Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott will miss this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway following an injury to his left leg while snowboarding in Colorado on Friday. He is scheduled to undergo surgery Friday evening.
NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Josh Berry, who drives for Hendrick affiliate JR Motorsports, will replace Elliott in the No. 9 Chevrolet this weekend.
“Chase’s health is our primary concern,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “He’s spoken with several members of our team and is understandably disappointed to miss time in the car. Of course, he has our full support, and we’ll provide any resources he needs. We hope to share another update later this weekend.”
The team did not provide additional details on the nature of Elliott’s injuries or the accident in its statement Friday. Hendrick Motorsports officials are scheduled to participate in a press conference Saturday at noon ET to provide updates. The media availability will be streamed on NASCAR.com.
Elliott, the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion, had not previously missed a start in his full-time Cup Series career. Dating back to the 2016 Daytona 500, he had made 254 consecutive starts.
He won 18 times during that stretch and, in addition to his 2020 title, advanced to the Championship 4 in 2021 and 2022.
Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will mark Berry’s third start in the NASCAR Cup Series. He made two appearances last season for Spire Motorsports, finishing 30th at Dover Motor Speedway and 26th at Michigan International Speedway.
Berry is a five-time winner in Xfinity Series competition, and two of those victories have come at Las Vegas. Last year’s Vegas win propelled Berry to his first Championship 4 appearance in his first full Xfinity season.
Will Chevrolet continue its season-opening form? The bowties are two-for-two to open the Cup Series season with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s Daytona 500 win and Kyle Busch’s victory at Auto Club Speedway. Outside of Joey Logano, who has put forth an exceptional effort in each of the opening races, Chevrolet has looked like the favorite across the board. The good news for the others is that each manufacturer has had success at the Las Vegas track, evidenced by each of the trio finding Victory Lane in the last three races. Ford’s Logano has performed here better than anyone, with three wins dating back to the 2019 season, and he also won the Busch Light Pole Award for today’s race; and though Toyota has just two Vegas wins in the last 10 races, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin have each captured that winning feeling. Let’s see who rises to the occasion on Sunday.
History tells us…
There won’t be a first-time winner on Sunday. In 30 Cup Series races, dating back to Mark Martin’s inaugural race win in 1998, no Las Vegas winner has ever earned their first premier series victory at the track. Eight drivers have multiple wins, led by Jimmie Johnson’s all-time record of four, and nine have just a single win here — but each of the 17 winners had previously won a race. It’s clear that the 1.5-mile oval caters to experience behind the wheel and atop the box. For someone to break this trend, they may have to run a near-perfect race.
Joey Logano (11-2) is the betting favorite to win, but watch out for…
Ross Chastain. Chastain isn’t too far down the BetMGM oddsboard, sitting sixth at 9-1 odds to win Sunday, but he has a strong case for being the driver to beat in Vegas. In 2022, Chastain and the No. 1 team were on fire at the desert track, scoring two top-three finishes and leading at least 68 laps in both trips to the speedway. While many other drivers have struggled to gain their footing so far this season, Chastain is one of just four drivers with top-10 results in both 2023 races. Don’t expect him to slow his momentum on Sunday — especially after his car showed excellent speed Saturday. | Full BetMGM betting odds
Chase Elliott. Hendrick Motorsports announced Friday that 2020 Cup Series champ Elliott will be out indefinitely because of a broken left leg suffered in a snowboarding accident. Josh Berry, an Xfinity Series regular for JR Motorsports, will drive the No. 9 Chevrolet on Sunday at Las Vegas.
💎 NASCAR 75: Check out exclusive NASCAR content throughout the anniversary season | Learn more, explore
Hot off the press 📰
Key stories and breaking news from the week leading up to the race.
• Ty Gibbs finding his rhythm: Shares expectations for rookie year | Read more
• Chase Elliott out: Leg injury sidelines former Cup champ indefinitely | Read more
• No timetable for Chase: Hendrick Motorsports gives update | Read more
• New rules package: Adjustments set to debut at short tracks, road courses | Read more
• Suspension: Two JGR crew members sidelined for races | Read more
• Bryce Harper: Two-time NL MVP named grand marshal | Read more
• Untold Stories: NASCAR’s first Black driver, Elias Bowie | Watch the video
• Garage 56: Le Mans invite official, team will run No. 24 |Read more
• Xfinity Series: Brandon Jones delighted in transition to JRM | Read more
• Get ready for Chicago: NASCAR fan’s guide to enjoying the city | Read more
Get in on the action 💰
Think you know NASCAR? Put your mettle to the test with gaming, fantasy and Fan Rewards.
