Kevin Harvick is 40/1 to win his final Las Vegas race

 

KEVIN HARVICK Las Vegas Advance No. 4 Mobil 1 Extended Performance High Mileage Ford Mustang

Event Overview

●  Event:  South Point 400 (Round 33 of 36) ●  Time/Date:  2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Oct. 15 ●  Location:  Las Vegas Motor Speedway ●  Layout:  1.5-mile oval ●  Laps/Miles:  267 laps/400.5 miles ●  Stage Lengths:  Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 85 laps / Final Stage: 102 laps ●  TV/Radio:  NBC / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

●  In 23 years of NASCAR Cup Series racing that has spanned 822 career starts, Kevin Harvick has racked up plenty of laps and even more miles in his Hall-of-Fame-worthy career. So, it’s only appropriate that his No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang carries the branding of Mobil 1 Extended Performance High Mileage advanced full synthetic motor oil in the South Point 400 this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Mobil 1 Extended Performance High Mileage safeguards an engine for 20,000 miles between oil changes by providing exceptional wear protection of critical components. Among active Cup Series drivers, there is no one with higher mileage than Harvick. He ranks fifth all-time in miles run (308,238.364) and 10th all-time in laps completed (231,068). These statistics place Harvick among a who’s who of NASCAR royalty.     ●  All-time miles run among all NASCAR Cup Series drivers, past and present:         1.  Mark Martin (326,364.17 miles)         2.  Ricky Rudd (322,457.663 miles)         3.  Terry Labonte (318,907.583 miles)         4.  Bill Elliott (308,803.511 miles)         5.  Kevin Harvick (308,238.364 miles)         6.  Richard Petty (303,748.756 miles)     ●  All-time laps completed among all NASCAR Cup Series drivers, past and present:         1.  Richard Petty (307,844 laps completed)         2.  Ricky Rudd (259,746 laps completed)         3.  Mark Martin (255,044 laps completed)         4.  Terry Labonte (254,874 laps completed)         5.  Bill Elliott (238,923 laps completed)         6.  Darrell Waltrip (237,773 laps completed)         7.  Kyle Petty (232,922 laps completed)         8.  Dave Marcis (231,392 laps completed)         9.  Jeff Gordon (231,223 laps completed)         10.  Kevin Harvick (231,068 laps completed)         11.  Ken Schrader (220,638 laps completed)   ●  DYK? Las Vegas has been hosting races since 1996 and, in its 27-year existence, Harvick has competed at the track every single year. His first race at the 1.5-mile oval north of the Las Vegas Strip was a NASCAR Winston West Series race on Nov. 2, 1996. Driving for Wayne and Connie Spears, Harvick started fourth and finished 13th. Ken Schrader won, Michael Waltrip finished third, Butch Gilliland finished sixth and Hershel McGriff finished 21st. How is Harvick connected to those four individuals?     ●  Ken Schrader: It was at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, on May 2, 1998 where Harvick raced Schrader for the win in the NASCAR Winston West Series race. Schrader prevailed, but Harvick made his mark by starting second and finishing second and leading 32 laps in between. Schrader took the win by 1.314 seconds, but veteran NASCAR team owner Richard Childress took note of the then 22-year-old Harvick. In Harvick’s Winston West return to Fontana on July 18, he one-upped his performance from two months prior. Harvick started from the pole and ended with the win, taking the checkered flag by 1.15 seconds over Austin Cameron. He led 52 of the race’s 100 laps. Those victories were part of a five-win campaign that led Harvick to the 1998 Winston West championship and, ultimately, a 14-year career with Richard Childress Racing, with the team signing Harvick to race in the Xfinity Series in 2000.     ●  Michael Waltrip: Next year, Harvick will be a teammate to Waltrip – not on a race team, but in the broadcast booth. Harvick will transition from a firesuit to a suit and tie in 2024 when he joins Waltrip on the FOX broadcast team.     ●  Butch Gilliland: Harvick has raced against three generations of Gillilands, beginning with patriarch Butch Gilliland (they first raced together on April 21, 1996 in the Truck Series at Phoenix Raceway), and then Butch’s son David Gilliland (in both Xfinity and Cup Series races from 2004-2018) and finally David’s son Todd Gilliland, who was a Cup Series rookie last year and remains in the series.     ●  Hershel McGriff: McGriff was recently inducted into the 2023 NASCAR Hall of Fame and is known for his unsurpassed longevity in the sport. His first race was the 1950 Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway when he was a 22-year-old competing in NASCAR’s sophomore season. His final race was the 2018 Port of Tucson Twin 100s where, as a 90-year-old, McGriff drove in the first of two 100-lap NASCAR West Series races at Tucson (Ariz.) Speedway. Harvick and McGriff competed against each other in Winston West from 1996 through 1998.   ●  Harvick has made a total of 46 starts across four NASCAR divisions at Las Vegas:     ●  4 NASCAR Winston West Series starts (1996-1998): Best result – won from the pole in 1998 Cactus Clash, leading 89 of the race’s 100 laps.     ●  3 NASCAR Truck Series starts (1997-1999); Best result – eighth in 1997 Carquest Auto Parts 420k.     ●  11 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts (2000-2011): Best result – first, earned twice (2004 Sam’s Town 300 and 2010 Sam’s Town 300).     ●  28 NASCAR Cup Series starts (2001-present); Best result – first, earned twice (2015 Las Vegas 400 and 2018 Las Vegas 400).   ●  Since joining Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014, Harvick has finished among the top-10 in nine of the 15 NASCAR Cup Series races contested at Las Vegas. In that span, the driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Extended Performance High Mileage Ford Mustang has led 621 laps and won twice – March 2015 and March 2018. Harvick finished 12th in each of the Cup Series races last year at the 1.5-mile oval and ninth in the series’ prior visit to the track in March.   ●  Harvick has led a total of 679 laps in the NASCAR Cup Series at Las Vegas, the most of any Cup Series driver in the history of the track. Next best in this category is seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson with 595 laps led. All but 58 of Harvick’s laps led at Las Vegas have come in his 10 years with Stewart-Haas Racing.   ●  Harvick’s win at Las Vegas in March 2018 was his 100th career victory across NASCAR’s top-three national touring series – Cup, Xfinity and Truck. He has since scored 21 more Cup Series wins to bring his record to 121 total victories – 60 in Cup, 47 in Xfinity and 14 in Truck. Only three other drivers in NASCAR history have surpassed 100 wins across NASCAR’s top-three series: Kyle Busch (229 wins), Richard Petty (200 wins) and David Pearson (106 wins).   ●  There have been 30 NASCAR Cup Series races contested at Las Vegas, including its inaugural race on March 1, 1998. Harvick has started 27 of those races, the most of any driver, past or present.   ●  The Mobil 1 branding on Harvick’s No. 4 Ford Mustang goes more than skin deep as the world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand gives Harvick an added advantage. Mobil 1 products are used throughout his racecar and they extend beyond just engine oil. Power steering fluid, transmission fluid, gear oil and driveline lubricants from Mobil 1 give Harvick a technical advantage over his counterparts by reducing friction, heat and rolling resistance.Mobil 1 is a sponsor whose technology makes Harvick’s No. 4 Mobil 1 Extended Performance High Mileage Ford Mustang faster.

