March 16, 2026
Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing won the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday with the best car in the field. Hamlin started the race from second, but quickly took the lead from Christopher Bell after two laps. The No. 11 Toyota driver led most of the first stage, but in the final couple of laps, his car experienced enough tire wear that he lost grip, causing him to be slow enough for Bell and Kyle Larson to pass him. Hamlin obtained eight stage points as a result of finishing third at the end of the first stage. During the pit stop between the first and second stage, Hamlin sped on pit road, sending him to the back of the pack on a penalty. Hamlin spent the rest of the second stage trying to recover from the penalty, and he did, making it up to fifth by the end of the stage and collecting six more stage points. In the final stage, Hamlin continued his ascent to the front and passed William Byron for the lead on lap 185. Outside of a caution that caused him to restart second, Hamlin dominated the rest of the stage to earn his third Las Vegas victory, holding off Chase Elliott at the end before his car's tires completely wore out. With his first victory of the 2026 season, Hamlin now moves to fourth in the regular-season standings.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
March 16, 2026
Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott finished Sunday's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as the runner-up. Elliott began the race mid-way through the pack in the 15th position, but progressively worked to the front over time. In the first stage, he made it up from 15th all the way to the eighth position, ending the first stage with three stage points. In the second stage, Elliott started making it to the top five, peaking at third, but by the end of the stage, he faded back to ninth and earned two more stage points. In the final stage, Elliott returned to the top five and stayed there as his car improved on handling and speed to compete for the win. Elliott made it up to second and, in the closing laps, was chasing Denny Hamlin for the win, but the race ended before Elliott could fully catch up and make a move for the win. This was Elliott's first top-5 finish in the Next-Gen car at Las Vegas, and he is now fifth in the regular-season standings after five races.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
March 16, 2026
William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports finished in third place for the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday. The No. 24 Chevrolet driver first started the race from ninth, but quietly gained a few positions in the first stage. By the end of the stage, he made it to sixth and earned five stage points. In the second stage, Byron made it to the top five and helped his teammate Kyle Larson obtain the lead. He eventually got by Christopher Bell and then, in the closing laps of the second stage, passed Larson and went on to win the second stage. In the final stage, Byron began by fighting with Larson for the lead and eventually getting ahead of him for a couple of laps, until Denny Hamlin made it to the front and passed Byron. From there, Byron never saw the lead again, but ran most of the race inside the top five and kept his car clean until he eventually finished third behind Hamlin and his other teammate, Chase Elliott. This was Byron's best Las Vegas Cup finish since his win at the site in March 2023, and he is now seventh in the regular-season standings after five races.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
March 16, 2026
Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell was highly competitive and was one of the top drivers in Sunday's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but did not get the victory. Bell started the race at the front in the pole position, but quickly lost the lead to his teammate Denny Hamlin after the opening two laps. He then lost further positions to his other teammate, Ty Gibbs, and Kyle Larson before the first round of green flag pit stops. From there, the No. 20 team improved the car, and Bell returned to the lead and never looked back for the rest of the stage, winning and nabbing 10 stage points. In the second stage, Bell ran inside the top five throughout most of the stage. Although he challenged Larson and William Byron for the lead at a few points, Bell could not keep up and ended the stage in third. In the final stage, Bell continued to run in the top five, and although there were a few points where he was competing for the lead, he could not keep up with Hamlin, Chase Elliott, and William Byron, settling for fourth place by the end of the race. This was Bell's third consecutive top-5 result of the season and now sits sixth in regular-season points after five races.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
March 16, 2026
Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports finished in the seventh position for Sunday's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Larson began the race from the fifth position with one of the fastest cars early on. The No. 5 Chevrolet driver went from fifth to finishing second at the end of the first stage behind Christopher Bell, scoring nine stage points. In the second stage, Larson made his way to the lead thanks to a push from his teammate William Byron. Larson eventually went on to lead 62 laps, the second-most of all drivers for the day, but lost out on the lead to Byron at the end of stage two. Nine more stage points were scored for Larson. Although Larson started the final stage in the lead thanks to winning the race off of pit road during the stage break, he quickly lost the lead again to Byron after a restart. Larson kept his car clean for the rest of the race, but it lacked the handling to keep up with the top competitors. The Hendrick driver placed seventh, earning his seventh consecutive top-10 finish at Las Vegas. Larson now sits eighth in the regular-season points standings after five races this year.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
March 15, 2026
After last week's disappointing second-place finish at Phoenix (after dominating for most of the race), Christopher Bell has picked up where he left off and the No. 20 team has brought another hot rod to the track this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In practice on Saturday, Christopher Bell was the quickest, and then he went out and posted the fastest lap time in qualifying as well. That means Bell and the No. 20 Toyota will lead the field to the green for this year's Pennzoil 400. The last time Bell started on the pole at this race track, he led 155 laps en route to a second-place finish. Most likely, the main dominator for Sunday's Pennzoil 400 is going to be either Christopher Bell or his teammate, Denny Hamlin. They're both solid DFS picks for this race.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
March 15, 2026
Don't be surprised if Denny Hamlin contends for another win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is a two-time winner in Sin City, and is also the most recent winner, as the No. 11 Toyota went to victory lane last October despite only leading nine laps after starting on the pole. Hamlin's other Las Vegas win came back in the 2021 fall race. In addition to those two wins, Hamlin's track record at Vegas is solid, with results of 11th or better in nine of the last 11 races, five of which were also top-five finishes. The No. 11 Toyoya was also a standout in practice on Saturday, posting the fastest 10-lap average while ranking second-best in 30-lap average. Barring any major issues during the race on Sunday afternoon, you can expect Denny Hamlin to contend for the race win at Las Vegas yet again.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: NASCAR.com
March 15, 2026
One of the surprises in qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend was Chase Briscoe, who was one of the best at getting a good starting spot in the Cup Series last season. However, Briscoe disappointed a bit this weekend, and he will start back in 18th for Sunday afternoon's Pennzoil 400. What made it even more surprising is that Briscoe's teammates (Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, and Ty Gibbs) qualified first, second, and third for this race. However, as the old mantra says, it's not where you start, it's where you finish, and Briscoe should be just fine on race day. He finished fourth here at Las Vegas last fall, and over the last four high-speed 1.5-mile tracks overall, he has ended up inside the top five each time. At just $9,200 on DraftKings and with the Place Differential upside he has, Chase Briscoe is a great DFS play on Sunday.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: On3
March 15, 2026
It's rare to use the phrase "flying under the radar" in the same sentence as Chase Elliott, but here we are. With so many eyes on the favorites (like Kyle Larson) and the Toyotas at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend, paired with the fact that Chase Elliott wasn't overly fast in practice and qualified midpack in 15th, NASCAR's most popular driver is kind of flying under the radar. But should he be? The No. 9 Chevrolet had the fifth-best average finish on this track type in 2025 along with the fifth-best average driver rating, plus Chase went to victory lane at Kansas last year, which is the sister track to Vegas. As far as DFS goes, Elliott is a viable option at $9,000 on DraftKings since his 15th-place starting spot gives him some Place Differential upside. The concerning thing, however, is the fact that Elliott has just one top-10 finish here at Las Vegas over his last six starts. Maybe him flying under the radar this weekend isn't a fluke.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
March 15, 2026
In the Next Gen era, very few drivers have been as consistent as Ross Chastain at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In the eight races at this track with this car, Chastain has posted five top-five finishes and has just one result worse than 12th. It's safe to say that the track style of Las Vegas plays well into Chastain's hands. For this weekend's Pennzoil 400, the No. 1 Chevrolet will roll off the starting grid from 17th-place on Sunday. In practice, Chastain wasn't blazing fast, but he did post a respectable lap average, ranking 12th-best in 20-lap average for the day. Given his track history, though, you have to consider Ross for DFS lineups this weekend. He has solid Place Differential upside and comes at an affordable salary ($8,500 on DraftKings).