• Fan Rewards: New in 2023, get rewarded for your participation | Learn more • Fantasy Live: Still time to get on the leaderboard and win big this season |Tips for 2023 • NASCAR BetCenter: Don’t miss your chance to make picks each week | Visit the BetCenter
• Going all the way: 2023 Cup Series championship odds | See them here
Now it’s time for Nevada ⏳
As the West Coast swing continues, take a look at some important history from racing in Las Vegas.
• Winner, winner: All-time wins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway | See who has the most
• Pace out front: Top 10 lap leaders in Vegas history | See them here
• Do you remember?: Memorable moments at Las Vegas | Relive them here
• Vegas fight night: Joey Logano, Kyle Busch go toe-to-toe | Watch the video • GIFs are good: Flashback to the 2022 spring race, summed up in GIFs | See them here
• Race Rewind: Alex Bowman puts on a show for the fans | Highlights from 2022
Take some notes 📝
Five hard-hitting, race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.
• Fourteen of the last 16 Las Vegas race winners are Cup Series champions. • Ross Chastain led all drivers in points earned on 1.5-mile tracks by 35 points in 2022. • The pass for the win came with three laps to go in both races at Las Vegas last season. • All seven races on 1.5-mile tracks in 2022 were won by different drivers. • The last three Las Vegas races were won by three different manufacturers.
A notable quote from one star of the sport heading into Sunday’s race.
“Las Vegas was a track that was good to us last year. We really excelled on the mile-and-a-half tracks that are high-grip race tracks. We had some really good runs at both Las Vegas races, but especially in the fall race. We were in the lead there with less than 30 to go, so I feel like we’ve definitely got that style of race track figured out in this Next Gen car. I’m looking forward to getting back there and hopefully showing that same speed.” — Justin Haley, driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing
After winning his 102nd NASCAR Xfinity Series race in his 362nd start on July 10, 2021 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch “retired” from the series as the runaway career leader in victories.
But his move to Richard Childress Racing and Chevrolet has prompted a return to the Xfinity ranks with Kaulig Racing, an organization that was a suitor for Busch’s NASCAR Cup Series services before he opted for RCR.
In 2021, Busch won all five of his Xfinity starts. He’ll try to extend his winning streak to six straight in Saturday’s Alsco Uniforms 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (4:30 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“Just running the Xfinity Series again and being able to get back in the Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing is going to be fun, and I look forward to that,” Busch said. “Being with a new team and a new group of guys, (it’s great to have) the chance to go out there and help their program and develop them a little bit and give them some of my expertise.”
Doing triple duty in Trucks, Xfinity and Cup, Busch will have to beat John Hunter Nemechek, one of his former drivers at Kyle Busch Motorsports, to keep his Xfinity streak alive.
Nemechek finished second to Austin Hill in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway by a matter of inches. Last Sunday, he won the rain-delayed Production Alliance Group 300 at Auto Club Speedway.
Like Busch, Nemechek will be racing Friday night in the Truck Series.
“It’s going to be interesting racing,” Nemechek said. “It seems like it’s going to be way cooler temperatures than what we’re used to. The track will definitely be gripped up. I’m excited to get there and keep racing.
“I have a lot of confidence in myself right now, and I’m ready to go get after it. I feel like I’ll be able to learn some things from the truck race Friday night that hopefully we can apply to the Xfinity race on Saturday to try to go get two wins this weekend.”
Reigning NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Zane Smith started the 2023 season with a victory at Daytona International Speedway.
After a week off, he will try for a second straight victory in Friday night’s Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (9 ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Smith has something to prove at the track. In last year’s race, he ran second to Chandler Smith but was disqualified and demoted to 36th for a lug nut violation.
“It’s a long season, but we’re off to a great start,” Smith said. “Just like last season, it feels good. The team worked hard during the offseason, and it was rewarded at Daytona.
“But Vegas, we have some unfinished business there. It was frustrating leaving there with a penalty last year. Everyone on the team wants to get this win. We were fast last year, and I hope we can make up for last year.”
However, between Smith and victory are two formidable “ringers,” Kyle Busch and John Hunter Nemechek. Busch has three Truck Series wins at his hometown track, and Nemechek claimed his lone victory there in 2021. Busch will be racing in all three national series races in Las Vegas this weekend.
ATTLEBORO, Mass. – JDV Productions and Whelen Engineering announced today the full, lucrative bonus program for the 2023 Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup.
