The NASCAR Cup Series season continued on March 5 with a trip to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The early-season Chevrolet dominance continued and it headlined an odd event that only featured two cautions for cause.
Joey Logano started the Pennzoil 400 from the pole, but he ended the day 36th overall after hitting the wall. Instead, Chevrolet drivers spent the majority of the race at the front of the pack while only facing challenges from Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., and Bubba Wallace in Toyotas.
William Byron, in particular, swept all three stages while leading a race-high 176 laps. Teammate Kyle Larson (second) led 63 laps of his own while Alex Bowman (third) led two. The driver of the No. 48 also spent the overwhelming majority of the day in the top 10 while scoring points in all three stages.
“I think it’s good to see when you’re on this side of it, right?” Bowman said after finishing third. “Just proud of all the work all offseason from everybody at Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports, and it’s been really good so far.”
As further evidence of this dominance, there were five Chevrolets in the top 10. Justin Haley (eighth) and Daniel Suarez (10th) joined Byron, Larson, and Bowman. Bubba Wallace (fourth), Christopher Bell (fifth), Austin Cindric (sixth), Martin Truex Jr. (seventh), and Kevin Harvick (ninth) made up the rest of the top 10.
Larson was the driver to beat late in the final stage as he built up a more than three-second lead over Byron. The driver of the No. 24 did not have time to chase down his teammate, but a late caution involving Aric Almirola forced the field to line up once again. This is when Byron took advantage and took back the lead for the final time.
The Lack of Cautions Was Relatively Unexpected
GettyWilliam Byron does a burnout at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was tame. There were no cautions during the first two stages, other than the breaks, and the only mishaps were speeding penalties issued to drivers such as Noah Gragson and Michael McDowell.
The intensity increased in the final stage, but it did not lead to a rash of incidents. There were only two cautions for cause. One was for Logano hitting the wall after getting pinched by Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch. The other was for Aric Almirola spinning and hitting the wall with four laps remaining.
This lack of caution flags led to long green flag runs where the drivers had to contend with some tire wear and fuel mileage. It also provided the leader with an opportunity to build up a massive lead, something that both Byron and Larson did throughout the race.
“I think we’re all getting better, period,” said Rudy Fugler, Byron’s crew chief. “We’re finally figuring out more and more what this car needs to make it race. You saw some cars run really good the entire race. Ross [Chastain] was pretty dominant last week, period. I think he almost led half the laps.
“You see that happening more. You hit on it; it’s just going to keep evolving. You’re going to see some top cars hit on it and be able to do some things. The lack of cautions also helps you to be able to dominate, as well, so you don’t have multiple pit stops to have mistakes or somebody try something different.”
This was a change from several recent trips to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Examples include both races in 2022, which had 12 and eight cautions, respectively. The 2020 races had nine and seven cautions while the 2021 spring race had six.
The last time that a Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway had fewer cautions was the spring race in 2019. Logano won an event in which the only pauses were due to stage breaks and all but one driver finished. Joey Gase was the only exception due to an engine issue.
The Chevrolet Cars Have Been Statistically Best in 2023
GettyWilliam Byron (front) races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The first three races have featured one manufacturer celebrating at the end of each race. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the Daytona 500 in a Chevrolet and then Kyle Busch won at Auto Club Speedway in a Chevrolet. Byron continued the Chevrolet streak.
The Toyota drivers had some opportunities late. Truex was in the lead on the final restart after he stayed out to try to steal a win. Denny Hamlin restarted on the second row while Bell and Wallace were both in contention.
Truex’s old tires were not able to hold off the hard-charging Chevrolet drivers while Hamiln was shuffled back before taking the white flag. Meanwhile, Bell and Wallace both navigated around the No. 19 before crossing the start-finish line inside of the top five.
“Honestly, the finish to that ended up about as good as we could have asked for with the SiriusXM Toyota Camry TRD,” Christopher Bell said after finishing fifth overall.
“I don’t know, really up and down strange day for us because we took off and I felt really good and drove right to top-five and I didn’t feel like I had anything for the Hendrick cars. It seemed like we were the best of the rest and then we lost the handling.”
Chevrolet Dominance Defines Odd NASCAR Race in Vegas