NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube
Las Vegas Motor Speedway Track Length: 1.5 Mile Asphalt Oval
Sunday, March 15 4 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 2:30 p.m. ET Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 400.5 miles (267 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 80), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 165), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 267) The Purse: $11,233,037
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series The LiUNA
Las Vegas Motor Speedway Track Length: 1.5 Mile Asphalt Oval
Saturday, March 14 5:30 p.m. ET TV: CW, 5 p.m. ET Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 300 miles (200 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200) The Purse: $1,653,590
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Buckle Up South Carolina 200
Darlington Raceway Track Length: 1.366 Mile Asphalt Oval
Friday, March 20 7:30 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 7:30 p.m. ET Radio: NRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 200.8 miles (147 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 147) The Purse: $839,700
Where To Watch NASCAR This Week:
Saturday, March 14
NOAPS Practice & Kennametal Pole Qualifying (CW App at 12 p.m. ET)
NCS Practice & Busch Light Pole Qualifying (Prime, PRN, SiriusXM at 2:30 p.m. ET)
NOAPS Race: The LiUNA (CW, PRN, SiriusXM at 5:30 p.m. ET)
Sunday, March 15
NCS Race: Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube (FS1, PRN, SiriusXM at 4 p.m. ET)
as Vegas
- In April 1995, construction began on Las Vegas Motor Speedway on a 1,600-acre site located on North Las Vegas Blvd. near Nellis Air Force Base.
- The track’s location had a long racing history dating to a drag strip in 1958. A road course was added in 1983 and a 3/8-mile paved oval in 1985. The site is now the location of a 1.5-mile speedway, an industrial park, a drag strip (3/00), a 1/2-mile dirt track (11/96), a 3/8-mile paved oval (4/00) and two road courses.
- In December 1998, Speedway Motorsports agreed to purchase Las Vegas Motor Speedway for $215 million.
The purchase included the track for $150 million and $65 million for the real estate and warehouses in the surrounding area.
- Speedway Motorsports launched a multimillion-dollar renovation project for LVMS at the beginning of 2006 to include the Neon Garage, track changes (progressive banking was added to the turns), relocated pit road and a state-of-the-art media center.
- The new media center opened in 2007. It can accommodate more than 500 media members and has room for drivers’ meetings and a full-service spa for the racers and their families. The 58,600-square-foot facility is equipped with meeting rooms, offices, interview rooms and a cafeteria. The Blackjack Club is on the third floor of the structure.
- Did you know? The city of Las Vegas is home to six of the top ten largest hotels in the world, including The Venetian and MGM Grand.
NASCAR Cup Series
LAS VEGAS RACE CHARACTERISTICS & RECENT HISTORY
Josh Berry won this race last year, the only first-time winner at Cup in 35 races at Las Vegas
There were a track record 32 lead changes in this race last year
Seven of the last nine Las Vegas races had a MOV of less than one second
The pass for the win came in the final six laps in five of the last eight Las Vegas races
11 of the last 12 Las Vegas races were won from a top-10 starting position
The final green flag stretch was less than 14 laps in only two of the last 11 Las Vegas races
Drivers that finished Top 3 at Vegas last season took 4 tires on every pit stop
Stage Performance Patterns
The stage one winner at Las Vegas went on to win the race six times , the most of all tracks
The stage two winner went on to win 10 of the 17 races at Las Vegas with stages, the most of all tracks
The race winner at Las Vegas swept Stage 1 and 2 five times, the most of any track
Team and Manufacturer Trends
Denny Hamlin (September 2021 and October 2025) is the only Toyota driver to win at Las Vegas in the last 12 races
Hendrick Motorsports drivers won 10 of the 16 stages at Las Vegas in the Next Gen car, no other team won more than two Hendrick Motorsports drivers won five of the last 10 Las Vegas races with three different drivers: Kyle Larson-3, Alex Bowman-1, William Byron-1
Longest Active Top-10 streaks at Las Vegas:
Driver Streak
Alex Bowman 3
Ryan Preece 2
Kyle Larson 2
KYLE LARSON’S LAS VEGAS MASTERY
Leads all drivers at Las Vegas with 819 laps led and eight stage wins, his average finish of 9.0 is the best of all drivers with more than four starts
793 laps led in his 10 races at Las Vegas with Hendrick are enough to rank first in laps led at the track
Finished in the top-two in six of his 10 Las Vegas starts in the #5 car including three wins
First of 26 wins with Hendrick Motorsports came at Las Vegas in March 2021
Won six of the last 10 stages at Las Vegas
Larson’s 1.5-Mile Track Dominance
Kyle Larson has 16 stage wins on 1.5-mile tracks in the Next Gen car, no other driver has more than 8
Kyle Larson has 1,780 laps led on 1.5-mile tracks in the Next Gen car, more than double the next closest driver (Byron – 886)
Kyle Larson led in 20 of the last 21 races on 1.5-mile tracks, dating back to Miami in October 2022
Kyle Larson was the top rated car on speed in both Las Vegas races last season, and was the top rated car on speed at 4 of 9 races on intermediate tracks in 2025
2026 SEASON PERFORMANCE TRENDS
