Posted on by Staff Report

During Stage 2 of the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 8 playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson wrecked down the frontstretch on Lap 94 after the two made contact off Turn 4. The No. 45 Toyota hit the wall and came back down the track, spinning Larson and himself and crashing into the outside wall.

“When you get shoved in the fence, deliberately like he [Kyle Larson] did, trying to force me to lift – the steering was gone, and he just so happened to be there,” Wallace said after the wreck. “I hate it for our team. We had a super-fast car – not on short-run speed, we were kind of falling back there and (Kyle) Larson wanted to make it a three-wide dive bomb.

“He never cleared me. I don’t lift. I know I’m kind of new to running up front, but I don’t lift. I wasn’t even in a spot to lift, he never lifted either and now we are junk.”

Larson admitted to making an aggressive move that led to the initial contact that caused the wreck.

“I got in low, got loose and chased it up a bit and he got up to my right front and got tight,” Larson said. “I knew he was going to retaliate. He had a reason to be mad but his race wasn’t over until he retaliated. Just aggression turned into frustration.”

Playoff driver Christopher Bell was also involved in the wreck. The No. 20 driver, who entered Sunday +3 above the elimination line, was clipped by Larson and slammed the wall, ending his day in 34th place.

RELATED: Wallace explains run-in | Larson: Think twice next time

Despite his day ending early, Bell said he still has confidence going into Homestead and Martinsville the next two weeks.

“The good thing is I feel better about winning one of those two races than I did winning the Roval,” Bell said. “We’ve just had really, really strong Camrys — really all year long. We will see if we can go pull another rabbit out of the hat.”

Before the incident, Wallace had led 29 laps and won Stage 1 after Kyle Busch spun with just three laps to go in the opening 80-lap segment.

Tempers boiled over after Wallace climbed out of his wrecked car, with the 23XI driver walking toward the 2021 Cup champ and engaging in a shoving match with Larson.

NASCAR stated that they will review the entire incident between Wallace and Larson this week but did not call Wallace to the hauler after the incident.

Posted on by PJ Walsh

The Action Network specializes in providing sports betting insights/analytics and is a content partner with NASCAR. Check out more NASCAR betting analysis here.

When you write as many articles as I do (#HumbleBrag), introductions can be all over the place.

In my case, they’re often very game specific, but sometimes I simply write about what’s going on in my life.

This weekend my wife and I are in Las Vegas for a late anniversary trip, and I know what many of you are thinking: “yawn.”

So, if you haven’t already, just skip to the bottom.

However! We will be in Vegas for NASCAR race weekend, which, as I’m sure you know, means we will be betting on Sunday’s South Point 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC).

After perusing the latest practice data and qualifying results, here is my favorite bet for Sunday’s NASCAR race at Las Vegas.

RELATED: Updated race-day odds

NASCAR Picks for Las Vegas

This bet has value for two very different reasons.

First off, Erik Jones was very fast in practice, posting the third-fastest five-lap average. He did struggle to a 22nd-place starting spot in qualifying, but he should have no trouble maneuvering to the front with a fast race car.

And perhaps more importantly is the value we can find on Jones scoring a top-10 finish today at Las Vegas by simply shopping for the best odds.

For example, Jones is -125 at BetMGM and +130 at DraftKings for a top 10.

However, FanDuel is offering a significantly better price, +210, for Jones to finish among the top 10 cars in Sunday’s South Point 400.

Is there reason to think that Jones will not be as fast this afternoon? Absolutely.

But getting such a big number on this compared to the rest of the market makes it a must-bet for me.

The bet: Jones +210 for a Top-10 Finish

Posted on by Dustin Albino

Intermediate race tracks haven’t been ideal for Ford in 2022. However, the manufacturer took up four of the top eight spots in qualifying for Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM).

Tyler Reddick will start from the pole, with Austin Cindric leading the charge for the Blue Oval in second. Toyota, which has dominated recently on 1.5-mile tracks, has just two of the top 10 starting positions with a best effort of Christopher Bell in seventh.

RELATED: Starting lineup for Sunday | Set your Fantasy Live lineup

Dustin Albino’s race-day lineup:

Starter 1: Ryan Blaney
Starter 2: Ross Chastain
Starter 3: Christopher Bell
Starter 4: Joey Logano
Starter 5: William Byron
Garage pick: Bubba Wallace

NEXT IN LINE: Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric.

