard, rinse-and-repeat weekend, as little has changed on their cars at this style of track from 2025. But Chevrolet doesn’t have that same luxury — and its competition recognizes that.

“We haven’t been to a true high-speed, downforce-style track yet,” Toyota’s Christopher Bell said Saturday morning. “So I would think that the Chevrolets, this will be a really good test for them to see where they stack up with their new car. But aside from the rest of us, it’s going to be more of the same.”

Perhaps as expected, Saturday’s sessions produced a mixed bag of results for those sporting the bowtie. In single-lap speed, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was the fastest Chevrolet — third-quickest in practice behind eventual front-row qualifiers Bell and Denny Hamlin — with William Byron (seventh), Kyle Larson (eighth) and Carson Hocevar (ninth) all sporting top-10 laps.

MORE: Schedule, TV info: Las Vegas

Of the 18 total drivers who posted runs of at least 20 consecutive laps, Byron was second-fastest in 20-lap averages only behind Toyota’s Ty Gibbs. But the notebook remains too thin for anyone to make any substantial conclusions.

After the season started with two drafting-style tracks, one road course and a flat 1-mile oval, Kyle Busch said this weekend provides a basis “of where you stack up against the field.”

“Your setup here at Vegas is not the same as Kansas or Texas or Charlotte or any of those (other intermediates),” said Busch, a Las Vegas native and two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion. “You’re pretty different at each one of these race tracks that you go to. So (we’re) trying to pinpoint what allows us to be quicker and what allows us to be further up the pylon to compete. That’s what we’ve got to work on here this weekend to get ourselves in tune with the rest of the year.”

Despite a fast lap in practice, Hocevar was dismayed by his car’s performance, posting just 16 laps in practice Saturday before a 19th-place qualifying effort.

“Car’s terrible,” Hocevar said after qualifying. “Just no grip. I’m sure we’ll fix it, but it wasn’t good.”

He believes a lack of notes contributed to his displeasure, but he said the simulator didn’t go much better in preparation for this weekend’s event. Still, he carries a tinge of optimism into Sunday’s race, knowing the team can make minor adjustments before the green flag.

“Mile-and-a-half (tracks) have been where we’ve been the best, and we’ve been really good here,” Hocevar said. “Felt like we (had) winning speed in the spring, not so much in the fall. There’s a lot of times I show up here, and I think we’re really good on Saturday and we’re not good on Sunday. So hopefully it’s reverse.”

In the details …

Speed reads

Race-day essentials:

– Las Vegas hub: Key information, links, results | Read more
– Paint Scheme Preview: Spotter’s guide to Vegas | View gallery
– Hauler Talk: Horsepower boost, tires a solid Phoenix combo | Listen now
– Tire topics: Familiar Goodyear setup returns at Vegas | Read more
– ‘Full Speed’ on Prime: Relive the Daytona 500 with in-depth access | How to watch
– Power Rankings: Cup Series’ top 20 drivers after Phoenix | This week’s ranks
– NASCAR Classics: Inside the video vault from Las Vegas | Watch now

Contributing: Zack Albert | NASCAR.com