The Cup, which is a three-race series spread across New Hampshire with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, will consist of events at Monadnock Speedway (May 6), Lee USA Speedway (May 27) and Claremont Motorsports Park (July 29).
Similar to 2022, the bonus program includes $15,700 in potential winnings for competitors – even more compared to the original year of the Cup in 2022.
The champion car owner of the three-race series will earn $5,000, while the runner-up owner will earn $2,500 and third will collect $1,000. Between the top three points finishers, $8,500 will be distributed. The NASCAR points system will be used to determine which driver earned the most points during the three events, and the car owner will be paid the winnings.
Last year, the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup helped produce thrilling action on the track for race fans, and brought multiple local, house division drivers to the series on a national level.
“Continuing our partnership with Whelen Engineering to give back to the racers on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is important to us,” Josh Vanada, owner of JDV Productions, said. “The Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup idea was put together to try and produce some new competitors for the series at staple New Hampshire tracks, and we had great success with it last year, with multiple new drivers running the Tour more often, and Matt Hirschman winning the inaugural Cup in a close battle. We look forward to seeing what drivers can do in 2023 and the money on the line is yet another incentive for them to battle for in the final laps.”
Each additional event will also have bonus awards available at the track on each specific race day.
The Challenger Bonus, paid $200 per event, will be paid to the highest finishing driver in each of the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup races who does not normally run the Whelen Modified Tour full-time. This is open to any driver who competed in less than 50% of the Whelen Modified Tour races last season.
The Hard Charger Bonus, worth $200 per race, is provided to the driver who improves the most positions since their last Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup event. For the season-opener at Monadnock Speedway, the Claremont Motorsports Park race finish from July of 2022 will be used to determine the winner.
The Lap Leader bonus, worth $750, will be awarded to the driver who leads the most laps during the three races, and will be paid out after the finale at Claremont. The Best Average Finish Bonus, awarded to the driver who scores the best average finish during the three events, is another $750 award.
Finally, if any driver can accomplish a complete sweep of winning all three Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup events, they will earn an additional bonus of $5,000, paid after the Cup finale at Claremont.
Competitors and fans are encouraged to note that the champion will be determined at Claremont – not the final JDV Productions event of the year at Monadnock on September 9.
“Whelen Engineering takes pride in our long-standing involvement in motorsports,” Pete Tiezzi III, General Manager of Motorsports for Whelen Engineering Company Inc., said. “We are very excited to continue our partnership with JDV Productions for the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup at three iconic short tracks in New Hampshire with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.”
The JDV Productions NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season includes four events, beginning with the Duel at the Dog Weekend at Monadnock on Saturday, May 6. JDV’s presentation of the 200-lap event will also include six other divisions on Saturday, and a six-event NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Racing Series card on Sunday, May 7.
On Saturday, May 27, the second annual Granite State Derby heads to Lee USA Speedway, headlined by the Whelen Modified Tour’s 175-lap event, while the finale of the Cup will take place back at Claremont Motorsports Park on July 29. A full season schedule for JDV Productions, which also includes three events outside of the Whelen Modified Tour, is available at JDVProductions.com.
Many storylines came out of this year’s World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway on Feb. 10-18. Perhaps the most surprising was the winning speed shown by 16-year-old Luke Baldwin.
The son of 2002 Daytona 500-winning crew chief and NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour team owner Tommy Baldwin Jr., Luke Baldwin surprised even himself by earning two wins and a championship in the 602 Modified division at the World Series of Asphalt.
As if that weren’t impressive enough, the victories and championship came in his first four starts behind the wheel of a 602 Modified.
“I caught everybody off guard. I caught myself off guard, as well,” Baldwin said. “Going down there, first time in a modified, [I was] expecting to just hopefully finish all the races and finish all the laps, learn a few things and gain some experience.
“To go out there and do that, it’s pretty mind blowing for me. It was a lot of fun. I learned a lot. Racing with the guys up front was a blast. We all had so much respect for each other. It was awesome.”
Baldwin started his run at New Smyrna with a fourth-place finish in the first 602 Modified race on Feb. 12, which was followed by an eighth-place finish one day later. He broke through for his first 602 Modified victory on Feb. 14 before winning the 66-lap finale on Feb. 16 to claim the division title.
The elder Baldwin, who is known to show little emotion, couldn’t hide the smile on his face in Victory Lane after his son won the division finale. Amusingly, he had told his son that he would be on “restricted mode” during the World Series while he learned how to race a Modified.
