There have been three races so far in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season with three different winners. Will there be a fourth winner this weekend in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway?
Perhaps one of the first three winners of the year will become the first repeat winner of the 2021 season. If that happens for the first two winners of the year, Michael McDowell and Christopher Bell, it would be their second career NASCAR Cup Series win. Should last week’s winner, William Byron, become the first repeat winner of the year it would give him three career victories in NASCAR’s top division.
Here is what those three will be facing if they want to score another win quickly.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway Data
Track Size: 1.5-miles
Banking/Turns 1 & 2: 20 degrees
Banking/Turns 3 & 4: 20 degrees
Banking/Frontstretch: 9 degrees
Banking/Backstretch: 9 degrees
Frontstretch Length: 2,275 feet
Backstretch Length: 1,572 feet
Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube Data
Season Race #: 4 of 36 (03-07-21)
Race Length: 267 laps (400.5 miles)
Stage 1 & 2 Length: 80 laps (each)
Final Stage Length: 107 laps
Las Vegas Motor Speedway is not an easy track to perform well on. Here are the active drivers that have performed the best overall while racing in the NASCAR Cup Series at the track.
Top 10 Driver Ratings at Las Vegas
Kevin Harvick………………………. 104.8
Joey Logano……………………….. 104.6
Kyle Busch…………………………. 100.5
Chase Elliott…………………………. 99.2
Martin Truex Jr………………………. 98.0
Ryan Blaney…………………………. 96.1
Brad Keselowski……………………. 94.4
Kyle Larson………………………….. 93.9
Denny Hamlin……………………….. 85.0
Kurt Busch……………………………. 83.2
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2020 races (19 total) among active drivers at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
The active drivers that have won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during there NASCAR Cup Series are…
Brad Keselowski – 3 Wins
Kevin Harvick – 2 Wins
Joey Logano – 2 Wins (2019 & 2020 Pennzoil 400s at Las Vegas)
Martin Truex Jr. – 2 Wins
Kyle Busch – 1 Win
Kurt Busch – 1 Win (fall 2020 race at Las Vegas)
You can see from the driver ratings and winners that Las Vegas Motor Speedway favors the veteran drivers. That makes the odds in favor of a new winner for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
However, Michael McDowell may have scored his first win this year in the Daytona 500, but he is a 14 year veteran of the NASCAR Cup Series.
Even though the odds may not be in favor of a repeat winner for the 2021 season this weekend, the race is in Las Vegas. It could be a year to beat the odds.
We will have to wait and see what happens. The NASCAR Cup series “Roulette wheel” will begin spinning Sunday, March 7th at 2:30 p.m. central time (3:30 p.m. eastern time). We will see which car lands in the winning spot at the end of the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube Data.
By: Buck Stevens
