It's Penske Time in Las Vegas

Joey Logano won last spring at LVMS.

For local NASCAR fans, one of their favorite days of the year comes a couple of weeks early.

Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s 1.5-mile high-banked layout will be the second race of the season and 25th NASCAR Cup race at LVMS since debuting in 1998. It’s the start of the West Coast swing with the series traveling to Fontana next week, then Phoenix .

The series comes to town on a short week after Denny Hamlin won his third Daytona 500 on Monday following a rain delay on Sunday and a frightful finish when Ryan Newman had a horrific crash and was hospitalized.

Joey Logano is the defending champion and will be driving for Roger Penske racing, which has three drivers in the race. And while winning the Las Vegas race is priority No. 1 for every team, it’s also a time to enjoy the city.

“Vegas is always a popular spot on the schedule and I enjoy it,” said four-time Las Vegas winner Jimmie Johnson. “We usually do a really cool night bike ride in the Henderson area and there is always something entertainment-wise in Vegas.”

This will be Johnson’s last full season in the Cup Series and LVMS plans on doing something special for the seven-time champ in the South Point 400 fall race. It’s been an amazing run with 83 wins and been a pleasure watching excellence in a sport like never seen before in this tougher more competitive era of NASCAR.

READ MORE HERE....GAMING TODAY