RISING: During Saturday’s qualifying session, Wallace noted that the car he has this weekend is the same one that dominated the final stint of the race at Kansas last month. With how strong that same No. 45 Toyota was at Kansas — leading a career-high 53 laps — it’s worth having him available to play on Sunday.

With how Ford has performed on intermediates this year, I shied away from putting any blue ovals in my lineup earlier in the week. That changed after Saturday. Blaney was the quickest car in practice on the one-lap and 10-lap average. Two-time Las Vegas winner, Logano, will start from fifth.

FALLING: Entering the weekend, Toyota was expected to dominate the race. And that still might be the case come the 400-mile event on Sunday. But it was a Saturday to forget, with Denny Hamlin starting from 31st position (his worst effort of the year on pavement), nearly one second off the pace. Martin Truex Jr. wasn’t much better in 27th after ranking 29th in practice.

As noted earlier in the week, Las Vegas hasn’t been Chase Elliott’s best track. In practice, the No. 9 car ranked 19th and qualified 20th. When asked about his car, he said it wasn’t terrible but needed to drive better. One of the trends for Elliott in the playoffs has been getting out of the hole after a hiccup in the opening race of the round. Starting in the middle of the pack doesn’t help his chances of bucking the trend on Sunday.

FEATURED MATCHUPS:  

Christopher Bell vs. Ryan Blaney: Earlier in the week, Bell would have been the easy choice. But with Blaney and Team Penske showing speed — all three of its cars start in the top five — I’ll give the ever-so-slight advantage to the No. 12 car. Practice is one thing and the race is another. Don’t be surprised if Bell, who was the best of the Toyota bunch, is in contention for the win.

Chase Elliott vs. Joey Logano: On paper, Logano holds every statistical advantage over Elliott at Las Vegas, and don’t expect that to change this weekend. Whenever Ford has shown speed in qualifying this year, it often performs well. Meanwhile, Hendrick Motorsports was a tick off, with just one of its drivers — William Byron — starting in the first six rows.

Denny Hamlin vs. Ross Chastain: Sticking with Chastain on Sunday, especially with how far off Hamlin’s car was on single-lap speed in qualifying. The No. 1 car ranked second in 10-lap average, while Hamlin never made a run of 10 straight laps. Chastain was confident before getting on track Saturday, believing his Trackhouse Racing team has enough speed to race its way into the Championship 4. Go with Chastain this weekend.

William Byron vs. Chase Briscoe: Unless Byron has trouble, expect the No. 24 Chevrolet to outperform Briscoe on Sunday. While the No. 14 car was seventh in practice, he dropped to 16th in qualifying, which is below his average starting position in 2022. The easy choice is Byron.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

LAS VEGAS — AJ Allmendinger carried enormous momentum into Las Vegas Motor Speedway on the heels of back-to-back victories and a pole in Sin City.

But rather than leaving Las Vegas celebrating, luck soured on the No. 16 Kaulig Racing team. A quick pit stop at Lap 162 saw Allmendinger restart third following the final caution of the race — shooting to the lead just one lap after the restart.

Allmendinger immediately felt something wrong with his Chevrolet, though, and radioed saying he felt his right-front wheel was loose. Despite emphatic reassurance from his crew that all lug nuts were tightened, Allmendinger hit pit road at Lap 176 — only to be told that both right-side wheels were loose.

The result dropped Allmendinger to a 22nd-place finish, two laps behind race winner Josh Berry. With Berry locking his way into the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway, Allmendinger now finds himself outside the preliminary list of championship contenders by 16 points.

RELATED: Las Vegas results | At-track photos

The frustration loomed too large for Allmendinger to say much after the race.

“Nothing. Nothing to say,” Allmendinger said. “We tried hard. Wasn’t good enough. Wheel was left loose. That’s it.”

He added he knew by the second lap of the run that something was amiss, but communication between himself and the team forced the decision to pit on Allmendinger.

“They tell me it’s tight, like always, and then leave it on me so I got to make the decision,” Allmendinger said. “Unfortunately, I guess I was right there. So I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but yeah.”

Chris Rice, president of Kaulig Racing, lamented the mistake that cost his driver not only a chance to compete for the win but valuable points as the window to a championship tightens.

