Race Lineup

South Point 400

Sunday, October 15th, 2023

Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV

  • 16 Chevrolet
  • 14 Ford
  • 6 Toyota

  • Las Vegas Motor Speedway
  • South Point 400
  • Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Christopher Bell
  • Age: 28
  • Team : No. 20 - Rheem/Smurfit Kappa Toyota
  • Owner: Joe Gibbs
  • Crew Chief: Adam Stevens
  • Christopher Bell won the Pole Award for the South Point 400 with a lap of 28.98 seconds, 186.335 mph.
  • This is his 10th pole in 141 NASCAR Cup Series races.
  • This is his sixth pole and 22nd top-10 start in 2023.
  • This is his second pole in eight races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
  • Kyle Larson (second) posted his 19th top-10 start of 2023 and his 10th in 15 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
  • William Byron (third) posted his fifth top-10 start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is his 21st in 33 races this season.
  • Ty Gibbs (11th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

  • Sunday, October 15th, 2023
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Kyle Larson clinches Championship 4 berth with win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Kyle Larson earned this trophy the old-fashioned way. The driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet led the most laps and swept both stage wins but still had to hold off a hard-charging, equally motivated Christopher Bell at the finish line to claim a dramatic victory in Sunday’s South Point 400 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The 31-year-old Larson blocked the final charge by fellow Playoff driver Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota as the two cars approached the checkered flag. Larson ultimately positioned his Chevy in front to claim a .082-second win and most importantly, secure the first of four available positions in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 race at Phoenix in three weeks.

It was a compelling afternoon ushering in this final three-race, eight-driver round of Playoff competition to set up the four-driver title chase. There were seven race leaders and 20 lead changes. Larson held off the field on a re-start with 45 laps to go and never relinquished it despite quality challenges from Bell to close out the race and earlier, Roush Fenway Keselowski owner-driver Brad Keselowski, who led 38 laps himself.

Larson led seven times and accumulated the most laps led – 133 of 267 – on the afternoon to top the 1,000-laps led mark on the season – his 1,031 total laps out front in 2023, most in the series.

Not only did he have to hold off Bell, who made up half a second in the closing five laps to get to Larson’s bumper, the 2021 series champ Larson survived a close call mid-race, his Chevy getting loose and out of control. But the former dirt race champion dramatically corrected and calmly carried on.

“Thankfully Christopher [Bell] always races extremely clean, it could have gotten crazier than it did coming to the start-finish line so “thank you” to him for racing with respect there,’’ Larson said. “What a job done by my team. Just a great race car.

“I almost gave it away there in Turn one and two. Got sideways and hit the wall and had to fight back from there. I was happy to pull away as much as we did and was hoping that would be enough to maintain, which it was. But I didn’t think they’d be able to get as close as they did at the end, so nerve-wracking.

“This is really cool to get to race for the championship in a few weeks and really glad I don’t have to stress these next two races,’’ Larson continued.

Despite the impressive afternoon Bell, who started from pole position and led 61 laps now finds himself ranked fifth – three points below the four-driver cutoff line heading into next week’s Playoff race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“I don’t know what else I could have done,’’ Bell said. “I feel like that was my moment, that was my moment to make the Final Four and didn’t quite capture it. Coming to the checkers there, I knew he was going to be blocking so I’m like I’ll try to go high, and he went high. I don’t even know if I had a run to get by him coming to the line. Just wasn’t enough, but a great day. Great day for sure to get those stage points and a second place finish out of it. Puts us behind by two [points] so we’re not out of it by any means, but would have been nice to lock in.’’

Seven of the eight remaining Playoff-eligible drivers finished among the Top 10. Playoff driver Ryan Blaney finished 36th. His No. 12 Ford was disqualified following post-race technical inspection when the left front damper didn’t meet the specified length. He now sits 56 points below the cutoff line for the Championship 4 and essentially must win one of the next two races – at Homestead-Miami Speedway or Martinsville Speedway – to advance.

The non-Playoff cars of Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch, RFK’s Keselowski and Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain rounded out the top five behind Larson and Bell.

Playoff drivers William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and Chris Buescher finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

The race shook up the Playoff points. Beyond Larson’s automatic bid, Byron still holds the championship lead in what is now more tightly-bunched standings. Byron is 11 points above the cutoff line, and is followed for the final championship spots by Hamlin (+4) and Truex (+3).

Bell sits three points below Truex on the cutoff line, followed by Reddick (-15), Buescher (-23) and Blaney (-56).

Hendrick Motorsports executive – and NASCAR Hall of Famer driver Jeff Gordon – smiled when asked about Larson’s day.

“I don’t know where to begin,’’ Gordon said. “It certainly looked like they were the class or the field at one point, then Bell did then Keselowski did. Great race really.”

Asked if Larson was potentially as “good” as the 93-race winner Gordon had been when competing, the former four-time series champion said, “You take a guy like Kyle and his capabilities and his talent and he’s impressed me with his work ethic too. I wasn’t sure how he approached the Cup Series and [crew chief] Cliff [Daniels] and all the data that Cliff gives him in the meetings they have. .. it’s a lot of information you have to absorb.