That went out the window in a hurry after he finished fourth in his first race.
“As soon as I got out of the car and started giving him feedback, he was kind of mad at first that he had to treat it like another race-winning car,” Luke Baldwin said of his father. “Obviously he wasn’t mad. He was super excited. Even after night one when I finished fourth on my first time out there, he was really proud of me.
“He was really excited, and as we went on, he got more and more excited and more happy. He was having a lot of fun with it.”
Luke Baldwin celebrates after winning the 602 Modified feature and championship during night 7 of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing event at New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna, Florida on February 16, 2023. (Photo: Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)
The impressive performance at New Smyrna has already paid dividends for Baldwin, who has secured an opportunity to race a pro late model in Hickory Motor Speedway’s season-opening event Saturday.
The deal came together in the pits at New Smyrna while Baldwin was talking to his friend Gavan Boschele, who was racing a pro late model for DLP Motorsports owner David “Buggy” Pletcher.
“I was over there at his trailer hanging out a lot,” Baldwin explained. “I got into a conversation about what it takes to drive (a Pro Late Model) not actually thinking that I was going to be doing it. Then me and my dad got to talking with Lorin Ranier at Speedweeks and he kind of got me setup with Buggy.
“Me and Buggy talked a lot and got a pretty good relationship going at New Smyrna. So he set me up with that, and I think we’ve got a pretty good ride for this weekend.”
Baldwin’s car at Hickory will carry sponsorship from Shoreside Support, a mega yacht provisioning company owned by his older brother Tommy Baldwin III.
Luke Baldwin has never raced a pro late model, but last week at Hickory, he did get a chance to test the car he’ll be racing. He said the 602 Modifieds and pro late models, while different, are surprisingly similar to drive.
“The late model is a little wider. That’s going to be something, but I think I got used to that pretty quickly,” Baldwin said. “They’re pretty similar with the pro late model being an offset chassis. I think it would be a lot different if I was driving a late model stock.
“Honestly, it just feels a little lighter with a little less grip with the skinnier tire. It shouldn’t be too hard. I got the hang of it pretty quick [at the test]. The brakes are a little different; I’ve got to work on that. It’s going to be different with the people I’m racing around and the racing style of everybody, but I’m really excited to do it.”
If his performance at New Smyrna is any indication, Baldwin’s pro late model debut could be one for the record books.
In addition to the 100-lap Pro Late Model event, Hickory will host the opening race of the season for all of its NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series divisions. The headlining class is the Late Model Stock Car division, which will compete in twin 40-lap features Saturday. Defending track champion Landon Huffman will be in the field as he looks to defend his title.
Other drivers expected to participate include Florence Motor Speedway IceBreaker winner Doug Barnes Jr., two-time Hickory track champion Austin McDaniel, defending Florence track champion Kade Brown, Clark Houston, Michael Bumgarner, Landon S. Huffman, Annabeth Barnes Crum and eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series race winner Vicente Salas, among others.
There amidst the smoky remnants of his celebratory burnout on the front straightaway at California’s Auto Club Speedway last weekend, Kyle Busch stood tall, checkered flag in hand beside his winning Chevrolet race car. The finishing touch: a grand bow to the excited crowd. And another bow for good measure.
That bow has been the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion’s signature winning denouement for decades; a thank you to his loyal supporters and a subtle “maybe next time” to those upset in the moment that this 61-time Cup Series winner had beaten their favorite driver — yet again.
Truth be told either reaction is satisfying to Busch, although the 37-year-old conceded that certain bows are indeed a little deeper, a little more emotional. That was the case last weekend in California where Busch earned his first win — in only his second points-paying race — driving the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet after moving to the team this season after a 15-year tenure with Joe Gibbs Racing.
The grandstand approval rating even seemed a little louder.
“I think it’s just phenomenal,” Busch said of the moment and earning his first win — 61st overall — with his new team.
“There’s nothing more rewarding than being able to go to Victory Lane,” he added.
With an all-time best 225 combined victories in NASCAR’s three national series, Busch has had a lot of opportunity to celebrate and take in the moment, but surprisingly he said, he doesn’t recall the precise moment “the bow” became his sort of winning trademark — the expectation after a “Rowdy” win.
“I don’t really remember exactly how it started, but I just kind of came up with the idea of when I would do a burnout and one of the biggest burnouts I ever did — that I can recall — was actually early on in my career at Charlotte after winning an Xfinity Series race,” Busch explained.