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
March 15, 2026
It has been a while since Ty Gibbs has been consistently in the conversation of, "will he finally get a win?" However, after contending at Phoenix last weekend, and having a great practice and qualifying session at Las Vegas this weekend, people are talking about Ty Gibbs again. In addition to qualifying third for this weekend's Pennzoil 400, Gibbs and his No. 54 Toyota were also blazing fast in practice, posting the fastest average lap time in the 20-, 25-, and 30-lap average categories. As far as track history goes, Ty does have a fifth-place finish to his credit here at Las Vegas (back in 2024), but all six of his other starts here have ended with him outside of the top 20 entirely. Obviously Gibbs has speed this weekend, but there's a big question mark on whether he will be able to bring home the finish.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
March 15, 2026
All signs are pointing to Brad Keselowski being a great DFS pick on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Although two of the three Roush-Fenway Keselowski Racing Fords were solid in qualifying on Saturday, Keselowski brought up the rear for the trio and will start back in 28th-place for the Pennzoil 400. That gives Brad very high Place Differential upside at a very affordable salary (just $6,900 on DraftKings). As far as track history goes, Las Vegas Motor Speedway has been good to Keselowski, and in the Next Gen era as of late, he has been rock solid, with four finishes of 13th or better over the last five Vegas contests. Just last fall, Keselowski started 34th and finished 10th here. Don't be surprised if he has a similar performance this weekend as well.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
March 15, 2026
Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports will start in the fifth position for this week's Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Pennzoil 400. Larson is the highest-qualifying Chevrolet driver in the field this week for Las Vegas. In 19 Cup races at the site, Larson has three wins, 14 top-10 finishes, an average finish of 9.0 (best of all drivers), and 819 laps led, which is the most of active drivers. He also won the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race at the site on Saturday. Through four races this year, Larson has two top-10 finishes, an average finish of 14.3, and sits 10th in the regular-season standings. In practice for this week's race, Larson ranked first in overall lap averages and ranked 17th in 15 consecutive lap averages. Considering how Vegas is one of Larson's top tracks, he can be a threat to win during any race at the site while he is still driving the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
March 15, 2026
William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports will start ninth in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Byron's starting position for this week's race continues a perfect streak of the No. 24 Chevrolet driver starting in the top 10 in every Vegas Cup race since October 2023. In 16 Cup races at the site in his career, Byron has one win, eight top-10 finishes, including five of the last six Cup events, and an average finish of 15.0. After the first four races of the season, Byron has one top-10 finish with an average finish of 15.0. In practice for this week's race, Byron ranked 14th in overall lap averages and displayed top-10 speeds in the 10-30 consecutive lap average categories, including second in 20 and 25 consecutive lap averages. Las Vegas is one of the better tracks in the Cup Series for Byron, and although he may not offer much upside, his car has shown to be fast enough to compete for a top-5 finish in pre-race events.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
March 15, 2026
Ryan Blaney of Team Penske will start in the sixth position for the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This will be the first time that Blaney will start inside the top 10 at a Vegas Cup race since 2023. In 19 Cup starts at the site, Blaney has 10 top-10 finishes with an average finish of 15.2. Through the first four Cup races this season, Blaney has one win, three top-10 finishes, an average finish of 11.5, and is currently second in the regular-season standings. In practice for this week's Cup race at Las Vegas, Blaney ranked 25th in overall lap averages and 10 consecutive lap averages. Although his practice speeds were underwhelming, Blaney has displayed plenty of raw speed on 1.5-mile Intermediate tracks in recent years and should not be overlooked as a tournament option, especially after winning last week's race at Phoenix.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
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