• Friday, October 18th, 2024
• NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain

Cup Playoffs’ Round of 8 gets underway this weekend at Las Vegas

The penultimate round of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs begins this week with the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) with a shake-up atop the standings and an important three-race slate in front of the Playoff competitors.

The last four NASCAR Cup Series champions are among the eight-driver group vying for a position in the Championship Four that will compete for the title Nov. 10 at Phoenix Raceway.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, the 2021 series champion, won his series’ best sixth race of the year at the Charlotte ROVAL road course Sunday and now leads the standings by a healthy 33 points over defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney, who enters this round in fifth place, just below the cutoff line.

“For myself and I think our team it’s no statements that we’re trying to send to the field, I think the field knows that we’re strong. I think the field knows that we could win at any track,” Larson said after his win Sunday.

“It is nice to win and really more than anything just gain five more points that rolls into the next round. We’ve won stages. We’ve won a couple of races since the Playoffs have started, and that really helps. I’m just excited to kind of get ourselves to the next three great tracks for us and hopefully we can make that final four.”

Just behind Larson in the standings – 13 points back – is Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell. Regular Season Champion, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick is third, 10 points back and Larson’s Hendrick teammate William Byron holds that all-important fourth position, a mere four points ahead of Blaney.

JGR’s Denny Hamlin is sixth, eight points behind Byron with Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, the 2020 series champ, nine points off the line. And the final Playoff driver, Joey Logano is 11 points off the title pace after a dramatic day at Charlotte.

The two-time series champion Logano initially missed out on the final transfer position by a mere four-points – only to receive news a couple hours after Sunday’s checkered flag that his No. 22 Team Penske Ford team was “in” after the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team and driver Alex Bowman – who had initially clinched the eighth Playoff position – were disqualified for failing post-race inspection.

Logano insisted this week he will race no differently going forward now as a championship contender versus how he would have raced if he was eliminated, as he initially thought.

“The same way we would have if we’d made it any other way,” Logano said of the mindset. “You go out there and you attack. The positives, I feel like we’ve been steadily getting better and improving throughout the season to where we are now.

“The stats may not look like it – it may look like we’re underdogs from the outset looking in, but internally we feel very confident in our race team that we can make a run at this thing and get ourselves into the Championship Four,” Logano continued. “We’ve seen it in the past where you get in there and anything can happen at Phoenix.

“The goal right now is to look at the next three races and how do we maximize that. We can point our way in. We’re only 11 out, so it’s not a lot of points by no means. It can happen very quickly, so one race at a time. Right now, the focus is Vegas and we’ll try to maximize the day there.”

When it comes to Vegas, Larson has been a high-roller, winning the last two NASCAR Cup Series races there – three in all. In just the last two races, his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has led 314 of 534 combined laps – 58 percent of the total laps.

Playoff drivers have won eight of the last 11 Las Vegas races – including Larson (three wins), Logano (three wins), Hamlin and Byron. Larson (2018) and Logano (2017) also have NASCAR Xfinity Series wins at the track.

Six of the eight current Playoff drivers finished in the top-10 in March at the track. Reddick was runner-up to Larson. Blaney was third, followed by Hamlin (eighth), Logano (ninth) and Byron (10th).

Logano’s 9.9 average finish in 22 Vegas starts is his best mark at tracks he’s raced at least 10 times. Larson’s 9.3 average finish in 16 races there is tops among the Playoff eight.

Logano and Larson are two of four Playoff contenders to have past victories at all four of the upcoming tracks to close the season – also including Byron and Hamlin.

Among those added to the race entry list this week are Legacy Motor Club’s owner-driver, seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson and Kaulig Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen.

Practice is Saturday at 4:35 p.m. ET, followed by qualifying at 5:20 p.m. ET, – both sessions are available on USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and the NBC Sports App. Bell, who finished runner-up to Larson in last year’s Playoff race, is the defending race polesitter. Logano started on pole in the March race this year.

• Saturday, October 19th, 2024
• NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain

Christopher Bell Collects Third Busch Light Pole Award at Las Vegas

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell earned the pole position for Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – his third pole of the year and third at the 1.5-mile Vegas high banks.