“Really wasn’t a miscommunication,” Rice said. “You try to push it as long as you can, you know? You have the changers say they’re tight, but then ultimately you got to listen to the driver and they were loose. Both right sides were loose, and you know, it just ends a frustrating day.”

Allmendinger started on pole for Saturday’s 300-miler but was quick to note Friday that the team still had work to do to find speed throughout the course of a race run. In the end, he had the necessary track position but was plagued by loose lugs.

The series shifts to Homestead-Miami Speedway on Oct. 22 (4:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), another 1.5-mile track — the kind of facilities where Kaulig has struggled most.

“We’ve not been good at all this year at the mile-and-a-halves, and the second round of the playoffs doesn’t play any good to Kaulig Racing,” Rice said. “But you know what, we’re a fighting team and that’s what we do. We fight and we’re gonna fight to the end. We got Homestead next week, we got Martinsville after that, so we’re not gonna quit fighting. This whole group is … the best group in the garage and we just gotta go to work, man.”

The strategy doesn’t change much for the No. 16 team, which always focuses on attacking for race wins. But the points situation now amplifies how critical a victory could be.

“You got to get points,” Rice said. “You go maximize your points today and it’ll take care of itself. So congratulations to JR Motorsports, they’ve been great all year, so [we’ve] just gotta go. We gotta go gain all the points we can gain at Homestead and Martinsville and wherever the cards play out, that’s where they play out.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

LAS VEGAS —  Josh Berry’s resume would indicate he’s a top-shelf short track racer, but the JR Motorsports driver may need to expand that profile. Berry’s No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet led a commanding 65 laps en route to the win in the Alsco Uniforms 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Saturday — his second victory in the last three races on the high-banked 1.5-miler.

Berry took the lead from AJ Allmendinger with 34 laps remaining — the pair racing hard side-by-side at the front of the field on a late race restart. Berry even got shoved into the outside wall before recovering and moving into the lead for his fifth career win.

RELATED: Official results | Weekend schedule

Las Vegas native Noah Gragson — who led a race best 87 laps and earned his season-leading 14th stage win — finished second, 1.125 seconds behind Berry. Justin Allgaier was third, solidifying a JR Motorsports 1-2-3 podium-sweeping effort.

The win is hugely significant, earning Berry the automatic position in the Championship 4 in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 5 — his first opportunity to race for the season title.

“I think I hit the wall like 12 times,” Berry told his team on the radio during the cool-down lap.

When the 31-year-old Tennessee native ultimately climbed out of his Chevy at the finish line, he took time to remove his helmet — standing alongside his Chevy and soaking in the importance of the day and the championship implications — far removed from his job as a bank teller years ago.

“I was a little bit tight off (Turn) 4 the whole time, and [Allmendinger] left me a lane but nothing extra, but I wasn’t letting off,” said Berry, who hadn’t led a lap in the last six races. “That was for a trip to Phoenix and I was willing to hit the wall or whatever. We’ve had a tough couple weeks or months, but we knew we could do this if we were at our best.

“Had a caution with 30 to go and was able to wrestle the lead away from those guys and build enough of a [points] gap to keep it,” Berry said. “I tell you, I’m just speechless.”

Berry’s NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway also capped a memorable afternoon for Chevrolet, marking Chevy’s 500th all-time win in the series and clinching the manufacturer’s sixth consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series Manufacturer’s Championship.

Allmendinger, the regular-season champion, had to pit under green-flag conditions shortly after racing Berry up front for the lead — a pair of loose tires ultimately derailing his day. Allmendinger’s 22nd-place finish in the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet was the lowest among the eight current playoff drivers.

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs and former Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne completed the top five Saturday. Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill, JRM’s Sam Mayer, Kaulig Racing’s Daniel Hemric, JGR’s Brandon Jones and Our Motorsports’ Anthony Alfredo rounded out the top 10.

Allmendinger was the only playoff driver with a finish outside the top 10.

With Berry’s win and automatic berth into the Championship 4, Gragson now leads the standings by 19 points over Gibbs and 29 points ahead of Allgaier.

