Posted on by RJ Kraft

Clint Bowyer is on the pole for Sunday’s South Point 400 (7 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and will lead a four-car brigade for Stewart-Haas Racing in the front two rows. Does the SHR driver merit a spot in your Fantasy Live lineup? And how should you navigate the playoff game format? We’ve dissected the numbers to offer a suggested lineup worthy of your Fantasy Live consideration.

PLAY NOW: Set your lineup | How the game works | Tips to set your lineup

RJ Kraft’s Fantasy Live lineup for race day at Las Vegas:
Playoff driver 1: Kevin Harvick
Playoff driver 2: Chase Elliott
Non-playoff driver 1: Jimmie Johnson
Non-playoff driver 2: Daniel Suarez
Garage: Kyle Busch

RELATED: Odds for Las Vegas | Lap averages | Weekend preview

Analysis: For the playoff game, I’m going to ride the hot hand of Harvick. He’s been too strong of late to avoid. For my second active play, I’m going to try something and go with Elliott. He had strong averages in final practice and I like that he’ll have better track position than most playoff drivers in the field. The body of work at 1.5-mile tracks this year hasn’t been impressive for him, but it wasn’t in 2016 when he ran well at Chicago to open that postseason.

As for the garage: The 18 camp has been off in qualifying in recent weeks but still scores strong finishes. It was really a choice between Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and the hometown driver Busch. I am reluctant to bet against Busch with no use limits in this format as good as the Penske duo has been at Las Vegas and the long run speed they’ve shown.

On the non-playoff side, I am rolling with Johnson. He had the best 10-lap average among the non-playoff drivers and the speed has been there in recent weeks. Plus, I think the sting of missing the playoffs for the first time is a big motivator for “Seven-Time.” The other non-playoff spot was a choice between Daniel Suarez and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Suarez has put together four straight top-11 finishes while Stenhouse finished in the top 10 here in March and was the best non-playoff car on the 15-lap board. I’m going with the recent record and taking Suarez.

For the bonus picks, I will take Harvick to win Stage 1 with Elliott in Stage 2 and Keselowski for the win. The Keselowski pick is a hedge to have him somewhere in my roster/picks for this race.

Each week in this space, we’ll also highlight two Props Challenge items for players.

MORE: Need Props help? The Action Network has you covered | Play the Props Challenge today

1. O/U 1.5 non-playoff drivers finish in the top 10. I am taking the OVER here as we just need two to do it. My early bets would be Johnson and Suarez, but Stenhouse finished in the top 10 in the spring and Menard has a solid history here as well. Last year, three non-playoff drivers finished in the top 10 so it is certainly doable.

2. Which Joe Gibbs Racing driver will finish higher: Denny Hamlin or Martin Truex Jr.? I am taking Truex here in a little bit of a contrarian move. I know Hamlin has the better starting spot and has been the hotter driver of late, but Truex has been the better driver at Las Vegas overall in recent runs. The 2017 champ had better averages in the practice sessions and let’s not forget, day-to-night races are a Truex-Cole Pearn specialty, so I like him to outrun Hamlin here.

Posted on by Holly Cain

LAS VEGAS — Clint Bowyer won the pole position for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, turning a fast lap of 178.926 mph in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.

It is only the third pole position he has earned in 14 years of full-time Cup Series competition and the first, coincidentally, since this same date – Sept. 14– at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2007, a race he won. There have been 431 races since his last pole.

It’s exactly the kind of start to his playoffs Bowyer needed. But not one he necessarily expected.

LAS VEGAS: See every car in the field | Official race lineup

“I’m as shocked as you are,’’ Bowyer said, laughing as he sat down to address reporters after the qualifying session. “I’m extremely proud of the effort. We’re on the pole, but 1-2-3-4 for Stewart-Haas Racing that says a lot about our focus.’’

Bowyer will start alongside SHR teammate Daniel Suarez, who was less than a tenth-of-a-second off Bowyer’s pace in the No. 41 SHR Ford. Their teammates, playoff-eligible drivers Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola, were third and fourth fastest, giving the team a sweep in qualifying.

