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StatChat 2025 - Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas

Writer: Adam CarabineAdam Carabine

By Adam Carabine


Happy weekend everyone, it’s time for another edition of Stats Saturday. This weekend NASCAR travels to Las Vegas, Nevada for the Pennzoil 400!

 

Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile tri-oval. The track opened in 1971, though NASCAR didn’t start racing there until 1998.  Mark Martin won the inaugural NASCAR Cup race at the track.

 

Tomorrow’s race will be 267 laps long (for a total of 400.5 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 80 – 165 – 267.  Pit road speed is 45 mph, and the caution vehicle runs at 55 mph.  The fuel window is between 62-67 laps.

 

This year, the NASCAR Cup Series has run 874 laps, for 1,447.96 miles so far this season.  Only 5 drivers have completed all of them – Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick and John Hunter Nemechek.

 

Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Vegas:

Kyle Larson

9.41 over 17 races (3 wins)

Joey Logano

9.52 over 23 races (4 wins)

Kyle Busch

11.30 over 27 races (1 win)

Denny Hamlin

12.31 over 26 races (1 win)

Ryan Blaney

12.65 over 17 races

 

Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Vegas:

Cody Ware

29.57 over 7 races

Shane Van Gisbergen

29.00 over 1 race

Michael McDowell

28.73 over 22 races

Todd Gilliland

26.83 over 6 races

Zane Smith

26.00 over 2 races

 

Las Vegas is an Intermediate Track.

 

Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Intermediate Tracks:

Denny Hamlin

11.99 over 335 races (27 wins)

Kyle Larson

12.21 over 173 races (16 wins)

Kyle Busch

12.37 over 351 races (29 wins)

Joey Logano

12.49 over 281 races (18 wins)

Chase Elliott

12.51 over 154 races (6 wins)

 

Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Intermediate Tracks:

Ryan Preece

22.70 over 87 races

Ty Dillon

22.43 over 121 races

Riley Herbst

22.25 over 3 races

Shane Van Gisbergen

22.10 over 5 races

Josh Berry

21.83 over 22 races

 

Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano are tied for the title of winningest driver at Las Vegas.  They each have 4 wins.  Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson all each have 3.

 

Notable drivers who have not won at Las Vegas:

Chase Elliott

(has won at 15 other tracks)

Christopher Bell

(has won at 10 other tracks)

Ryan Blaney

(has won at 9 other tracks)

Tyler Reddick

(has won at 8 other tracks)

Chris Buescher

(has won at 6 other tracks)

 

No current driver has scored their first ever Cup Series win at Las Vegas.

 

Based on average finish, no driver lists Vegas as their BEST or WORST track.

 

Based on their point pace, let’s have a look at how this season is comparing to last season for drivers:

 

Drivers Faring Better than in 2024

Tyler Reddick

+793 pts

Chris Buescher

+538 pts

William Byron

+480 pts

Christopher Bell

+430 pts

Bubba Wallace

+395 pts

 

Drivers Faring Worse than in 2024

Ty Gibbs

-602 pts

Brad Keselowski

-515 pts

Cole Custer

-299 pts

Josh Berry

-292 pts

Daniel Suarez

-266 pts

 

Here is the current battle for Rookie of the Year:

Shane Van Gisbergen

69

Riley Herbst

61

 

The Manufacturer Standings are calculated by awarding points to the highest finisher for each manufacturer according to their finishing position.  (40 for 1st, 35 for 2nd, 34 for 3rd, etc.)  No stage points or playoff points count.

 

Manufacturer Standings        

Toyota

155

Chevrolet

144

Ford

126

 

Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:

 

Chartered Team Standings

Joe Gibbs

153

Hendrick

143

23XI

114

Trackhouse

110

RFK

108

Penske

105

RCR

105

Spire

99

Legacy Motor Club

97

Front Row

93

Hyak

86

Kaulig

76

Wood Bros

57

Haas Factory

36

Rick Ware

33

 

At each stage break, the Top 10 drivers are awarded points based on their finishing positions.  Here are the leaders this year:

 

Stage Point Leaders

Ryan Blaney

43

Joey Logano

40

William Byron

40

Tyler Reddick

33

Bubba Wallace

31

Christopher Bell

25

Austin Cindric

24

Chase Elliott

22

Ryan Preece

18

Kyle Larson

17

 

Milestone Watch

Chase Elliott

Looking for his 20th Career Win

Kyle Larson

Looking for his 30th Career Win

Ty Dillon

This will be his 250th Career Start

Zane Smith

This will be his 50th Career Start

Carson Hocevar

This will be his 50th Career Start

Christopher Bell

Looking for his 50th Career Top 5

Ross Chastain

Looking for his 60th Career Top 10

Noah Gragson

Looking for his 10th Career Top 10

John Hunter Nemechek

Looking for his 10th Career Top 10

Alex Bowman

Looking for his 100th Career Top 10

 

Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks:

 

Winless Streaks

Justin Haley

145 races

Cole Custer

98 races

Bubba Wallace

83 races

Erik Jones

83 races

Kyle Busch

61 races

Michael McDowell

52 races

Daniel Suarez

38 races

Chase Elliott

31 races

Denny Hamlin

29 races

Brad Keselowski

27 races

 

The race begins Sunday, March 16th at 3:30 pm EST (12:30 pm PST) – Enjoy the race everyone!

 

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @RacingRefresh

 

Is there an error? Is there a stat missing that you’d like to see? Let us know!

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