Hill (-15), Allmendinger (-16), Jones (-29), and Mayer (-36) head into the next round needing to make up points with two races remaining — at Homestead-Miami and Martinsville — to set the four-car championship lineup for Phoenix.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standout Hailie Deegan made her Xfinity debut at Las Vegas — earning a 13th-place finish in her first race.

“I’m pretty excited right now, the guys gave me an amazing car,” Deegan said, noting that she would love the opportunity to race more in the Xfinity Series should a sponsor step up for funding.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to playoff action in next week’s NASCAR triple-header weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway with Saturday’s Contender Boats 300 (4:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Myatt Snider is the defending race winner.

NOTE: Post-race inspection concluded without issue, confirming Berry as the race winner. The No. 54 car was found with one loose lug nut, which will result in a fine.

Posted on by Sean Montgomery

South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
(⏰ 2:30 p.m. ET | 📺 NBC, NBC Sports App | 📻 PRN, SiriusXM)

Everything you need to know for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas, the seventh playoff race of the 2022 campaign.

Where: Las Vegas Valley, Nevada
Approximate start time: 2:30 p.m. ET | Weekend schedule
TV/Radio: NBC, NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio | Full TV schedule
The purse: $7,352,089
Forecast: Sunny, with a high near 83 degrees, according to NOAA.gov | Weather tracker
Race distance: 267 laps | 400.5 miles
Stages: 80 | 165 | 267
Pit-road speed: 45 mph
Caution car speed: 55 mph
Vegas 101: Get the full lowdown
Starting lineup: Reddick rockets to Vegas pole
Pit stalls: See where drivers will pit
Playoff grid: Print yours now

Key things to watch 🔑

Big story line

Coming off the Round of 12, perhaps the biggest wild-card round on the playoff schedule, Las Vegas comes as a breath of fresh air for teams just looking to run their own race. With that being said, the margin of error for title hopefuls is slimmer than ever as the field whittles to eight remaining. Getting a win on Sunday could lock you into Phoenix, taking the stress away from needing clutch performances for the next two weeks. Lose ground on Sunday and you could be playing catch up or mirroring Christopher Bell’s must-win situation from the Charlotte Roval. Will Las Vegas continue to favor seasoned veterans like Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Chase Elliott, or will the fearless five looking to make their respective Championship 4 debuts set the tone?

Who’s hot? Who’s not? 

All eyes will be on the No. 11 of Denny Hamlin this weekend after his scorching resume at the 1.5-mile Nevada track. Hamlin has three top-five finishes in his last four starts, including a win in last season’s playoff race. His performance has been incredibly consistent, leading laps in nine of the last 14 races in Vegas and scoring stage points in 11 of 20. Hamlin’s only non-top-five here in that span was in the spring after he suffered drive-train issues and was forced to retire from the race. In fact, each of the Round of 8 tracks lines up well for Hamlin historically, and he is a good bet for your Fantasy Live lineup on Sunday.

Chase Briscoe put together an incredible performance in the Round of 12, squeezing his way into the penultimate round with a clutch performance at the Charlotte Roval. But once again on the outside looking in, Briscoe will need to match that energy and get off to a hot start Sunday at Las Vegas — a track he has little success at or history for that matter. Briscoe has never led a lap here in the Cup Series and has a career-best finish of 14th accomplished in the spring race. Coming into the round with a chip on his shoulder and an underdog mentality, they are certainly going to be one of the key teams to watch.

Driving under the radar

Looking at non-playoff drivers who can spoil the fun for championship hopefuls, Kyle Busch has to be at the forefront of that conversation in Las Vegas. Busch is arguably the king of the desert track, boasting four consecutive finishes of sixth or better and claiming the all-time record for top 10s and top fives. After seeing an unfortunate end to his title hopes in September, don’t assume we have heard Busch’s final statement in 2022. He might be the one basking in Victory Lane on Sunday afternoon.

Meg Oliphant | Getty Images

Race-day staples ✅

Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.

• Paint Scheme Preview: LaJoie debuts exclusive Optic Gaming scheme | Pick a favorite
• Power Rankings: Will the Round of 8 belong to Denny Hamlin? | Updated driver rankings
• NASCAR betting: Hamlin the early favorite to win Sunday | Underdogs, value bets
• Fantasy Fastlane: Ross Chastain looking for repeat performance | Must starts, sleepers

Catch the pack 💨

Read up on the top headlines from the week leading up to Sunday’s race.