Kevin Harvick, Driver No. 4 Mobil 1 Extended Performance High Mileage Ford Mustang

You’ve won at Las Vegas twice and have finished among the top-10 six times in your last nine races at the track. What do you need to be quick there? “Las Vegas has a lot of tire fall-off, so it’s important to have a good-handling racecar. It’s also a track where you’re constantly moving around trying to find the right grip.”   The South Point 400 will mark your final race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. As you compete at all these racetracks one last time, is it becoming more and more surreal that the next time you’re at these tracks, you won’t be racing? “I’ve had that question a lot, and every time I go to one for the last time, it doesn’t feel that bad. Coming back this year and running this last season and making it as public as it’s been, to have a plan for logos and racetracks and fans and people to come the last time, and to go back and look at all the old pictures and hear the fans’ stories and racetrack stories, or whatever the scenario is, it’s put really good closure to whatever event it is. There’s really not anything that has happened so far where I was like, ‘Oh man, I’m not so sure that I’m happy about it being the last time.’ I’m so far into planning for next year, and everything is already lined up with the television and the management company, and you’ve already moved on to making a new plan and you’re living out the rest of the plan that you’d already laid out at this time last year. I think the closure to me has just been the fact that it is what it is. That points to us doing a really good job of planning it all out, and I feel like we’re good at just moving on to the next task.”   Are you compartmentalizing your emotions as your final season winds down? “I feel like that’s something that, throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate to be pretty good at. You just go and just do what you’re supposed to do no matter what the surrounding situation is, whether it’s chaotic, or you’re running good, you’re running bad, you run into somebody, last year, first year, I think it’s just been one of those things that I’ve been fortunate to be able to do, just climb in the car, put the window net up, and it’s just what you do. No matter the magnitude of the scenario, it’s just part of the next step to get to where you want to be. Going into the year, obviously we knew that we’d planned out the last year and the last season of what we wanted to do and it’s just part of the plan. For me, we’re definitely structured planners, so you just execute that plan and then you go to the next one. I know at the end of the year it’ll obviously look different but, on the flip side, I’ve been very fortunate to be successful at what I do. I’ve basically lived out my childhood dream to do what I wanted to do, and now it’s time to move on. It’s time to do something different after we go to Phoenix and race there for the last time, and for me, that’s exciting.”   Has there been a particular moment this year during all the tributes to your career that’s really resonated with you? “I think when the 4EVER signs started showing up on the walls and you had to drive by them every lap – at Watkins Glen they had the tribute through the esses and you drove by it every single lap. You drive by my pit marker at a lot of these racetrack and it’s the 4EVER sign. Marcus Smith (president and CEO of Speedway Motorsports) was very up front in saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got to have a chance to do this type of stuff, and to be able to do it with the fans and the sponsors and with the team and everybody that’s involved in it.’ What I don’t think is a big deal is a big deal to a lot of people, because I do this on a week-to-week basis. I’ve grown up around it and I’ve seen it from every end of the spectrum that you could see it from. It’s a big deal to a lot of people, and it’s a big deal to each racetrack and their local fans and markets. So it’s been fun to see it all play out. I don’t know if there’s one that sticks out above the other ones, but I think for me the biggest moment was running that 29 car at North Wilkesboro.”   Las Vegas has become quite the sports town. What are some of the sports you might’ve played if you weren’t a NASCAR driver? “I’m not the most athletic person, but I have a little bit of grit and determination, which is the only thing that got me through my four years of wresting in high school. I don’t know what I would’ve done. I went to the local junior college and knew I wanted to race and never pursued the wrestling piece of it. I would’ve definitely had to do some things a little bit differently. I was a little guy in high school. I think that worked out OK now, being 47 years old, but I always wanted to race and I have no clue what I would’ve done if I wasn’t driving cars. I started driving go-karts when I was 5 and raced cars when I was 16 and started traveling all over, racing cars or working on the trucks for Wayne and Connie Spears as a mechanic. Racing is all that I’ve known. I have no clue in which direction it would’ve gone if it wasn’t for racing.”