“You have to qualify well because it puts you in position to start the race on a good note and stay up front and keep some track position, and it really sets you up to score points in Stage 1,’’ said Almirola, driver of the No. 10 SHR Ford. “That is really what qualifying well does for you. I think that is the biggest thing.”

Las Vegas native Kurt Busch was fifth fastest in the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet – best of the non-SHR competitors. His brother and 2019 regular-season champion, Kyle, will start 20th – second best among the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team. Kyle’s teammate, Denny Hamlin, will start 13th.

LAS VEGAS: Full schedule | What to know | Fantasy picks

Interestingly, five of the top 10 drivers on Sunday’s grid are not playoff competitors – including Suarez, Richard Childress Racing teammates Daniel Hemric (sixth) and Austin Dillon (seventh), Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson (eighth) and Front Row Motorsports driver Michael McDowell, who will start 10th – his best position on the grid this season except for a seventh-place start at Chicagoland Speedway in June.

Defending race winner Brad Keselowski qualified 18th, and Team Penske teammate Joey Logano, who won here in March, qualified 22nd.

Bowyer certainly is hopeful this improved Vegas starting position will also translate into an improved Vegas finish for him. He has only a single top-five showing and four top 10s in 15 starts at the track. His best result is runner-up in 2009.

He arrives in Las Vegas, however, riding a solid streak of success. He has accomplished three top 10s in the previous three races leading into this playoff opener. And he has six top-five and 12 top-10 finishes this season.

“It’s playoff time, and it’s going to get intense right off the bat,’’ Bowyer said. “I say it every year, you can’t win the championship in Las Vegas but you can lose it here.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

LAS VEGAS — William Byron isn’t that far removed from being a rookie. The yellow stripes came off the rear bumper of the No. 24 Chevrolet after last season, but he’s back to being a bit of a newbie in his sophomore year.

Of the 16 drivers in the Monster Energy Series Playoffs field, just one is making his first postseason appearance. That’s Byron, the second-year prodigy who enters Sunday’s playoff opener (7 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM) with speed and a seasoned crew chief in hopes of making waves over the final 10 events.

“The second year is great,” Byron said. “I wish I could have had the first year back, I guess, and been in the playoffs last year, but I definitely appreciate it now, and being able to be a part of it.”

RELATED: Byron on how relationship with Knaus has grown

After a sluggish start to Year 2, Byron rallied his way into the playoff picture with a blend of solid finishes — both on the overall results and in stages, where the No. 24 team converted for lucrative point bonuses. The 21-year-old driver ranked 19th in the series standings at the All-Star break, but surged into the playoff mix by earning more than 30 points in nine of the final 14 races to close out the regular season.

Credit the composure of Byron, but also the guidance of veteran crew chief Chad Knaus, a seven-time champion in his long tenure with Jimmie Johnson, but in his first year with Hendrick’s youngest driver. Byron may not be battle-tested with playoff experience, but in Knaus, he has a future Hall of Famer steering the ship.

“Yeah, we’ve talked quite a bit the last couple of weeks about how we approach it,” Byron says. “He’s done some cool things (like) bringing the whole team in and doing a couple of team-building events and things like that. I haven’t really noticed a lot of difference in how he approaches it. Maybe there will be once we get to the race track, but I feel like we’re just going to go about doing our normal. He always has something in his bag of tricks, I guess, to apply, whether that’s the car or just the way we execute the weekend. So, he’s got a good way of using his expertise to kind of make that next step.”

Byron qualified for the 10-race stretch on the basis of points, but his primary displays of speed have come in qualifying. Byron has placed the No. 24 on the front row nine times this season, and his average start is roughly two positions ahead of his average finish.

Byron and Co. might be considered a smaller blip on the radar as a plucky No. 13 seed, but a first go-round in the playoffs also represents a building block in the next stage of his career.

“We don’t feel like we’re just sneaking into the playoffs or anything,” Byron said. “We locked it in a couple of races ago. So, I feel good about that. I think the next step is just how do we perform in the playoffs and how do we get to the next level of our progression as a program.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

LAS VEGAS — Friday the 13th. That old saw? Trot out the full-moon omens, too.