• Kurt’s call: Veteran announces driving plans for 2022, beyond | Read more | Listen here
• Reddick’s turn: RCR, 23XI Racing confirm Reddick’s move to Toyota next season | Read more
• Logano praises Busch: Cup champion gives credit to Kurt for impact on sport | Hear what he said
• New guard: Fresh faces blending in with established guard | Playoff analysis
• Crew chief change: Blake Harris moving to No. 48 next season | Read more
• Stacking Pennies: Mike Helton joins to talk safety, Earnhardt and more | Read more
• Bowman sidelined: No. 48 driver out the next three races | Read more
• Humanitarian Award: Four finalists for 2022 announced | Read more
• Dropped appeal: No. 4 team drops penalty appeal | Read more
• Seven-time: Jimmie Johnson’s new book spotlights life in photos | Read more
• Safety convo: Corey LaJoie gives his perspective on drivers’ meeting |Read more
• JGR props: Make your picks for this weekend’s race | Pick here, compete for prizes
• eNASCAR: Championship trophy renamed after Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Read more

Get in on the action 💰

Think you know NASCAR? Put your mettle to the test with gaming, fantasy.

• Backseat Bets: Who will win head-to-heads in Vegas? | Hear the debate
• The Action Network: Take Logano in the matchup over Elliott | Expert betting insight
• Play it LIVE: Full guide to 2022 NASCAR Fantasy Live game | New rules for playoffs
• Going all the way: 2022 Cup Series championship odds | See them here

Vegas nights and highlights 🌙

Plenty of sleepless nights and memorable moments in Vegas have come after parties in Victory Lane. 

• Do you remember?: Most memorable moments at Las Vegas | Relive them here
• Winner, winner: All-time winners at Las Vegas | See who has the most
• Last year: Denny Hamlin earns statement win in Sin City | Full 2021 race recap
• Race Rewind: Hamlin locks into the Round of 8 after Vegas | Best moments, highlights

Fast facts ⏩

Hard-hitting, race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.

• The 2022 Round of 8 field is the youngest in playoff history.
• Nineteen different drivers won this season, tied for the most all time.
• The Stage 2 winner at Las Vegas won the race seven times, the most of all tracks.
• Chase Briscoe was the only driver to finish top 10 in all three races in the Round of 12.
• The last eight 1.5-mile races were won by eight different drivers, including all seven this season.

Say what? 🎙

Notable quotes from the stars of the sport heading into Sunday’s race.

• “For more than two decades, we have been privileged to watch Kurt Busch compete. He has proven himself a champion on the racetrack, but perhaps just as importantly, he has grown to become a true ambassador for the sport.  Kurt’s drive to improve the future of motorsports has set him apart. We are thrilled that he’ll remain in our sport as a leader and trusted resource. Kurt’s unparalleled passion for racing gives us hope that we will see him in a race car again.”   — Steve Phelps, President, NASCAR

• “I feel great about all of them. All of them are just perfect for what our strengths are. I’m excited. We have been very strong on the intermediates all year and we tested Homestead a few weeks ago. We had a good test at Martinsville and even though we finished bad there in the spring, I feel good about what we have learned since then. We’re going to have to qualify well there, and track position is going to be huge. It’s time to go to work, but yeah, we’re really excited about our prospects in this next round.” — Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, on Round of 8 tracks

• “I enjoy being the underdog and handle it much better when people do doubt us. I know we’re capable, our team knows we’re capable and it really doesn’t matter what other people think. I like not having that pressure, so that’s fine if it continues. We’re going to show up each race and do what we need to do. Even if we’re down, we’re not out and we’ve shown that these last few weeks, so we’ll keep it up and make our way to Phoenix.” — Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

Posted on by Holly Cain

LAS VEGAS —  Tyler Reddick earned his third Busch Light Pole Award of the season Saturday morning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. His Richard Childress Racing No. 8 Chevrolet will lead the field to the green flag in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 playoff race (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The 26-year-old Californian’s lap of 184.603 mph knocked fellow Chevy driver William Byron from the pole position and then Team Penske rookie Austin Cindric finished the session by grabbing the outside pole position on the final qualifying lap of the 10 cars that advanced to the second round.