“But he’s stepped up to the plate and done absolutely everything the organization has asked of him and then some. It’s been a great relationship and this year has been all about getting the car and team to align.

“Seems like in the Playoffs they’ve been bringing fast race cars and stepping up to the plate.”

  • Drivers Entered: 36
  • Laps Scheduled: 267
  • Margin of Victory: 0.082 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 2 Hours 57 Minutes 10 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 135.635
  • Cautions: 7 for 36 laps
  • Lead Changes: 20
  • Green Flag Passes: 3,549 (15.4 passes per green flag lap)

  • Las Vegas Motor Speedway
  • South Point 400
  • Race Winner: Kyle Larson
  • Age: 31
  • Team : No. 5 - HendrickCars.com Chevrolet
  • Owner: Rick Hendrick
  • Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
  • Kyle Larson won the South Point 400, his 23rd victory in 328 Cup Series races.
  • This is his fourth victory and 16th top-10 finish in 2023.
  • This is his second victory and 11th top-10 finish in 15 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
  • Christopher Bell (second) posted his fourth top-10 finish in eight races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is his 17th top-10 finish in 2023.
  • Kyle Busch (third) posted his 15th top-10 finish in 25 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
  • Ty Gibbs (34th) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • Kyle Larson leads the point standings by 7 points over William Byron.
Christopher Bell leads the field to the green flag
Las Vegas, Nevada - October 15, 2023 : Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem/Smurfit Kappa Toyota, leads the field to the green flag to start the NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Sean GardnerGetty Images
Race lineup for the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
START VEH # DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR TEAM CREW CHIEF
1 20 Christopher Bell Toyota Rheem / Smurfit Kappa Joe Gibbs Racing Adam Stevens
2 5 Kyle Larson Chevrolet Valvoline / HendrickCars.com Hendrick Motorsports Cliff Daniels
3 24 William Byron Chevrolet Relay Payments Hendrick Motorsports Rudy Fugle
4 19 Martin Truex Jr Toyota Bass Pro Shops Joe Gibbs Racing James Small
5 17 Chris Buescher Ford Travel Centers of America Rfk Racing Scott Graves
6 8 Kyle Busch Chevrolet Morgan & Morgan Richard Childress Racing Randall Burnett
7 23 Bubba Wallace Toyota DoorDash x Roku 23xi Racing Bootie Barker
8 45 Tyler Reddick Toyota Jordan Brand 23xi Racing Billy Scott
9 22 Joey Logano Ford Pennzoil Team Penske Paul Wolfe
10 1 Ross Chastain Chevrolet Worldwide Express Trackhouse Racing Phil Surgen
11 54 Ty Gibbs Toyota Monster Energy Joe Gibbs Racing Chris Gayle
12 12 Ryan Blaney Ford Menards\Tarkett Team Penske Jonathan Hassler
13 10 Aric Almirola Ford IHOP Stewart-haas Racing Drew Blickensderfer
14 48 Alex Bowman Chevrolet Ally Hendrick Motorsports Blake Harris
15 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota Mavis Tires & Brakes Joe Gibbs Racing Chris Gabehart
16 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet BetMGM Richard Childress Racing Keith Rodden
17 14 Chase Briscoe Ford Code 3 Associates Stewart-haas Racing Richard Boswell
18 34 Michael McDowell Ford TBA Front Row Motorsports Travis Peterson
19 2 Austin Cindric Ford Autotrader Team Penske Brian Wilson
20 31 Justin Haley Chevrolet LeafFilter Gutter Protection Kaulig Racing Trent Owens
21 6 Brad Keselowski Ford BuildSubmarines.com Rfk Racing Matt McCall
22 16 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet Nutrien Ag Solutions Kaulig Racing Matt Swiderski
23 43 Erik Jones Chevrolet Allegiant Legacy Motor Club Dave Elenz
24 4 Kevin Harvick Ford Mobil 1 Stewart-haas Racing Rodney Childers
25 42 Carson Hocevar Chevrolet Sunseeker Resorts Legacy Motor Club Luke Lambert
26 51 JJ Yeley Ford ConectUS Rick Ware Racing Billy Plourde
27 77 Ty Dillon Chevrolet Gainbridge Spire Motorsports Bono Manion
28 7 Corey Lajoie Chevrolet NEGU Spire Motorsports Ryan Sparks
29 38 Todd Gilliland Ford Frontline Enterprises Inc. Front Row Motorsports Ryan Bergenty
30 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Chevrolet Smith's/Drumstick Jtg Daugherty Racing Mike Kelley
31 78 BJ McLeod Chevrolet BretBaier.com Live Fast Motorsports David Ingram
32 41 Ryan Preece Ford HaasTooling.com Stewart-haas Racing Chad Johnston
33 21 Harrison Burton Ford DEX Imaging Wood Brothers Racing Jeremy Bullins
34 15 Brennan Poole Ford MACC Door Systems Rick Ware Racing Jerry Kelley
35 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet LLumar Hendrick Motorsports Alan Gustafson
36 99 Daniel Suarez Chevrolet Tootsies Orchid Lounge Trackhouse Racing Travis Mack