The unkind cut in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Playoffs hit the star-crossed ThorSport Racing organization the hardest Friday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Three of its teams suffered terminal engine issues before the halfway point of the World of Westgate 200 as the postseason field shrank from eight drivers to six.

Left on the sidelines were regular-season champion Grant Enfinger, who completed just six laps before his No. 98 Ford came to quiet rest in the 1.5-mile track’s garage, and former series champ Johnny Sauter, whose No. 13 entry went up in smoke on the same lap as teammate Matt Crafton, who survived the elimination only thanks to his slight points cushion entering the 201-mile race.

Crafton joined race winner Austin Hill, runner-up Ross Chastain, Stewart Friesen and Tyler Ankrum among those clinching berths in the Round of 6. Brett Moffitt had already clinched his spot in the season’s next phase with wins in the first two playoff events.

“It’s just tough,” said Enfinger, who placed 31st in the 32-truck field. “Really hate it for the guys behind me that have worked their tail off all year. We haven’t had the best month and a half, or last two months really, but we’ve had a heck of a season. We had a heck of a ThorSport Racing F-150 tonight. It’s a shame our dreams come down to a part failure.”

RELATED: Race results | Hill wins at Las Vegas

Crafton and Sauter experienced their issues nearly simultaneously on Lap 40. Crafton’s No. 88 Ford stopped in a shroud of smoke, and Sauter coasted back to pit road in a similar haze. Stopgap repairs allowed Sauter to complete six more laps, but he was unable to make up any ground on the leaderboard before his truck expired. Sauter placed 29th; Crafton 30th.

“What’re you going to do. I mean, that’s the way it goes,” said Sauter, who claimed the series title in 2016. “We had a rocket tonight. I promise you we were doing what we needed to do and it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Crafton entered the race with just a three-point gap above the cutline. The misfortune from his teammates kept him afloat.

“What are the odds that two trucks blowing up at the exact same time, but it wouldn’t surprise me,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of issues under the hood this year.”

The unsavory result for ThorSport allowed Friesen to keep his playoff hopes intact despite a sour-running No. 52 Chevrolet, which dropped a cylinder in the early going. He finished 19th. It also provided a playoff reprieve to rookie Ankrum, who overcame a 14-point deficit to advance by just two points.

Ankrum had his own reason for apprehension, an intermittent engine hiccup that developed as the final green-flag run began.

“Oh, it’s awesome,” Ankrum said. “We knew that we didn’t have to win coming in. We just needed help. I felt really, really happy after those ThorSport trucks blew up, and we knew we were going to be all right from there. We just had to finish.”

 

Posted on by Holly Cain

LAS VEGAS – Austin Hill earned his third NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series win of the 2019 season Friday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – perhaps his most important victory as it advances him to the second round of the playoffs with big momentum and raised expectations.

Hill’s No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota finished an impressive 2.116 seconds ahead of fellow Playoff competitor Ross Chastain, whose No. 45 Chevrolet led a race-best 88-of-134 laps. Polesitter Christian Eckes finished third in the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota.

“This means the world to me,’’ said Hill, 25, who passed Chastain for the lead with 12 laps remaining and pulled away to the substantial victory margin.

“When I saw the 45 (Chastain) in my sights, we were running close lap times. I changed my line a little bit. And that was a big statement win.’’

RELATED: Las Vegas race results | Series standings  

Much of the drama and heartbreak in the race happened to the drivers vying for the six positions that advanced to the next round of the Playoffs. Joining Hill in the Round of 6 are Chastain, defending series champion Brett Moffitt, Stewart Friesen, Tyler Ankrum and Matt Crafton.

Moffitt faced the least pressure all day because he already transferred to the Round of 6 by winning the playoff opener at Bristol. Chastain wrapped up his transfer spot via points after winning Stage 2.

Friesen carefully nursed his No. 52 Chevrolet to the race finish, posting a 19th-place showing after driving a truck that was down a cylinder and spending substantial stretches of the race on pit road.

Ankrum, an 18-year-old who wasn’t old enough by NASCAR rules to compete in the March Las Vegas race, held on to finish 11th and earn the final playoff position – by a mere two-point margin over 2016 series champion Johnny Sauter.