RELATED: Starting lineup for Sunday | Photos from Las Vegas

Reddick also topped qualifying at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and then at Texas Motor Speedway just three weeks ago. The three pole-tally is a career-best for the third-year Cup Series driver. Only hours before qualifying, Reddick was named to drive the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota next year.

“It’s pretty awesome,’’ a smiling Reddick said of the day’s work.

Interestingly, in the 29 races held to date at the track, no driver has ever won the Las Vegas race starting from the pole position. Kyle Busch was the race winner and pole winner in 2009, but technically he did not actually start from pole position, having to move to the rear of the starting grid after an engine change.

Asked about the difficulty of turning a pole position into a win here, Reddick was surprised to learn the statistic as well.

“Hopefully we’ll change that tomorrow,’’ said Reddick, who did win a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas in 2019.

“I think the track just changes a lot from practice to qualifying,’’ Reddick added, “For us, when we’ve started on the pole or we started toward the front on these mile-and-a-halves, we’ve had a lot of speed and we just unfortunately had some things not go our way.’’

Byron will start third, alongside Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, who boasted the fastest lap in practice. Blaney’s teammate Joey Logano, Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, Wood Brothers’ Harrison Burton, 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace and Reddick’s RCR teammate Austin Dillon rounded out the top 10 on the starting grid. Burton matches his best starting position ever at a non-superspeedway and highest any track since the 2022 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

Only four of the eight playoff contenders – Byron, Blaney, Logano and Bell – advanced into the final round of qualifying. The other four playoff drivers will start a bit farther back, including Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, who will roll off 11th. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe starts 16th with 2020 champion Chase Elliott 20th and JGR’s Denny. Hamlin, 31st in the 36-car field.

Brad Keselowski, who leads all current drivers with three Vegas victories, will start the No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Ford from 25th.

PRACTICE

Ryan Blaney set the tone in Saturday’s split practice session, running the most laps and logging the fastest speed of anyone in the field. Blaney’s 31-lap session topped out at 183.517 mph at a best time of 29.425 seconds around the 1.5-mile circuit. Ross Chastain, who led a race-high 83 laps in the spring race, sprinted to second on the board, trailing Blaney by 0.027 seconds. Erik Jones ( 29.453 seconds), AJ Allmendinger (29.511 seconds) and Austin Cindric (29.527 seconds) rounded out the top five.

RELATED: Practice results

Led by Kyle Busch in 12th, the Toyota brigade seemed to be slightly off the pace. Busch was nearly three-tenths of a second off Blaney, followed closely by race favorite Denny Hamlin in 13th and Bubba Wallace in 14th. Neither of the three cracked the top 15 when it came to the 10-lap average.

Christopher Bell finished lowest of the Round of 8 on the overall practice leaderboard, slotting in 26th, over 0.5 seconds off the top mark.

There were no major incidents in practice.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Staff Report

23XI Racing announced Saturday that Tyler Reddick will drive for the team starting next season, getting a jump on a deal that was originally set to start with the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series campaign.

Richard Childress Racing released a statement Saturday that confirmed the two sides have reached an agreement, releasing the 26-year-old driver from his obligation to the No. 8 Chevrolet team for next season. Reddick will drive the No. 45 Toyota for the Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin-owned team next year.

Reddick will replace Kurt Busch, who announced he will not compete for a championship in a full-time role with the team next year. Busch joined the No. 45 team this season as part of 23XI Racing’s expansion to a two-car operation, but has missed the last 12 Cup Series races after sustaining a concussion in a crash during qualifying July 23 at Pocono Raceway.

MORE: Key players in 2022-23 Silly Season | Busch will not compete for 2023 title

Not long after Reddick’s future was officially announced, he wheeled his current ride to the pole for Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, another positive on an optimistic day for the current RCR racer.

“I’m really excited about next year, but there’s still a number of races left this year that I’m gonna continue to remain focused on and do everything I can for my team to run well and do well,” Reddick said. “But certainly it is nice to know, like, hey, this is what the future is going to hold. I’m going to get to go over there earlier than I planned and just start working on those things that myself and a lot of the ownership over there had talked about wanting to do and why we wanted to get together.”