NASCAR South Point 400 Odds, Predictions & Picks by Micah Roberts | Playoffs | October 16...

Las Vegas NASCAR Betting Preview: 2022 South Point 400

 NASCAR South Point 400 Picks, Preview

Micah Roberts

Sports Betting Expert

14 minute read

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It’s time for the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s 1.5-mile layout which starts the Round of 8 in the playoffs. Eight playoff drivers have been chopped after six races in the first two rounds and eight drivers remain with several new faces looking for their first NASCAR Cup Championship. 

The NextGen car has been bonkers trying to keep up with data and info after 19 different drivers have won in the first 32 races. Six races remain in the Round of 8 with the top scoring drivers from this round getting an invite to Phoenix on November 6 for the Championship 4. Everyone else is racing along the way, but the tension is building weight on all eight eligible drivers.

But I’ve made an impromptu chart for Las Vegas that involves races on recent tracks like Michigan, Darlington, Kansas, and Texas with those four tracks holding more relevance to my liking than the first Las Vegas race in March. Lots of new information for crew chiefs along the way have come about. The more recent success the better.

Here’s a look at what I’m thinking using odds in order of the favorite on down from BetMGM: 

SOUTH POINT 400 PICKS & PREDICTIONS

Denny Hamlin (11/2) has dominated the last two fall races at Las Vegas leading the most laps in both, finishing third in 2020 and winning his first Vegas race last season. He was running great in the March race leading 31 laps until a drivetrain issue relegated him to 32nd. The reason he’s deserving of being the favorite here is that he won the Coca-Cola 600 on a 1.5-mile layout, he was runner-up at Darlington’s 1.266-mile layout, and runner-up at Kansas last month. Terrible on the road courses and superspeedways this season with the NextGen car, but awesome at these big horsepower tracks. The next three races in this playoff round are all great tracks for Hamlin. How’s he feeling about it?

“I feel great about all of them,” Hamlin said. “All of them are just perfect for what our strengths are. I’m excited. We have been very strong on the intermediates all year and we tested Homestead a few weeks ago. We had a good test at Martinsville and even though we finished bad there in the spring, I feel good about what we have learned since then. We’re going to have to qualify well there, and track position is going to be huge. It’s time to go to work, but yeah, we’re really excited about our prospects in this next round.”

(Getty)

Chase Elliott (8/1) has never won at Las Vegas in 11 Cup starts, but he was runner-up in this race last season. Three top-fives aren’t too bad. He was ninth in the March race and broke a streak of leading laps in five straight Vegas races. But he is the Cup leader in points and wins (5). He has a knack for having races fall into his hands late.

Christopher Bell (8/1) was 10th in the March Vegas race after leading 32 laps. He's a real title contender and I think he likes this track.

“Vegas is one of my favorite tracks and Joe Gibbs Racing has been strong on the 1.5-mile tracks,” Bell said. “Vegas is one I’ve had circled for awhile and one we can contend for a win, or at least escape there with a good amount of points.”

Kyle Larson (8/1) has won an Xfinity Series race at LVMS in 2018 and he also won the spring race there last season. He also had 10 wins last season. This season, they use the NextGen car and he has only two wins with it. Listen up oddsmakers that keep making him single-digit odds each week. As a book, you can make money by attracting action at double-digit odds. I might bet him at 16-to-1 odds this season and so might a bunch of other bettors. His reputation precedes him and therefore I can’t bet him at dumb odds. New car, everyone!

Tyler Reddick (9/1) has won the last race at a 1.5-mile track at Texas on September 25. He also won a Truck Series race at LVMS in 2016 and he won an Xfinity Series race there in 2019. He’s going to the Hamlin/Jordan ride next year. He has three wins, and he’s eliminated from the playoffs. I think the only thing for him to do is win races in his last four starts for RCR. 

