The Cup Series continues today as it returns to Sin City and Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the 2026 Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube. A 1.5 mile tri-oval with 20 degrees of banking in the turns and nine degrees of banking on both the frontstretch and backstretch, Las Vegas Motor Speedway first opened in 1971 and has tested the best of the best in the Cup Series since 1998. Toyota has been the top dog this season, flexing its muscle in all four races and winning three of them so far. Locking down the top four spots and five of the top seven spots in Qualifying, could it be another dominant day for “them cheating Yotas?” In the 28 past editions of this race, Toyota has just three wins, with their most recent coming in 2017. If past history says anything, this will be the week for Chevrolet and Ford to even the playing field. But with the speed of those Toyota Camrys, it may be time to rewrite some history.
With this Gen Seven car, intermediate tracks went from being boring racing to some of the best racing in the series, and Las Vegas has shown to be one of the best examples, with 13 different drivers leading a lap last year and pit strategy proving to be vital, all the while trying to make the right moves with cars nearing 200 mph. This is arguably the first week where raw speed truly matters. As expected, Toyota paced the way across the board. But once the race starts, will Chevrolet and Ford have their cars dialed in to handle better and close that speed deficit? Passing is possible, but track position trumps all this afternoon. As we saw last year with Josh Berry, as well as with Kyle Larson yesterday, clean air can make or break a driver’s day. Running a contrarian strategy and getting that perfectly timed caution could very well be the different between the favorites setting sail or having an upset victor for the second consecutive year. How far can a driver push their car will be the last deciding factor. With multiple racing lines at this track, drivers can wrap the white line around the bottom of the track for the shortest possible distance, or running a few inches off the wall at the top of the track to carry the most speed. Both lines were proven successful (See Kyle Larson versus Chase Briscoe) yesterday, and they can absolutely work again this afternoon. Expect plenty of drivers to full send it and hope it sticks over the course of 400 miles today as they chase the victory in Sin City.
The Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube was first held in 1998 and has produced an elite list of winners through the years. Jimmie Johnson has won this race the most times, finding Victory Lane four times in his career, including three straight years from 2005-2007. Matt Kenseth has won this race three times, while Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, and Joey Logano are also multi-time winners of this race.
Last year’s edition was won by Josh Berry, who used an alternate pit strategy to make his way to the front late in the going and lead 18 laps on the way to earning his first career Cup Series victory. Daniel Suarez led 12 laps on the way to a runner-up finish, Ryan Preece equaled his career-best finish with a third place performance, William Byron led 10 laps on the way to a fourth place performance, and Ross Chastain rounded out the top five after leading 14 laps. Austin Cindric won Stage One and led 47 laps on the way to a sixth place finish, Alex Bowman led two laps on the way to a seventh place finish, and Kyle Larson won Stage Two and led a race-high 61 laps on the way to a ninth place finish. Joey Logano led 40 laps on the way to a 15th place finish, Polesitter Michael McDowell led five laps on the way to a 16th place finish, Tyler Reddick led 34 laps on the way to a 24th place showing, Erik Jones led one lap on the way to a 27th place finish, Bubba Wallace led 20 laps on the way to a 29th place finish, and Kyle Busch led three laps on the way to a 33rd place showing.
Coverage of the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube can be seen on Fox Sports One, with pre-race starting at 2:30 PM EST and green flag coverage beginning at 4 PM EST.
It’s always a gamble (Get It? Since we’re in Las Vegas, nudge, nudge.) to fade the defending champion of a race, but that’s exactly what we’re doing today. Josh Berry earned first career Cup Series victory in this race last season. Berry would go on to finish the 2025 season with one win, three top five finishes, and eight top 10 finishes on the way to a 16th place finish in the Driver Standings. In his second season with the Wood Brothers, Berry has struggled so far, backing up a ninth place finish in the Daytona 500 with three straight finishes of 26th or worse to rank 31st in the Driver Standings. So far this weekend, Berry has been driving a boulder as he attempts to defend his victory, posting the 29th fastest lap of Practice before qualifying in 32nd position. Outside of his victory last year, Berry has finished 20th or worse in each of his other four Las Vegas starts. Berry will likely make up some ground on the long run, but I predict he will once again log a finish of 20th or worse in Sin City.
Ryan Preece got off to a fast start in 2026 by taking the victory at the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray. He’s cooled off now that the season is underway, but has remained consistent, posting a top 10 finish at EchoPark and three top 20’s in the first four races to rank 18th in the Driver Standings, just eight points below the cutline for The Chase. At first glance, Preece doesn’t jump off the page as a threat on intermediate tracks, given his background in short track racing, but Preece turned heads in his first season at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing last year, posting five top 10 finishes on intermediate tracks, including at both Las Vegas races. His third place finish in the spring equaled his career-best Cup Series finish and kickstarted his 2025 campaign, posting a career-best 18th place finish in the Driver Standings. Preece didn’t wow in Practice yesterday, finishing 21st in the session, but he pulled it together on his qualifying lap to lock in an eighth place qualifying position for this afternoon’s race. A victory for Ryan Preece would be unhearlded, but locking down a third straight top 10 finish in Las Vegas seems like a safe bet (I think I’m hilarious, by the way.).
Did you really think we would take a trip to Las Vegas and not talk about Yung Money? If so, you’d have lost that wager (Laughter from the audience.). Kyle Larson is statistically the best driver at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, posting three wins, nine top five finishes, 14 top 10’s, 17 top 20’s, and 819 laps led in 19 career starts. In 10 Las Vegas starts since joining Hendrick Motorsports, Larson has three race wins, eight Stage wins, and three runner-up showings. Safe to say Larson knows a thing or two about finding success at this track. Larson has started to round into form the last two weeks, finishing sixth at Circuit of the Americas and third at Phoenix to jump into the top 10 in the Driver Standings. The winner of yesterday’s O’Reilly (Don’t sing the jingle. Don’t sing the jingle.) Auto Parts Series race, Larson showed solid pace in Practice, ranking inside the top five on 5 Lap Averages and lying down the eighth fastest lap of the session. Rolling out from fifth position today, expect Larson to undoubtedly lead some laps and be a threat for the win late in the race on the way to another top 10 finish in Las Vegas.
Maybe the most consistent driver at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that is not named Kyle Larson, William Byron has also put together some strong runs time and time again in the Silver State, winning the 2023 edition of this race and posting one win, four top five finishes, seven top 10’s, and leading 298 laps during this stretch. Byron is looking to build today on a seventh place finish at Phoenix last weekend, his first top 10 finish of the season, and so far this weekend, mission accomplished. Byron logged the seventh fastest lap of Practice and showed great short run and long run pace, ranking inside the top 10 on 5 and 10 Lap Averages and ranking inside the top five on 15, 20, 25, and 30 Lap Averages. Byron parlayed that speed (I got jokes for days, folks!) into a ninth place starting position and has to feel very hopeful about his chances. Byron is racing his redemption race this afternoon, looking to make up for what happened at the Las Vegas race last fall, where he led 55 laps and took the lead on a green flag pit cycle before crashing into Ty Dillon, who was trying to make his green flag pit stop. Byron would ultimately finish 36th on the day, killing any momentum he had at winning the Championship. After a strong start to the season by Toyota, I predict that William Byron will take the fight to them this afternoon in his #24 Chevrolet by claiming his fist victory of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway!
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