23XI previously announced over the summer that Reddick would shift his allegiances to the Toyota-backed team in 2024, a move that had ripple effects in the NASCAR free agency market. At the time, Hamlin did not indicate which car Reddick would drive, or whether 23XI would expand to a three-car fleet with Reddick joining Busch and Bubba Wallace as teammates. “I watched him, I raced against him, I wanted him and I got him,” Hamlin said then, “and I didn’t know anything else that goes along with that.”

Saturday’s move firms up the Cup Series driver roster for both organizations. Reddick will team with Wallace, with Busch open to potential part-time duty in a possible third 23XI entry. RCR will move forward with the returning Austin Dillon and newcomer Kyle Busch, who Childress lured from Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota in a blockbuster deal that came together last month.

David Wilson, president of Toyota Racing Development, acknowledged what’s been a recent rocky road for the manufacturer, highlighted by Kyle Busch’s departure to Chevrolet. While Saturday’s announcement surrounding Kurt Busch was bittersweet, Wilson saw bright spots in the final resolution.

“This whole year has been a roller coaster for Toyota,” Wilson said. “We’ve been in the news cycle far too much. And in the first emotion [of Reddick’s arrival] is just relief. It’s like, ‘OK, I think we can focus on racing for a few weeks and not worry about the next announcement, not worry about the next question.’ And so just to have all that sorted has been a relief. Obviously, I think for Tyler and for all parties, this was the natural solution. It gives all of us a lot of peace of mind.”

Reddick was originally set to continue driving for RCR in 2023, but news of Kyle Busch’s contract muddied those waters with the two-time champion set to step into Reddick’s current No. 8 team.

MORE: Reddick didn’t feel ‘in limbo’ with RCR transition

As possible outcomes lingered for what his February looked like, Reddick never wavered, making Saturday’s announcement more straightforward for the two-time Xfinity Series champion.

“I don’t know if [the emotions had] really been that mixed because I mean I wasn’t going to be working with [crew chief] Randall [Burnett] and the team that I’ve worked with … some of the guys on the team for four-plus years,” Reddick said. “I was going to be starting with a new group, something new already. So I guess either way it would have went, I was going to be starting with people that I may not have the most time around, you know, so it was gonna be a new chapter I guess anyway.”

Reddick has enjoyed a breakout season amid all the uncertainty and shifting tides. His first three Cup Series victories (Road America, Indianapolis Road Course, Texas) have all come this year, his third with the Childress-owned team. Reddick was eliminated from the Cup Series Playoffs after the opening Round of 16.

Reddick joined RCR in 2019, claiming his second Xfinity Series championship that year before moving up to the Cup Series the following season. He won his first Xfinity Series title with JR Motorsports in 2018.

Contributing: Zach Sturinolo

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

LAS VEGAS — “Look at … Kurt Busch — still as good as he’s ever been behind the wheel of a race car.”

The commentary from Dale Earnhardt Jr. during Busch’s qualifying run at Pocono Raceway still rings true.

But Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Busch announced his departure from full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing in 2023, noting he will not return to competition in 2022 and leaving the door open to compete part-time next season for 23XI Racing.

The decision comes after Busch, the 2004 Cup champion, sustained a concussion on July 23 at Pocono in qualifying, seconds after Earnhardt’s praise.

“The doctors have come to the conclusion that it’s best for me to shut it down for the season,” Busch said from the track’s media center. “And even though I’ve made solid gains, and been working with all the top specialists, and the team at Toyota Performance Center, I’m still not 100% and I’m still not cleared to race.

“As I continue to focus on my health towards being cleared, I’ll be stepping away from full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition in 2023. My long-term health is priority number one, and I don’t feel committing at this point to compete for a championship next year is in my best interest, or in the best interest of the team.”

MORE: Key players in 2022-23 Silly Season | Reddick moves to 23XI in 2023

The driver of the No. 45 Toyota was victorious at Kansas Speedway in May, qualifying for the playoffs for the 10th consecutive season. Busch has missed every race since the incident at Pocono and symptoms from his crash led to Busch withdrawing his medical waiver for the postseason. But Busch clarified that the Pocono crash wasn’t the only determining factor.

“There’s not one moment or one circumstance that has led to this decision. It’s a layer of things,” Busch said. “And just to be frank and to smile a little bit, I mean, I’ve wrecked a lot of [crap] in my life — old cars, new cars. And so over the years, things add up.