It’s so weird knowing I’ve come full circle with Kyle Busch (10/1) at the Las Vegas bullring when he was racing as a teenager who didn’t qualify to get a driver's license yet. He beat everyone. He got noticed. He got signed. Then he found a home at JGR and he’s been there since 2008. His only win at Vegas came in 2009. He has 10 top-fives in 22 Cup starts at Vegas. This will be his last Vegas race with JGR before he drives to No. 8 next season for RCR. He’s always got to feel the pressure racing in front of friends and family in Las Vegas.

“It’s cool to be able to come back home and to have the notoriety, I guess, that we have now,” Busch said. “When we went out there back in those days, there were many other drivers who were way bigger than us and way more popular than us. Now that we’ve been here for a while and those other drivers aren’t there anymore, we’ve kind of upped ourselves on the ladder of that and it’s cool. One of these days, hopefully, there might be a road out there named after us, or a grandstand or something of that nature. Don’t get too far ahead of yourselves because that just means I get closer to retirement if they start doing that, I guess.”

Search around for better odds to win, but I think Ross Chastain (10/1) can do it even though he hasn’t won since Talladega in April. He’s been stuck on two wins for a while. But the good news is that he led the most laps (83) at LVMS in March finishing third. He’s tempered his enthusiasm and aggression, what got him his early wins, and conformed to peer pressure and threats of being punted. It’s worked. He’s third in points and has a great shot here and also Homestead next week. He also won the 2018 Xfinity Series race in Vegas. I’ll have action on him to win.

SOUTH POINT 400 BETTING RESOURCES

Date: Sunday, October 16, 2022
Venue: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Distance: 400.5 miles
Laps: 267
Network-Time: NBC - 2:30 p.m.
Defending Champion: Denny Hamlin

Martin Truex Jr. (12/1) has won at LVMS in 2017 and 2019 and he’s been running well on these types of tracks like most of the JGR cars this season. He was fifth at Kansas which is a good comparison to Vegas. He was eighth in the March Vegas race.

“Las Vegas has been a great track for us for a long time,” Truex said. “Even with this car in the spring, we were right there in contention for the win until that caution came out at the end. It’s a place we have a lot of confidence going to and we feel good about how we’ve ran at these types of tracks all year, so it should be a good weekend for us.”

Ryan Blaney's (12/1) 11.1 average finish in 12 Cup starts at Las Vegas is fourth best among all active drivers. He should have two Vegas wins, but errored in pit stop strategy and experienced bad luck. He’s got five top-fives. Check out this scenario: he wins this race to qualify for Phoenix and wins a title. It’s his first win of the season and then he wins the championship. That’s a daily double we might want to play. Bet race winner parlayed to championship winner if allowed.    

William Byron (12/1) is still alive in the playoffs but he needs a couple of top-fives to advance in the next three races. He was fifth in the spring race, his best LVMS finish in the Cup Series. This is a race he can win, but I can’t bet him at these odds. He’s a wild card against my betting strategy. 

Bubba Wallace (14/1) is the reason you might bet him at Las Vegas is that he’s going to have one of the fastest Toyotas in the race. He’s got speed on the 1.5-mile tracks and it's been an adaption of the same races Hamlin, his boss, has had. He won at Kansas last month, and Hamlin was runner-up. Wallace was also runner-up at the big horsepower track of Michigan. I'm searching for better odds but I’ll have a bet on him for sure.

READ MORE HERE...TOP-5 FINISH PREDICTION ON VEGASINSIDER.COM

Kevin Harvick is 10/1 to win 2021 South Point 400

 

KEVIN HARVICK Las Vegas Advance No. 4 Subway Delivery Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event:  South Point 400 (Round 30 of 36) ● Time/Date:  7 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Sept. 26 ● Location:  Las Vegas Motor Speedway ● Layout:  1.5-mile oval ● Laps/Miles:  267 laps/400.5 miles ● Stage Lengths:  Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 80 laps / Final Stage: 107 laps ● TV/Radio:  NBCSN / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