“I think I won my third or fourth race. When I did a burnout afterwards there was so much smoke that when I got out of the car, you couldn’t see the grandstands. So, I was just standing there, waiting for the smoke to dissipate so I could see the crowd.
“I was like, ‘Heeeeey, I’m here.’ So I thought of it as, I’m appearing out of the smoke, like I’m a magician. And being from Vegas and being a showman with the background of being from there, I was like, ‘OK, what do great performers do every time they have a great performance for the crowd?’ They come out and bow for the crowd and are getting applause for the end of the show, so that was kind of my idea.
“Do a big burnout, appear out of the smoke and do a big bow.”
There have been other occasional post-race celebratory moves — from Darrell Waltrip’s “Ickey Shuffle” after winning the Daytona 500 to Tony Stewart climbing the fence after winning at Indianapolis.
The late driver Alan Kulwicki did the reverse victory lap after his wins, driving his car in the opposite direction around the track. It was so iconic and different that even after the former NASCAR Cup Series champion Kulwicki was killed in a plane crash in 1993, his competitors often imitated the move in honor of him.
When it comes to pure athletic exclamation points, Carl Edwards set a high standard. The driver from the “Show Me” state of Missouri would do a backflip off his car [or truck] after a victory. In a career spanning from 2002-2016, he won 28 times in the NASCAR Cup Series, 38 times in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (as well as claiming the 2007 Xfinity Series title) and another six times in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. That’s a lot of acrobatics.
Edwards said Major League Baseball Hall of Famer, St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Ozzie Smith inspired his own victory flips — and that he practiced his form on a trampoline before trying it trackside.
“I didn’t know anything about baseball, but his backflip stood out when I was a kid,” Edwards told ESPN in 2011.
Edwards debuted the flip at short tracks as he was working his way up to NASCAR’s premier series. At first, he performed the move flipping from car to race track, but through the years, team owners were able to convince him to move “the landing” to the grass infield. And Edwards conceded, if he failed to do a flip after a win, fans would be mad.
Busch said he’s experienced a similar situation. However, he explained there have been times when he purposely did not take a bow because of how the race may have ended.
“There have been races when there were wins and I’ve forgotten to do it,” Busch said. “I don’t know how you forget to do it, but you just do, there’s so much running through your mind. And if I steal one [a win] I don’t typically a do a bow because it’s like, ‘OK, I stole one, I didn’t really deserve it.’ But hey, if you have a good performance, do a great job, bow for the crowd.”
And, Busch recalled with a smile, there have been times the television reporter doing a live interview showed up before he got a chance to bow.
“There was one, the start-finish [line] TV interview they do now and they were on me so fast, I didn’t have a chance to do the bow and then I forgot to do it when the interview was over, so I didn’t do it,” Busch said, adding with a grin. “Then on social media afterwards, there was a whole big deal, ‘Where was your bow?, why didn’t you do your bow?’ and people got mad at the interviewer for getting in my face too fast. I was like, wow.”
Although there’s no official tally of Busch’s bows, with his collection of trophies — the largest in NASCAR history — he’s had plenty of practice and opportunity. They distinguish him and provide a crowd-affecting exclamation point that connects with fans.
Perhaps a grand bow it is truly the only fitting way to close out yet another triumphant race showing for the sport’s all-time winningest driver.
“You try to remember and you try to do it each time and it’s kind of your signature move,” Busch said, adding with a wide grin, “And it’s not nearly as hard as a backflip.”
Nobody was quite sure how Kyle Busch, after a decade and a half of calling Joe Gibbs Racing his home, would fare with his shift over to Richard Childress Racing and a return to Chevrolet starting with the 2023 season.
“Rowdy” answered any questions about his ’23 prospects in short order, manhandling the field over the final run Sunday at Auto Club Speedway to pick up his 61st NASCAR Cup Series victory and first on a non-dirt track since 2021.
Now that’s out of the way, here’s the next question — will we see back-to-back bows?
NASCAR.com’s Pat DeCola and Zach Sturniolo debate whether the No. 8 Chevy driver will muster a second straight victory this weekend in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
DeCOLA: Obviously, there’s no debating that Busch can do this — we’ve seen him win multiple Cup races in a row, with 2019 being his most recent example — it just comes down to will he.
In short, no.
Busch is arguably the most talented driver racing in the world today, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. We’re two weeks removed from some (but not all!) pundits not even including Rowdy in their playoff prognostications, let alone predicting a multi-win season. So back-to-back weeks? Certainly possible, but certainly a stretch.