Sauter’s teammate Matt Crafton suffered a 30th-place finish, but he had enough of a points cushion coming to Las Vegas that he will advance in the playoffs as well.

Heading into the Round of 8 finale, Sauter, Crafton and their ThorSport Racing teammate Grant Enfinger were seemingly  “sure-bets” to advance in the playoffs. But before the halfway point of the race, they had their fates decided in unfortunate and unpredictable manners.

RELATED: Misfortune for ThorSport proves to be good fortune for Ankrum

It was an especially gut-wrenching early end to Enfinger’s championship hopes. Crowned the series’ regular season champion three races ago, the past Las Vegas winner retired after only seven laps when his No. 98 Ford suffered an engine failure. He took the green flag with two points to the good on making the Round of 6 and only minutes later had his championship hopes deflated with the turn of events.

“It’s just frustrating,’’ Enfinger said. “These guys work their tails off all year. We had a good truck, just wasn’t meant to be.”

Only 33 laps later, Sauter and Crafton suffered their simultaneous race-ending problems. Crafton’s No. 88 Ford had to pull off track and he climbed out as the safety crew arrived.

Sauter was able to drive his truck back to pit road where crew members had to extinguish flames under the hood. The team took it to the garage and although he tried to return to the race for the final stage, his truck’s engine gave out on the first lap of the restart. 

Crafton, meanwhile, had to pull his No. 88 ThorSport truck off the track immediately for the safety crew to work on.

“The 13 (Sauter), I saw him hit something and whatever it was it hit our truck too,’’ Crafton said. “I said the 13’s on fire and they told me I was on fire.’’

“I really thought we had something tonight, but we’ll rebound.’’

The next race is set for Oct. 12 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

LAS VEGAS – Not only is Noah Gragson improving on the race track, but the 21-year-old NASCAR Xfinity Series driver is dedicating time to improve personally, as well.

Gragson has been working with a personal trainer and former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Josh Wise to ensure he’s healthy physically while exercising his mind, as well. During the Indianapolis race weekend, Gragson picked up a book entitled “25 Ways To Win With People” in search of enhancing his overall attitude.

It’s a monster task that takes hard work, but Gragson is ready to fight for it since a motivational attitude doesn’t come naturally.

RELATED: Las Vegas schedule | Xfinity Series clinching scenarios

“I have to make an effort,” Gragson said. “Ultimately, just be a better leader and that’s what I need to be for this race team. It’s really easy to be happy and smile when things are going good, but I feel like your true character comes out when maybe things aren’t going as well as you’d want.

“So, trying to lean on people who I call my mentors,” he added. “I’ve been doing a lot of that, reading that book and trying to be better and more positive. I feel like you can never be too positive and that’s what I’m focusing on right now.”

One of those mentors happens to be JR Motorsports owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., as the two have developed more than just a driver-owner relationship during Gragson’s first full-time Xfinity Series tour.

According to Gragson, Earnhardt isn’t one to micromanage his employees, instead taking a step back and allowing those he hired to thrive in a championship-capable environment. But Earnhardt is always there for Gragson when he needs a broader perspective while making an effort to boost his maturation process.

“He (Earnhardt) helps me see the overall picture of everything,” Gragson said. “I might get caught up in the moment and wondering why this is happening or why is that happening. I’ve been able to grow a friendship with him that’s been very valuable. We’ve become good friends throughout this year. I’m really lucky to be able to lean on him.”

And what if he told you he and Earnhardt even have something in common?

“Being able to lean on him has been really key for myself,” Gragson said. “I think we’re really similar. I know it might not look like that, but our personalities are maybe not to the outside world similar, but we communicate very similarly.”

Gragson already is locked into the Xfinity Series Playoffs heading into the regular-season finale in Saturday’s Rhino Pro Truck Outfitters 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), and he has finished 10th or better in eight of the last nine races.

That’s motivational and something to smile about for Gragson heading into his first Xfinity postseason.

Posted on by Holly Cain

LAS VEGAS – The smile hasn’t faded from Matt DiBenedetto’s face, and there is an unmistakable extra zip in his step. The 28-year-old has hardly been able to walk more than 2 feet at a time in his Las Vegas hotel lobby this week without a fan stopping him to ask for an autograph or pose for a photograph.