●  Subway® restaurants has joined with Kevin Harvick and the No. 4 team of Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) to put its Eat Fresh Refresh™ on the fast track by becoming a primary sponsor of the championship-winning NASCAR Cup Series team. The world’s largest quick-service restaurant brand is leveraging the partnership to highlight Subway Delivery powered by DoorDash, which allows guests to order their Subway favorites via the Subway app or on Subway.com. Guests can earn and redeem Subway MyWay® Rewards points on Subway delivery orders as well. In conjunction with Harvick being in the NASCAR Playoffs, Subway ha a $0 Delivery fee on all Subway Delivery orders plus a 15 percent discount on a footlong for a limited time when using promo code KEVIN15. Subway will return as the primary sponsor of the No. 4 Ford Mustang for the Oct. 24 race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. Subway will also serve as a major associate sponsor of the No. 4 car Oct. 10 at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval, Oct. 17 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth and Oct. 31 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.   ●  While the NASCAR Playoffs have been in existence since 2004, it wasn’t until 2014 that rounds were added, with three separate cuts whittling down the 16-driver field during the 10-race playoffs. After the first three playoff races, the four lowest drivers in points get eliminated. Then, after the next three races, only the top-eight drivers move on. Three more races follow, with only the top-four drivers advancing to the Championship 4 where they compete in a winner-take-all title match in the season finale. Harvick is in the midst of his 12th consecutive playoff appearance and his 15th overall. He has now advanced out of the Round of 16 in all eight editions of the current playoff format. Coming into this season, he had advanced all the way to the Round of 8 since 2014, and five times he’s competed in the Championship 4, winning the NASCAR Cup Series title in 2014.   ●  Harvick comes into Las Vegas on a three-race top-10 streak, a run punctuated by a strong second-place drive last Saturday night at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway where he led three times for 71 laps. Before finishing second at Bristol, Harvick finished eighth Sept. 11 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and fifth Sept. 4 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. Harvick has finished among the top-15 in the last nine races, a streak that began July 11 with an 11th-place result at Atlanta Motor Speedway.   ●  Since joining SHR in 2014, Harvick has finished among the top-10 in seven of the 11 NASCAR Cup Series races contested at Las Vegas. In that span, Harvick has led 621 laps and won twice – March 2015 and March 2018   ●  Harvick’s win at Las Vegas in March 2018 was his 100th career victory across NASCAR’s top-three national touring series – Cup, Xfinity and Camping World Truck. He has since scored 19 more Cup wins to bring his tally to 119 total victories – 58 in Cup, 47 in Xfinity and 14 in Truck. Only three other drivers in NASCAR history have surpassed 100 wins across NASCAR’s top-three series: Kyle Busch (222 wins), Richard Petty (200 wins) and David Pearson (106 wins).   ●  Harvick has a total of 12 top-10s at Las Vegas, the most of any active NASCAR Cup Series driver. Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano are next best with 11 top-10s apiece.   ●  Harvick has made 11 starts in the Xfinity Series at Las Vegas. He has two wins, six top-fives and seven top-10s. His first Xfinity Series win came in 2004 when he started 11th and led 14 laps. His second triumph came in 2010 when he started second and led 82 laps.   ●  Harvick has made three Truck Series starts at Las Vegas, earning two top-10s with a best finish of eighth in 1997.

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Subway Delivery Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

You’ve won at Las Vegas twice and have finished among the top-10 there seven times since joining SHR in 2014. What do you need to be quick at Las Vegas? “Las Vegas has a lot of tire fall off, so it’ll be important to have a good-handling Subway Delivery Ford Mustang. It’s also a track where you’re constantly moving around trying to find the right grip.”   You advanced to the Round of 12 for the eighth straight time. What do you need to do in theses next three races to advance to the Round of 8? “Right now, we’re just taking it one week at a time. That’s really the best way to go about it, and see where it all falls in the end.”   Does the intensity of the racing increase after each playoff round? “For us, there’s no intensity dialed up. It’s exactly the same as it would be for the first race of the season, the second race, the third race. We try to approach things the same way, whether we’re running well or running badly, and whether or not it’s a cutoff race. You try to dot all the I’s and cross all the T’s and control all the things that you can control, perform at a high level and do the things that you know how to do, whether it’s me in the car or Rodney (Childers, crew chief) on the pit box or everybody around us, it just takes the execution of a complete race. Our team has done a great job of that all year. Obviously, our cars have not performed to the level that we’d have liked them to perform, but we’ve been getting the finishes that we have and keeping ourselves around. We just keep plugging away and keep trying to reach out and do what we can by getting good finishes and not making any mistakes. That’s really what it boils down to this time of year. It doesn’t matter how you get there, it just matters if you advance or you don’t advance, and a lot of times it comes by controlling the things that you can control.”   You were very consistent throughout the regular season and that has continued into the playoffs. How important is it to maintain that consistency? “We’ve gone about this a number of different ways throughout the years. We’ve pointed our way through and we’ve won our way through when our backs were against the wall. You’ve got to take what each race will give you, and there’s no way you can force things. That’s where a lot of people get themselves in trouble – when they start trying to do things outside their comfort zone of where their car is that particular day. Some days you have what you have and you need to get that finish with your car, and if you do that, usually you finish better than probably you would have otherwise. Las Vegas is no different. We’ll just have to go out there and grind away and see where we end up.”

NASCAR Las Vegas Betting Preview: 2020 South Point 400

Let the quarterfinals begin!

The opening round has been completed and four drivers have been chopped to start NASCAR’s Playoffs.

Now it’s off to the Round of 12 which begins Sunday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s 1.5-mile high banked tri-oval. It’s the third straight season the South Point 400 has been run in the fall as the second Cup Series date on the LVMS schedule.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
LAS VEGAS BETTING RESOURCES
Date: Sunday, September 27, 2020
TV-Time: NBCSN, 7:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada

The first Vegas race this season was the second points-paying race on the schedule and was won by Joey Logano, his second win in the last three Vegas races.