There’s been seven different stage winners in 2026, only Bubba Wallace won multiple (two)
Ryan Blaney became the first stage winner to win in 2026 at Phoenix (won stage 1)
Toyota led more laps in 2026 (512) than Chevrolet and Ford combined (366)
25 of the 35 drivers to run all four races have at least one top-10 finish
10 full-time drivers had their best finish of the season at Phoenix
Erik Jones finished 10th at Phoenix ending a 12 race streak without a top-10 finish
Stage 1 was caution free in the last three races of 2026
Three drivers have more than one top-five finish in 2026: Tyler Reddick-3 (all wins), Ty Gibbs-2 and Christopher Bell2
Bubba Wallace’s average finish of 8.8 in 2026 ranks second to teammate Tyler Reddick (2.75)
Tyler Reddick (three) and Ryan Blaney (two) combined won the last five races dating back to last year
23XI and Team Penske are the only teams with at least one car finishing top-10 in each of the four races this season
Michael McDowell has two top-10 finishes in 2026 (fifth at COTA, ninth at Phoenix), his second top-10 finish of 2025 came in race #16 at Mexico City
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series
JUSTIN ALLGAIER’S RECORD-BREAKING SEASON
Phoenix win broke the series record for most consecutive seasons with a win at 10
29 career wins are tied for 8th on the all-time wins list with Matt Kenseth and one away from tying Joey Logano for 7th
Phoenix win made him the points leader ahead of Richard Childress Racing teammates Jesse Love and Austin Hill
Justin Allgaier and Carson Kvapil are the only drivers with stage points in every race this season
Finished Top 10 in the last nine Las Vegas races, the longest ever top-10 streak there
EARLY SEASON DOMINANCE STORIES
Four different drivers won the first four races of the season: Austin Hill at Daytona, Sheldon Creed at Atlanta, Shane
van Gisbergen at COTA and Justin Allgaier at Phoenix
Chevrolet won all four races, all eight stages and led all but 25 laps in the first four races of the season
Jesse Love is the only driver to finish in the Top 10 in all four races this season
Eleven different organizations have at least one top-10 finish in 2026
Jesse Love is the only Driver to Finish Top 10 in all Four Races:
Track Finish
Daytona 9th
Atlanta 5th
COTA 4th
Phoenix 2nd
5.0 avg finish leads series
Jordan Anderson Racing’s most Top 10s through 4 races
Year Top 10s
2026 6 Ross Chastain 2, Jordan Anderson 1, Jeb Burton 1, Blaine Perkins 1, Rajah Caruth 1
2024 3 Parker Retzlaff 2, Jordan Anderson 1
2025 3 Jordan Anderson 1, Jeb Burton 1, Blaine Perkins 1
2023 1 Parker Retzlaff 1
NASCAR & Las Vegas, Etc.
Historical & Significant Events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:
- In 1995, hotel/casino CEO’s Ralph Engelstad (Imperial Palace) and Bill Bennett (Circus Circus & Sahara), both racing enthusiasts, agreed that there was a market for a “state of the art” speedway in Las Vegas. Richie Clyne, an Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino executive who originally had the vision for the development was assigned to manage the project.
- In April 1995, construction began on a 1600-acre site located on North Las Vegas Blvd. near Nellis Air Force Base.
- The location had a long racing history dating to a drag strip in 1958. A road course was added in 1983 and a 3/8- mile paved oval in 1985. The site is now the location of a 1.5-mile speedway, an industrial park, a drag strip (3/00), a 1/2-mile dirt track (11/96), a 3/8-mile paved oval (4/00) and two road courses.
- The speedway was completed in June 1996. The track had 12-degree banking in the turns, three degrees on the backstretch and nine degrees on the frontstretch. Total seating capacity was 130,000.
- Building of the track was the largest excavation project in Nevada history. More than 600,000 tons of concrete and 10 million linear feet of steel were used to build the $200 million facility.
- On June 22-25, 1996, the first drivers to test the superspeedway were Tony Stewart and Richie Hearn. Hearn went on to win the Inaugural IRL Las Vegas 500K on September 16, 1996, setting a fast time with a speed of 222.359 mph, a world record (since broken) for 1.5-mile tracks.
- In December 1998, Speedway Motorsports agreed to purchase the track for $215 million. The purchase included the track for $150 million and $65 million for the real estate and warehouses. Chris Powell has headed the track since the SMI acquisition in early 1999.
- Speedway Motorsports launched a multimillion-dollar renovation project at the beginning of 2006 to include the Neon Garage, track changes (progressive banking was added to the turns), relocated pit road and a state-of-theart media center.
- The centerpiece of the project was the new garage area for the Cup teams and an interactive fan area. The twolevel, four-building garage area encompasses 32,000 square feet. A 52,000-square-foot roof deck allows fans to look directly down into the individual garage stalls. Windows on the lower level allow fans to watch the teams work. In addition to the close proximity, the Neon Garage has concession stands and an entertainment area.
- The most dramatic change was to the track, as the banking was increased, and a new pit road was built. The turns changed from 12-degree banking to 20 degrees and each straight to nine degrees. The new pit road is 150 feet closer to the grandstands. Moving pit road allowed for construction of a quarter-mile oval in front of the main
grandstand.
NASCAR
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Photos & Graphics Courtesy of NASCAR