“And you know, different wrecks this year have made it tough and the grind to get back each week to 100%, that was starting to get tough this summer. And then with the accident at Pocono, it’s, again, part of everything that’s kind of added up.”

Nearly three months since his most recent crash, Busch detailed the symptoms still plaguing him as he continues his recovery.Kurt Busch

“I was pushing hard to the first three weeks after the accident. And then with the playoffs starting and not being approved, that emotional week was really tough,” Busch said. “The emotions of this are something that I wasn’t prepared for — nobody’s prepared for anything like this — but mainly the vestibular movements.

“So with head movements and torso movements with my heart rate elevated, that’s when things move quick in my peripheral back to right up front. So it’d be like looking in the mirror, and then being back towards the windshield and around the competitors, checking the dash — like just things are moving quick. And things are slowing down. Things are coming back to me. I just know I’m not at 100%. So the vestibular side is really where I’m focused on with my concussion.”

For Busch, it’s the next chapter of a Cup Series career that includes 34 victories, the first playoff-era championship and a Daytona 500 win in a 22-year period.

The 44-year-old Busch offered an update on his health Sept. 27 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, saying he was “hopeful” about a return to competition this season and noting his progress in the recovery from his Pocono crash. His timetable for a potential comeback, though, remained unclear. “I feel good, and I don’t know when I’ll be back, but time has been the challenge,” Busch said. “He’s … Father Time is the one in charge on this one.”

Nonetheless, Busch was quick to note a step away from full-time Cup racing was likely coming shortly.

“I’m at peace where things are,” he said Saturday. “I was close to the end of my contract, and that full drive for a championship run, I was real close to that [ending] anyhow. And so it just happened a little sooner. But to race part-time and to enjoy things with a little less pressure, I think that will help fulfill things and then close that door.

“But to pursue a championship and to run 36 race weekends week in, week out, it was getting tough for my body to go through no matter what. And so this just changed the course just a little bit. But I’m happy with where things are and my family with the race team, with Monster, with Toyota. There’s gonna be plenty of things to do to keep that passion alive and to write the final chapter.”

Busch’s departure brings Tyler Reddick to the No. 45 team a year ahead of schedule to be Busch’s full-time replacement. The organization announced in July that it had signed the 26-year-old standout to a deal beginning in 2024, but an agreement struck with Richard Childress Racing will release him from his obligations to the No. 8 Chevrolet team next year.

Busch has become an elder statesman of the sport, eager to better the young talent that continues to come through the pipelines. Now, he’ll embrace that role in depth with teammates Bubba Wallace and Reddick.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with 23XI and this team of wonderful professionals,” Busch said. “I appreciate their support and what they’ve shown me over the last few months. I will continue to work with this group. I want to share my wisdom and knowledge and everything that I’ve gained with my unofficial Ph.D. in this garage area that deserves to stay with 23XI.

“We’re building something special here. And I look forward to continuing to work with Bubba Wallace off the track, as well as Tyler Reddick who will join the team next year to drive the No. 45 Toyota.”

Hamlin has maintained that a seat with 23XI Racing would be available when Busch felt comfortable returning to the cockpit. With Reddick and Wallace confirmed as 23XI’s full-time entrants, a return by Busch to part-time Cup Series competition next year would necessitate a third entry with the team.

MORE: Kurt Busch’s driver page | Busch has no regrets

Xfinity Series regular Ty Gibbs will continue his role as a substitute for Busch through the end of the year. Gibbs has been a capable fill-in for Busch, though the 20-year-old rookie’s results have been marked by four DNFs. His best finish thus far was 10th at Michigan International Speedway, where he led the first laps of his Cup Series career.

“We’ve found a diamond in the rough,” Busch said of Gibbs. “I mean, we’ve seen Tyler on track before, but now to really jump into some of the telemetry, to see him on the road courses and the way that he’s just attacking all the time, those are the things that we want as a top driver with our team”

Though Busch bowed out of a postseason appearance, his Kansas victory qualified 23XI Racing’s No. 45 team for the team owners’ playoffs. 23XI shifted Wallace to car No. 45 for the postseason, in an effort to give the team a veteran edge. The No. 45 advanced through the first round but was eliminated from the team owners’ grid after the Round of 12.

Contributing: Staff reports