Here’s a quick reboot of what happened on that day in late February. Logano only won because of a tire compound that didn’t wear as much. He didn’t pit with five laps to go as everyone else did upfront, including leader Ryan Blaney. Staying out with Logano was Matt DiBenedetto finishing second, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. third, Austin Dillon fourth, Jimmie Johnson fifth, and Bubba Wallace sixth.

Almost all of them had their tires hold up. The drivers who pitted underestimated the need for new tires. Logano, who pretended he didn’t hear his crew chief tell him to pit, couldn’t be passed.

The old tires stuck to the asphalt. And those same tires also produced back-to-back triple-digit payouts with Cole Custer (300/1) winning at Kentucky Speedway and Austin Dillon (100/1) winning the following week at Texas Motor Speedway.

The left-side Goodyear tires will be the same as the Vegas race from February, but the right sides will be a different code to give the drivers more grip.

"Key to making the optimum tire recommendation is the review of all the data that is generated, whether it be from practices throughout a weekend, testing, or as is the only opportunity right now, from the actual races," said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing.

"What we’ve seen and heard at several of the low-wear tracks, is the Cup cars could stand to have a little more grip, so we have made a step in that direction for Las Vegas, as well as Kansas and Texas. Vegas and Texas shared the same tire set-up at their earlier races, and we brought that same right-side to Kansas as well, so they have been basically aligned all season. They remain so with this new right-side as we enhance the grip level at all three."

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Aric Almirola is 25/1 to win 2020 South Point at LVMS

 

ARIC ALMIROLA Racing Toward a Career ‘HighPoint’   KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (Sept. 23, 2020) – Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in the NASCAR Cup Series, continued his career-best season last weekend when he secured his sixth top-five finish of 2020 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and advanced in the NASCAR Playoffs to the Round of 12 for the second time in his career.    His six top-five finishes surpass his previous best of four in a season in 2018. In addition, his 288 laps led is a career-high for a season, and his 17 top-10 finishes tied his season-best. While a win in 2020 still has eluded the No. 10 Ford team, the goal for Almirola is to race for a championship – the ultimate high point of any Cup Series driver’s career.   “This year has been like no other,” Almirola said. “The chemistry of this team is unmatched and the results are showing it. To have the best year of my career with a brand new crew chief says a lot. The first time we visited Las Vegas (site of Sunday’s South Point 400) we were still working through our communication. It was the second race of the year with a new crew chief and driver combination and we’re coming back 28 races later with a solid championship-caliber team.”     Almirola is not only optimistic due to the season stats he’s racked up, but applauds NASCAR for giving the drivers and fans a playoff schedule that crowns a champion utilizing all track configurations.    “You can’t just be good at your short-track program or your 1.5-mile program or superspeedway program,” he said. “It all has to be good. I think that is really, when you crown a champion, what you want to identify. You want to crown somebody who has been successful at every different type of racetrack throughout the year. Incorporating that into the playoffs is awesome.”   Almirola has run toward the front of the field this year at every kind of track. At intermediate-style tracks like Las Vegas, Almirola has six top-10s. And when the series races next week at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, it marks a return to Almirola’s first top-three of the season – a third-place drive in June where he crossed the finish line backward upon spinning while vying for the lead. That result tied the record of eight consecutive Talladega top-10s set by Dale Earnhardt Jr., between April 2001 and October 2004. If that front-running consistency can be repeated, it should set Almirola up well for the next cutoff race Oct. 11 at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval – where a solid points cushion can mitigate the adversity that seems omnipresent on the Roval’s tight and circuitous layout.   While Almirola and the team continue their journey to reach their career high point, HighPoint.com, a leading customer service and technology solutions company, will sponsor Almirola’s No. 10 car at Las Vegas with a slick blue, black and white paint scheme for the first time this year.   It’s a proper partnership, as Almirola is one of the more tech-savvy drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series. Even before COVID-19 led to remote competition meetings via Microsoft Teams and countless media availabilities by way of Zoom, Almirola managed life via his phone and laptop.   “It’s amazing how much we rely on technology to help manage our lives,” he said. “You kind of take it for granted until you step back and realize the complexity of it all. And when it comes to what we do at Stewart-Haas Racing, the mechanical parts and pieces we use out on the racetrack don’t work as well if the IT isn’t there to support our efforts. Everything we do is engineering-based and measured in thousandths. Tape measures are long gone. It’s all about IT.”   Technology has played an increased role in 2020, with no practice or qualifying in advance of races during this COVID-19 era. Almirola and the No. 10 have embraced this brave new world and thrived, with a win being the next item on their to-do list. Las Vegas loves winners, so Almirola and the No. 10 HighPoint.com team are in the right place.