How soon we forget the unprecedented parity ushered in with last year’s Next Gen racer, which saw a whopping 19 unique winners in 2022, didn’t see a repeat victor until Martinsville in April and only once — when Kevin Harvick did it in August — did a driver go back-to-back.
Perhaps I’d think it more likely to happen if we were racing this weekend at Bristol (eight wins) or Richmond (six wins) or, heck, even Texas (four wins, 11.7 average finish). He’s got a strong average finish at Vegas over the years (10.8 in 23 starts) and has been exceptional there over the past five years (6.5 in last 10 races), but he has just one win there, and it was all the way back in 2009. In seven of those last 10 races, he landed third through seventh, just unable to get over the hump to pick up a win.
Finding that little extra edge in his third race with a new manufacturer and team to win for the second straight week? Again … possible, just not likely.
If he does, though, holy cow. Watch out. That’ll be a strong message to the rest of the field.
STURNIOLO: Kyle Busch with momentum? Yeah, take that bet every time. Busch has yet to miss a beat since stepping into the No. 8 Chevrolet at Richard Childress Racing. More impressive has been his and the team’s ability to perform on a multitude of different tracks already.
Quarter-mile track in the exhibition Busch Light Clash at the LA Coliseum? Third-place finish. The 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway? Leading at Lap 200, the scheduled conclusion of the Daytona 500. Worn-out, abrasive 2-miler at Auto Club Speedway? Race winner.
Nothing has limited Busch and Co. yet. Why should the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway be any different this weekend?
Busch has only one win at his home track, made only more surprising by the fact his victory came way back in 2009. Don’t mistake that for any poor runs, though.
The two-time Cup Series champion has finished third in three of the last four races at Las Vegas and hasn’t finished worse than sixth in the venue’s past five events.
Busch came excruciatingly close to Vegas’ Victory Lane last spring, heading the field for 49 laps. But a caution fell with two-and-a-half laps remaining as Busch was busy fending then-teammate Martin Truex Jr. for the race win. With that yellow flag came pit stops – and an opportunity for others to use some strategy to take the lead.
A trio of Hendrick Motorsports cars — Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman and William Byron — darted to the front of the pack thanks to their two-tire pit stops, and Bowman charged to the win, leaving Busch steaming with a fourth-place finish.
If the first three races of 2023 have been any indication, Busch’s move from Joe Gibbs Racing to Richard Childress Racing is only unlocking further success for the native Nevadan.
NASCAR’s median trip on the West Coast swing finds it in the high desert as the circuit heads just outside the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. While not even a month into the blooming season, this Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will reveal which teams have an edge on the competition in terms of speed.
No better time for Kyle Busch to compete at his home track as the Nevadan enters this weekend off an eye-popping victory at Auto Club Speedway that marked his maiden win with Richard Childress Racing.
Let’s get ready for Sunday’s action with trends to watch, the best moments from Vegas, the on-track schedule and tire notes.
Four of the last six Cup races on the 1.5-mile Nevada oval have had a caution come out within the last 15 laps. Two of the last three spring races have gone to overtime. These late-race moments led to strategy calls that determined the winner. Last spring, Alex Bowman made a two-tire stop before the final restart that propelled and kept him out front to claim his lone win of 2022. But in 2020, Ryan Blaney led when a late yellow came out. He elected to come down pit road while most of the field stayed out. Joey Logano took the checkers in that spring race while Blaney’s call parachuted him down to an 11th-place finish.
In a city known for gambling, crew chiefs and drivers will have to play their cards right in the event a late-race caution comes out Sunday.
VIVA LAS VEGAS?
Kyle Busch is riding the hot hand entering Sunday, but he only owns one win on his home track two decades back in 2009. He does have four consecutive top fives on the intermediate oval, but playoff points always come at a premium, and with the Next Gen breeding 19 different winners last year, every race on the calendar becomes a virtual must-win to confirm your postseason ticket.
TRENDS TO WATCH
— No manufacturer has won the first three races of a season since 2010 (Chevrolet); Chevy has won the first two races of 2023.
— Joey Logano has won two of the last four spring Las Vegas races.
— Martin Truex Jr. owns five consecutive top 10s at Vegas.
— The pass for the win came in the final three laps in both Las Vegas races in 2022 (via Racing Insights).
