LAS VEGAS — Four races into the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, it’s tempting to jump to conclusions as the top division heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube.
Let’s resist the urge, however, to concede the driver that finishes atop the standings at the end of the regular season will be Tyler Reddick, even though the driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota built an enormous lead in the standings with three straight victories to open the season.
On the flip side, let’s avoid the conclusion that those who are mired in the 30s in the standings are hopelessly out of contention.
The hallmark of the first four events this year has been volatility. With a second-place finish last Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, Christopher Bell climbed 18 positions in the standings, from 24th to sixth.
Even before he won Sunday’s race, Ryan Blaney was fourth in the standings, despite finishes of 27th, 10th and eighth—thanks to 34 stage points accumulated in the first three events.
“I think stage points are going to be super important,” Blaney said. “If you’re leading the race in Stage 1, do you flip it? Do you take the stage points? Those are the hard decisions you’ve got to make, if you’re leading or running second…
“I think it’s going to play a huge factor in this points system. I think it’s really important, especially early, when everyone’s super-close. But even later in the year, it’s going to be really important, for those guys especially that are around the Chase cut line, guys that are battling for the top two spots.
“Stage points have always been important, but I think it’s ratcheted up this year the way the format is.”
Likewise, volatility has been a significant characteristic of recent races at 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Last year’s spring race produced a record 32 lead changes, before Josh Berry became the first driver to win his first Cup race at the track.
In five of the last eight Las Vegas races, the winning driver has made the decisive pass in the final six laps.
With Reddick winning the first three races in a Toyota and Blaney taking the checkered flag last Sunday in a Ford, Chevrolet has yet to win a Cup race with the new body style introduced this season.
Kyle Larson hopes to remedy that, and he has the credentials at Las Vegas to do so. Winner of three of the last 10 races in Sin City, Larson tops all drivers with 819 laps led and eight stage wins at the track.
“Las Vegas is always a track I look forward to, because it’s our first real chance in the season to see where we stack up on a mile-and-a-half,” said the reigning series champion. “With the new Chevy body, there’s still a lot we’re learning, so getting laps at a place like Vegas will be really valuable for our No. 5 (Hendrick Motorsports) team.”
Three-time Cup champion Joey Logano comes to Las Vegas as the leading active winner at the track with four victories. Denny Hamlin, with wins in 2021 and last fall, is the only Toyota driver to win at LVMS since Martin Truex Jr. triumphed in the fall race of 2019.
In the last 12 races at Las Vegas, only one winner has started outside the top-10. That was Alex Bowman, who will miss his second straight event after being diagnosed with vertigo. Bowman started 12th in the spring race of 2022 and beat Larson to the finish line by 0.178 seconds.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series veteran Justin Allgaier will substitute for Bowman in Sunday’s race.