Saturday’s lap of 185.344 mph in the No. 20 JGR Toyota bested fellow NASCAR Cup Series Playoff driver Tyler Reddick’s No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota by a slight .013-second. It marks the 13^th career pole position for the 29-year old Bell, however a win Sunday would be his first victory from the top starting spot on the grid.

The second-place starter has won the last three Las Vegas races. Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch is the last driver to win at Vegas from pole position – in 2009.

“I feel really good, I feel really comfortable,’’ said Bell, who is currently ranked second to Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson in the championship as the three-race Round of 8 takes the green flag Sunday.

“In practice, I don’t think the pace showed what we had but inside the car I felt super, super comfortable so I know we’ll have a shot tomorrow.”

“I’ve been in this position many a time and haven’t won the race . …We’ve come close several times and this is a great race track for me so I’m really optimistic. I think we’ve got the car to do it.” 

Six of the eight Playoff cars advanced to the final round of qualifying including Bell’s JGR teammate Denny Hamlin, who will roll off fourth. Larson – who has won the last two races in Las Vegas – will start fifth, Hendrick’s William Byron and Team Penske’s Joey Logano, who will start ninth and 10^threspectively.

Hendrick’s Alex Bowman,, who was eliminated from Playoff contention just last week, will start third. Spire Motorsports rookie Carson Hocevar will roll off sixth. Trackhouse Racing’ Ross Chastain (seventh) and JGR’s Ty Gibbs (eighth) were the other drivers to advance to the final qualifying round.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott was one of only two Playoff drivers who did not make the final round of time trials and he will start his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 18^th.

The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, had an incident during practice – hitting the wall after cutting a rear tire – and was forced to miss qualifying. He will put a back-up No. 12 Penske Ford on the grid, starting last in the 37-car field.

 “It’ll be a big challenge for multiple reasons, but I feel confident,’’ said Blaney, whose 11.4 average finish at Las Vegas is third best among the Playoff drivers.

“Hopefully, we can make our way through there. We’ve got all race. We might not be able to get stage points in the first one, but hopefully by the second one maybe we’ll get some stage points and then hopefully the speed is good enough to where we can run up towards the front. Yeah, it sets us back a little bit, but this group is ready to go and they know the new task. It’s gonna be a tall one tomorrow, but I’ve got faith we can make the most of it.”

Of note, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will start 29^th in the No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Toyota – the eighth start of the season for the team’s owner-driver. New Zealander Shane Van Gisbergen will start 34^th in the Kaulig Racing No. 16 Chevrolet.

• South Point 400
• Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Christopher Bell
• Age: 29
• Team : No 20 - Rheem Toyota
• Owner: Joe Gibbs
• Crew Chief: Adam Stevens
• Christopher Bell won the Pole Award for the South Point 400 with a lap of 29135 seconds, 185344 mph
• This is his 13th pole in 177 NASCAR Cup Series races
• This is his third pole and 18th top-10 start in 2024
• This is his third pole in ten races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
• Tyler Reddick (second) posted his 20th top-10 start of 2024 and his fourth in ten races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
• Alex Bowman (third) posted his fifth top-10 start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway It is his 12th in 33 races this season
• Carson Hocevar (sixth) was the fastest qualifying rookie

• Drivers Entered: 37
• Laps Scheduled: 267
• Margin of Victory: 0.662 Seconds
• Time of Race: 2 Hours 52 Minutes 24 Seconds
• Average Speed: 139.385
• Cautions: 5 for 32 laps
• Lead Changes: 13
• Green Flag Passes: 3,824 (16.3 passes per green flag lap)

• South Point 400
• Race Winner: Joey Logano
• Age: 34
• Team : No 22 - Pennzoil Ford
• Owner: Roger Penske
• Crew Chief: Paul Wolfe
• Joey Logano won the South Point 400, his 35th victory in 576 Cup Series races With the win, Logano clinches a spot in the Championship 4 in Phoenix
• This is his third victory and 11th top-10 finish in 2024
• This is his fourth victory and 14th top-10 finish in 23 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
• Christopher Bell (second) posted his fifth top-10 finish in ten races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway It is his 21st top-10 finish in 2024
• Daniel Suarez (third) posted his third top-10 finish in 15 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
• Zane Smith (16th) was the highest finishing rookie
• Christopher Bell leads the point standings by 7 points over Kyle Larson