MEMORABLE MOMENTS
1998: Mark Martin wins inaugural Cup race at Las Vegas | WATCH
2017: Kyle Busch, Logano fight after final-lap contact | WATCH
2020: Kurt Busch wins first Vegas race in 22nd attempt | WATCH
2022: Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson clash after wreck | WATCH
ON-TRACK SCHEDULE
Saturday, March. 4
— 1:35 p.m. ET: Cup practice [FS2, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio]; NOTE: Practice coverage moves to FS1 at 2 p.m. ET
— 2:20 p.m. ET: Cup qualifying [FS1, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio]
Teams will get one set of tires for practice, one set for qualifying and eight sets for the race.
Las Vegas isn’t known for its tire wear but has become a temperature-sensitive track as the surface ages. If the ambient temperature is warmer, the less grip the track will have and the more tires will wear. The cooler the temps, the more grip the track will have, and tires will wear less.
The tire codes will be the same ran at Las Vegas last September and what was used at Auto Club Speedway last Sunday.
Entering the 2023 season, competition officials have revised the penalty structure for detached wheels, shifting away from the four-race crew chief suspension that had been in place since 2015.
In the event of a lost wheel that is contained to pit road, the offending team will be subject to a pass-through penalty under green-flag conditions. If the infraction occurs during a caution period, the offending team will restart at the tail end of the field.
If the wheel breaks free outside of pit road, the new rules guidelines mandate a two-lap penalty plus a two-race suspension for two crew members. Each penalty is series-specific: Violations in one series will not impact those crew members’ eligibility to participate in other series.
Members of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team became the first to be penalized under the new rules after the vehicle’s left-front tire detached under caution on the backstretch at Auto Club Speedway. Tire changer Danny Olszowy and jackman Kellen Mills are suspended for the next two Cup Series events.
Fans can get in on the action all season long with NASCAR Fan Rewards, a free program that rewards fans for participating in the action when they watch races and play NASCAR Fantasy.
There’s no cost to join. Fans must be 18 years or older to participate in the program.
Earn points by checking into a race from home or at the track, setting your Fantasy Live lineup, making purchases on the NASCAR.com shop and more. Points can be redeemed for race tickets, merchandise and VIP experiences at the track, including pace car rides and waving the green flag at qualifying.
Want to manage a team and race your way to the top of the leaderboards? Check out NASCAR Fantasy Live, which is open now. The free-to-play game lets you choose your drivers each week and show off your crew-chief instincts by garaging a driver by the end of Stage 3, and there is a $25,000 prize for the winner.
Get additional camera views by logging on to NASCAR Drive, where each week, a select number of in-car cameras will be available – as well as a battle cam and an overhead look.
NASCAR has partnered with LiveLike to add fan engagement to the NASCAR Mobile App. Log in to the mobile app during the race for polls, quizzes, the cheer meter and more — and see instant results from NASCAR fans like you.
Doug Barnes Jr. is quickly becoming one of the more recognizable names in short-track racing on the East Coast.
From a Ferrari-inspired paint scheme to an active presence on YouTube through his channel “AirDoug,” Barnes has adapted to the evolving motorsports culture by providing fans a glimpse into his life and all the intricacies that go into building a successful late model stock operation.
Years of hard work and adversity have molded Barnes into a driver who can hold his own against the best in his discipline, which has him strongly considering the possibility of contesting a national championship in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series in 2023.
Although Barnes has not yet committed to the idea, he has plenty of confidence in adding a Weekly Series title to his resume should circumstances work out in his favor.
“I would love to [run for a Weekly Series title], but it’s so expensive,” Barnes said. “What I’ve done right now is give myself no expectations, and we’re going to run every single week up until May. If we’re not in a place where we can go for the national championship, then we’ll scale it back a little bit.
“I don’t want to schedule out an entire year and only get two or three wins. Last year, I didn’t win at all. It’s a high goal, but it is still a goal.”
Doug Barnes Jr. celebrates winning the IceBreaker at South Carolina’s Florence Motor Speedway on Feb. 11, 2023. (Photo: Jaylynn Nash/NASCAR)
Barnes said the competition prevalent at his home track of Dominion Raceway in Thornburg, Virginia has been instrumental toward refining his driving style.
A two-time Dominion track champion, Barnes regularly sees fields consisting of around 20 cars. The competitive depth attracts notable names to Dominion, with Peyton Sellers taking home a track championship in 2022 while Layne Riggs made appearances at the end of the year to help him claim the Weekly Series title.
Barnes was disappointed he could not get any wins against Sellers or Riggs last year, but he said being in contention alongside them highlighted his growth since he famously jumped on top of fellow driver Tyler Hughes’ car following a crash between the two in 2020.
The incident served as the inspiration behind Barnes’ nickname, “Air Doug.”