Aric Almirola: Driver of the No. 10 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

How much confidence has your crew chief given you this year?     “Mike (Bugarewicz) has been great to work with. He is a very passionate and intense crew chief and I enjoy that about him. He works really hard on the racecars and pays attention to all the details on the car and the simulation side of things. That is kind of where he came from. He had been an engineer for most of his career and then graduated to being a crew chief, and a good one at that. He has been a lot of fun to work with. He is certainly fiery and competitive and I appreciate that about him. He certainly expects the most out of me as the driver and he expects the most out of our team. All the guys rally around that and we do our best to make sure we give our best – and we do that anyway, but Mike expects that out of us.”   Looking at this round with Las Vegas, Talladega, and the Charlotte Roval, what are your feelings with some wild-card races in that group?   “I like it. I really enjoy the excitement that this schedule has put into our playoffs. Our playoffs are already intense and exciting and, from a fans perspective, I just think the way they have set this schedule for the playoffs is incredible. You go from the 1.5-mile track at Las Vegas, a downforce track, to Talladega, which is certainly exciting and a little bit of a wild card, and then to the Roval. It is three distinctly different racetracks. I think it is just really awesome for the fans. From the driver standpoint, I like it, too. It really sets up for that versatility and makes sure you have to be good everywhere.”

Denny Hamlin is 5/1 to win 2020 South Point 400 at Las Vegas

Denny Hamlin

#11 FedEx Office Toyota
Joe Gibbs Racing

Race Info:
Race: South Point 400
Date/Time: Sunday, Sept. 27/7:00 p.m. ET
Distance: 267 laps/400.5 miles
Track Length: 1.5 mile
Track Shape: Tri-Oval
2019 Winner: Martin Truex Jr.

Express Notes:

Press Kit: Download the 2020 FedEx Racing press materials at www.fedexracing.com/presskit, including bios for Denny Hamlin, Chris Gabehart and Joe Gibbs Racing leadership, program highlights and statistics.

Bristol Recap: A hard run-in with a teammate ended Denny Hamlin’s shot at a win early in Saturday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway. But, despite a 21st-place finish, Hamlin advances to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 12 sitting second in points. Hamlin dropped to the rear of the field to start the race due to pre-race technical inspection issues. But he was able to climb into the top five by Lap 180 of the 500-lap event. While Hamlin was running in fifth, teammate Martin Truex Jr. slowed up and bounced off the wall directly in front of the No. 11, causing major damage to the hood of the FedEx Freight Toyota. The team was able to make repairs over multiple pit stops, and Hamlin was able to climb back into the top 15 despite driving a difficult-handling, wounded car. But an untimely caution in Stage 3 knocked him outside of the top 20 and multiple laps down. He eventually crossed the finish line in 21st as Kevin Harvick took the win.

Las Vegas Preview: The Playoffs head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the first race of the Round of 12 this Sunday night. Despite a tough outing last week at Bristol, Hamlin and the FedEx #11 team have their eye on the prize this weekend at the Diamond in the Desert. Hamlin has never won at Las Vegas but is hoping to change that as he’ll look to secure his spot in the Round of 8 early with a win this weekend.

Hamlin Statistics:
Track: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Races: 17
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Top-5: 2
Top-10: 7
Laps Led: 18
Avg. Start: 16.0
Avg. Finish: 14.0

Hamlin Conversation – Las Vegas:

What do you need to do to score your first win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway?

“It’s been a tough track for me in the past, but I enjoy the process of trying to get better at places where I haven’t necessarily run well. I’m confident our team will bring a fast FedEx Camry and put us in a good position to win and advance.”

How do you feel about your playoff performance this year?

“We didn’t have the best first round, but now our focus is all in on the Round of 12 and to work toward a championship. We’ve had fast cars, but there are still areas of improvement that we are working on.”

FedEx Office Along for the Ride at Las Vegas Motor Speedway: Thank you to all FedEx Office team members for rising to meet and overcome challenges on a daily basis.

How have Round of 12 Playoff contenders fared at Las Vegas?

 

1. Kevin Harvick (No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford) leads the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff standings with 3,067 points – 62 points above the Round of 8 cutline. Harvick’s 2020 Playoffs have been off to a strong start winning two of the first three races (Darlington and Bristol) of the postseason and making the Round of 12 for the seventh time in his career (2014-2020). He now has a total of 16 career Playoff wins on his resume. Harvick turns his attention to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend, the first race of the Round of 12. The Californian, Harvick, has made 22 series starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway posting two wins, seven top fives and 11 top 10s.

 

2. Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) sits in second in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff standings with 3,048 points – 43 points ahead of the Round of 8 cutoff. Hamlin’s Round 16 performance didn’t quite have the same swagger he ended the regular season with, only posting two top-15 finishes, but he managed to make the Round of 12 for the sixth time in his career (2014-2017, 2019, 2020). The Virginia native, Hamlin, is looking to bounce back this weekend at Las Vegas; a track he has made 17 starts putting up two top fives and seven top 10s. 

 

3. Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Team Penske Ford) holds on to third in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs standings with 3,035 points – 30 points up on the Round of 8 cutoff. Keselowski also kicked off the 2020 Playoffs in impressive fashion winning the second race of the Round of 16 at Richmond Raceway. The 2020 Playoffs mark the seventh time in his career Keselowski has made the Round of 12 (2014-2020). The Michigan native, Keselowski, head to Las Vegas looking to build on his early postseason success. He has made 14 series starts at the 1.5-mile track collecting three wins, seven top fives and 10 top 10s.

