This weekend the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series takes on Las Vegas Motor Speedway with the Pennzoil 400.
Last year it was Martin Truex Jr. who was able to come out on top and earned his first win of 2017. That victory set the stage for his dominating championship run, and this year it wouldn’t be surprising to see him repeat that performance.
Last week’s winner Kevin Harvick dominated in Atlanta as he showed speed in qualifying taking the second spot. If last week’s any indication, Stewart Haas racing has its mile-and-a-half program running like a well-oiled machine and should be able to shine once again once the green flag is waved in Las Vegas.
Ryan Blaney takes his first pole of the year in Las Vegas as he looks for his second career victory after winning the Pocono 400 last June.
Team Penske was fast last year at Las Vegas as Blaney’s has finished in the top 10 in his previous two races there, while teammate Brad Keselowski has won two of the last four races (2014, 2016) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Keselowski has actually shined in Las Vegas in the last five years as he also has finished 3rd, 7th, and 5th in 2013, 2015 and 2017 respectively, positioning himself as one of the favorites to win again there.
Penske’s Joey Logano is also a threat to be a top contender on Sunday as he’s been consistently good at Las Vegas where he has finished in fourth place twice (2014, 2017) and second place in 2016. He also has two top-10 finishes, with the most recent coming in 2015 (10th place).
Don’t expect Jimmy Johnson, the all-time winningest Cup Series driver at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, to get his fifth career win there as he could struggle this week. He’s still in his career longest losing streak (25 races) and has not finished in the top 10 since October when he finished seventh the Bank of America 500 in Charlotte.
Kurt Busch could also be in for a rough ride as Las Vegas is his worst track in the entire circuit. His best finish was a ninth place in 2016, but other than that he has not finished better than 20th since 2012.