“[Tyler and I] were young and dumb,” Barnes said. “We’d just wreck each other’s cars all the time, and in 2020, it hit a boiling point. He destroyed my race car, and I saw he was the one who did it. I just ran and cannonballed into his windshield.
“I don’t know what I was trying to accomplish.”
While Barnes still takes pride in the “Air Doug” moniker, he knew he would have to make substantial improvements both on and off the track following the incident with Hughes for him to reach his full potential as a driver.
By working closely with his crew chief Chase Pistone, Barnes gradually started to gain ground on his competition. At the end of the 2021 season, Barnes was a contender in several late model stock crown jewel events, finishing third in the Thanksgiving All-Star Classic and sixth in the South Carolina 400 after leading 61 laps.
Barnes credits the progress to his bolstered chemistry with Pistone.
“My mentality has gotten a lot better,” Barnes said. “I’m a lot calmer, and I’m obviously not jumping on race cars at this current moment. I feel like I can break down the race a lot better inside the car, but Chase and I really know what the other wants. We’ve had this confidence for a while, and we’re finally seeing the results.”
With starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series to his name, Pistone provided plenty of knowledge to Barnes when the duo first started working together in the 2010s. Pistone helped the young driver get acclimated to the abrasive surface of Hickory Motor Speedway while his brother Tom mentored Barnes at Dominion.
Now solely responsible for overseeing Barnes’ development, Pistone has worked tirelessly to supply the driver with cars strong enough to be competitive every weekend. Despite this, Pistone said Barnes’ recent efficiency comes down to the driver believing in his own ability to thrive behind the wheel.
“[Doug] is becoming more confident,” Pistone said. “He was initially unsure of himself. When we were up front at the end of races, we struggled to close them out sometimes. We’ve finally run up front in these big races enough that Doug understands we belong there. He’s comfortable racing up front now.”
Doug Barnes Jr. wins the IceBreaker at South Carolina’s Florence Motor Speedway on Feb. 11, 2023. (Photo: Jaylynn Nash/NASCAR)
As the two continued to turn in strong performances together, both Barnes and Pistone knew it was only a matter of time before they won a major late model stock event.
The IceBreaker at South Carolina’s Florence Motor Speedway was the breakthrough for which the duo had been searching. After starting on pole, Barnes briefly lost the lead to Matt Cox before overtaking the track veteran with 25 laps remaining and holding off the rest of the field for one of the most significant wins of his career to date.
Barnes still finds himself in disbelief over that accomplishment knowing he bested drivers like Carson Kvapil, Xfinity Series driver Jeb Burton and NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. at an abrasive track like Florence.
“It was unbelievable,” Barnes said. “It doesn’t even feel real as to how we won the race. I’ve never seen somebody dominate a long Florence race like that before. Being able to conserve tires the way we did and fight off every run anybody gave us just did not seem real.”
The triumph at Florence has given Barnes plenty of momentum heading into the 2023 season, during which his focus will be on earning a third championship at Dominion.
Like Barnes, Pistone is tempering his own expectations about potentially chasing a national title, but that has not quelled his excitement for what he believes will be a breakout year for his long-time driver.
With Barnes now familiar with the physical and mental demands of the crown-jewel races, Pistone is confident the driver will excel against the elite teams of late model stock racing.
“I honestly think we can go to Martinsville and win this year,” Pistone said. “We have the means to win all the big race — and the speed. We all have the confidence, and we’re all looking forward to a good year.”
Barnes would love to take all the prestigious late model stock events to go along with a track and national championship, but he admitted he simply wants to have fun as a driver.
Looking back on his career in the 2010s, Barnes said he put too much pressure on himself to move up into either the Truck Series or ARCA Menards Series, which in turn depleted the enjoyment he had for racing in general.
Being fully committed to late model stocks has reignited Barnes’ passion for the sport and simultaneously motivated him to show everyone he is one of the best drivers on the East Coast. He intends to keep the momentum from the IceBreaker going by visiting Victory Lane at Hickory on Saturday night.
“Prior to Florence, I hadn’t won anywhere else other than Dominion,” Barnes said. “I want to start picking up some wins to show I’m capable of winning at other tracks. Hickory is a goal because I’ve almost won the Fall Brawl the last two years, so it’d be nice to get the year started with a win there.”
Barnes has not yet ruled out moving up to NASCAR’s national series and would love to test his skills in the Truck Series should the right opportunity materialize.
For now, Barnes is content with his current environment and hopes to make “Air Doug” one of the most recognizable names in short-track racing.