The warm reception is fresh off some career-changing news. On Tuesday, Wood Brothers Racing announced the popular Californian will drive the team’s famous No. 21 Ford in 2020. DiBenedetto will replace veteran Paul Menard, who is retiring from full-time competition at the end of this season.

RELATED: Menard retiring | DiBenedetto moving

The reaction from both fans and his competitive peers has been equally effusive – both for DiBenedetto’s recent work driving the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota and for the big news about his future.

“The support has been crazy,’’ DiBenedetto said. “I can’t believe how much my phone and social media has blown up just after (a runner-up finish at) Bristol (Motor Speedway) and then with this announcement this week and the success our team has had. We’ve been running well. All these things compounded and it’s been interesting walking around the track or at South Point (Casino) getting stopped, to an extreme I’m not accustomed to that at all – even walking through the garage.

“It’s definitely been interesting and crazy how in a couple weeks how much support you can gain, and it’s amazing how much people have gravitated to the this story and how much positive feedback there is in such a world where it can easily be negative. It’s amazing and heartwarming to see on how social media of all places, be super positive.”

RELATED: Las Vegas schedule | Las Vegas practices

Certainly DiBenedetto is in the midst of a career year performance-wise. He has accomplished four top-10 finishes in just the last seven weeks, highlighted by that career-best runner-up finish to Denny Hamlin at Bristol three weeks ago. He also led a race-high 49 laps in the season-opening Daytona 500 only to be collected in a late-race accident.

The three top fives – fourth place at Sonoma Raceway, fifth at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway and second at Bristol – are the first top-five finishes in his five-year career. His six top 10s – with 10 races remaining – are triple his previous best single season effort (two).

Posted on by Holly Cain

LAS VEGAS— Longtime fan favorite Elliott Sadler, 44, will be making his final NASCAR national series start in Saturday’s Rhino Pro Truck Outfitters 300 Xfinity Series race.

Even following the 2018 season finale, where Sadler contended for the series title, the Virginian said Friday he “kinda knew” that he had the possibility of running a couple races this season. But this weekend, for sure, he maintains, will be his last NASCAR green flag.

JAYSKI: Special paint scheme for Sadler’s last start

“This one definitely has a different feel to it,’’ Sadler said Friday. “This one, 100 percent, unless you’re visiting [his hometown] Emporia, Virginia, you won’t see me around anymore. So it has a different feel about it.

“I have different emotions just maybe the competitive side when I take the helmet off for the last time. I definitely feel it’s the right time to close the book and move onto the next chapter of my life. A few mixed emotions, but honestly, I feel really good going into this weekend, really relaxed.

“I know deep down inside, this is it.’’

Sadler certainly leaves on not only his own terms – which was important to him – but also on very good terms competitively speaking. In 22 years of national series NASCAR competition, he won three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup races, 1 Gander Outdoors Truck Series race, 13 Xfinity Series races and finished championship runner-up in the Xfinity Series an unprecedented four times (2011, 2012, 2016, 2017).

Respected by his fellow competitors and well-liked by the massive NASCAR fandom, Sadler said he takes great solace in his exit. He looks forward to more time at home with his young kids – a busy daughter and son.

Elliott Sadler Kaulig Racing car Las Vegas
Zack Albert | NASCAR Digital Media

And he is especially grateful to the Kaulig Racing team, who surprised him with a specially designed No. 10 Chevrolet, which he had 14th on the speed chart in opening practice Friday. His car will have the same yellow and red paint scheme he ran as a kid in go-karts and a young man in Late Models. It’s even the same colors his father’s business used on its service trucks.

“For 50 years, it’s the color of everything we’ve done in the Sadler family,’’ Sadler said.

“When they surprised me with it this week, that probably got me more than anything because it means so much.’’

It’s especially important to him this final weekend.

“I feel so good about this weekend and the decision that has been made and leaving on my own terms,’’ Sadler said. “No one’s pushing me out the door. I’m going out on my own accord and I can sleep with that, no regrets at all.’’