 

4. Joey Logano (No. 22 Team Penske Ford) resides in fourth in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff standings with 3,022 points – 17 points ahead of the Round of 8 cutoff. The 2020 Playoffs mark the sixth time Logano has made the Round of 12 (2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020).  The Connecticut native, Logano, has put up two top-five finishes in the first three races of the 2020 Playoffs. Looking ahead to Las Vegas, Logano has made 14 series starts at the 1.5-mile speedway, posting two wins, six top fives and 10 top 10s; which includes bringing home the checkered flag from Vegas back in February.

 

5. Chase Elliott (No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) rests in fifth in the NASCAR cup Series Playoff standings with 3,021 points – 16 points ahead of the Round of 8 cutoff.  This season is the fifth time in Elliott’s career he has qualified for the Round of 12 (2016-2020). In the Round of 16, Elliott put up one top five and two top 10s. The Georgia native, Elliott, heads to Las Vegas this weekend having made seven series starts at the 1.5-mile raceway posting two top fives and three top 10s.

 

6. Martin Truex Jr. (No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) is sixth in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with 3,016 points – 11 points ahead of the Round of 8 cutoff. The 2020 Playoffs mark the sixth time Truex has made the Round of 12 (2015-2020). Truex looked strong in the first round of the Playoffs but had mixed results only posting one top-five finish. Now the New Jersey native, Truex, turns his attention to Las Vegas where he has made 17 series starts posting two wins, five top fives and eight top 10s. Truex is the defending winner of the 2019 Las Vegas Playoff race.

 

7. Alex Bowman (No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) hangs on to seventh in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff standings with 3,009 points – just a scant four points ahead of the Round of 8 cutoff.  The 2020 Playoffs mark the third straight season he has qualified for the Round of 12. Bowman made good use of the tracks in the Round of 16 putting up two top-10 finishes. The Arizona native, Bowman, is hoping to continue his postseason success at Las Vegas this weekend. Bowman has made seven series starts at the 1.5-mile facility posting one top-10 finish - a ninth-place finish in the Playoff race last season.

 

8. Austin Dillon (No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet) grasps the eighth and final transfer spot to the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff standings with 3,005 points. Dillon is tied in points with Aric Almirola in ninth – the first spot outside the Round of 8 cutoff – but Dillon holds the tiebreaker of best finish in the Round of 16. The 2020 Playoffs mark just the second time Dillon has advanced to the Round of 12 in his postseason career (2016, 2020). Dillon was impressive in the Round of 16 amassing two top-five finishes.  

 

9. Aric Almirola (No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford) clings to ninth, the first spot outside the Round of 8 cutoff, in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff standings with 3,005 points. Almirola is tied in points with Austin Dillon in eighth – the final transfer spot into the Round of 8 – but Dillon holds the tiebreaker of best finish in the Round of 16. This is the second time Almirola has qualified for the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs (2016, 2020). Almirola was consistent in the Round of 12 posting one top five and three top 10s. Now, Florida native, Almirola, looks to build on his Round of 16 performance in the Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas. Almirola has made 14 series starts at Las Vegas posting three top-10 finishes.

 

10. Kyle Busch (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota), the defending series champion, holds on to 10th in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff standings with 3,004 points – just one point behind the Round of 8 cutoff. Busch is currently tied in points with Clint Bowyer in 11th, but Busch holds the tiebreaker – best finish in the Round of 16. The 2020 season marks the seventh time Busch has made the Round of 12. The Las Vegas native, Busch, put up one top five and two top 10s during the Round of 16. Now the two-time champ heads to his home track to keep his Playoffs hopes churning. Busch has made 18 series starts at Las Vegas posting one win, seven top fives and nine top 10s.

 

11. Clint Bowyer (No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford) clenches the 11th spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff standings with 3,004 points – just one point behind the Round of 8 cutoff. Bowyer is currently tied in points with Kyle Busch in 10th, but Busch holds the tiebreaker – best finish in the Round of 16. This is the third-straight season Bowyer has made the Round of 12 in the Playoffs. Bowyer’s consistency of three top-10 finishes in the Round of 16 helped catapult him into the Round of 12. Now the Kansas native, Bowyer, focuses on Las Vegas Motor Speedway; a track he has made 17 starts posting one top five and four top 10s.

 

12. Kurt Busch (No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet) clutches the 12th and final spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff’s Round of 12 with 3,001 points – four points behind the Round of 8 cutoff. The 2020 Playoffs mark the fourth time in his career he has advanced to the Round of 12 (2015, 2016, 2018, 2020). Busch posted just one top-10 finish in the round of 16. Now, the elder of the two Busch brothers, heads to his home track looking to rebound in the Playoff standings. Kurt Busch has made 21 series starts at the 1.5-mile Vegas track posting two top fives and five top 10s.