It’s desert racing time folks! The third week of the season starts the NASCAR goes west tour with races in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Fontana (outside L.A.). First up is the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It’s a pretty standard 1.5-mile asphalt layout that has progressive banking in the turns from 12-20 degrees the closer to the wall you get.
This year is a bit different though since there will be a return trip to LVMS later in the season, the first race of The Chase in fact, and the race on Sunday could be a great study session for the later race as well. Like most 1.5 mile tracks, there are only a handful of drivers over a series of races that really rack up the laps led totals. In this case there are five drivers in the 37-car field that have led 150+ laps in the last four races combined, including recent 1.5 mile king Martin Truex Jr. So when picking the lineups this week, be aware of that fact it is likely that once again one driver will dominate the laps led category on Sunday.
While Las Vegas is the same distance as Atlanta was last week, it’s a different style of track so simply taking what happened at Atlanta and moving it to Vegas won’t work well. It is a tri-oval this week not a quad-oval and the surfaces are different with not nearly as many pit stops being necessary to save the tires. Over the course of the 267 laps to be run on Sunday, not every pit stop will be four-tire stops, in fact two-tire stops will dominate the stops.
Track Data
Last Four Races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (on a mobile device scroll right)
Avg. | Avg. | Avg. | Top | Top | Top | Top | Laps | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Driver | Races | Start | Run Pos. | Finish | Wins | 5s | 10s | 15s | 20s | Led |
Brad Keselowski | 4 | 4.5 | 5.8 | 3.5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 175 |
Martin Truex Jr | 4 | 8 | 6.8 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 153 |
Kevin Harvick | 4 | 14.8 | 12.8 | 21.8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 166 |
Joey Logano | 4 | 2.8 | 6.8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 168 |
Ryan Newman | 4 | 14.8 | 12.3 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 14 |
Jimmie Johnson | 4 | 10.3 | 9.8 | 15.3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 174 |
Denny Hamlin | 4 | 17.5 | 12.5 | 10.5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 11 |
Kyle Larson | 4 | 11 | 14.3 | 15.8 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
Chase Elliott | 2 | 12.5 | 9 | 20.5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Kyle Busch | 3 | 17.3 | 7 | 12.3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 90 |
Paul Menard | 4 | 18.5 | 15 | 12.3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
Austin Dillon | 4 | 14 | 16.3 | 16.5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
Kasey Kahne | 4 | 7.8 | 11.5 | 11.8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
Ryan Blaney | 3 | 15.7 | 13.3 | 10.7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
Jamie McMurray | 4 | 14 | 15.5 | 12.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
Kurt Busch | 3 | 13.7 | 17 | 21.7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 32 |
Clint Bowyer | 4 | 17.8 | 18.8 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
AJ Allmendinger | 4 | 18.8 | 20.8 | 15.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
Erik Jones | 1 | 8 | 10 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 4 | 20.5 | 21.5 | 25.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Trevor Bayne | 4 | 29.3 | 21.5 | 19.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
Aric Almirola | 4 | 15 | 23.3 | 22.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Daniel Suarez | 1 | 11 | 22 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Ty Dillon | 1 | 24 | 22 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Chris Buescher | 2 | 25 | 29 | 24.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Michael McDowell | 4 | 30.8 | 30.3 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Gray Gaulding | 1 | 35 | 33 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Cole Custer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Darrell Wallace Jr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Joey Gase | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ross Chastain | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
William Byron | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Matt DiBenedetto | 2 | 32.5 | 31 | 28.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
David Ragan | 4 | 25.5 | 31.8 | 28.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jeffrey Earnhardt | 2 | 37 | 35.5 | 32.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Cole Whitt | 4 | 33.8 | 35 | 33.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Alex Bowman | 2 | 31.5 | 39 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fast | Top 15 | Pass | Avg. | High | Low | Pos. | Laps Led | High to | Low to | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Driver | Laps | Rate | Diff. | Rating | Rating | Rating | Diff. | Pts/Race | Avg Rating | Avg Rating |
Brad Keselowski | 139 | 93% | 4 | 121.8 | 134.6 | 102.8 | 1 | 10.94 | 12.8 | 19 |
Martin Truex Jr | 73 | 94% | 4 | 112.6 | 147.6 | 88.9 | 1 | 9.56 | 35 | 23.7 |
Kevin Harvick | 131 | 73% | 6 | 101.3 | 141.5 | 62.2 | -7 | 10.38 | 40.2 | 39.1 |
Joey Logano | 93 | 96% | 7 | 112.8 | 130.6 | 102.6 | -2.2 | 10.50 | 17.8 | 10.2 |
Ryan Newman | 17 | 81% | 2 | 88.7 | 103.4 | 77 | 4.8 | 0.88 | 14.7 | 11.7 |
Jimmie Johnson | 129 | 79% | 6 | 111.2 | 130.3 | 94.7 | -5 | 10.88 | 19.1 | 16.5 |
Denny Hamlin | 7 | 73% | -8 | 88 | 108.7 | 74.3 | 7 | 0.69 | 20.7 | 13.7 |
Kyle Larson | 16 | 59% | -6 | 86.3 | 113 | 53.3 | -4.8 | 0.00 | 26.7 | 33 |
Chase Elliott | 17 | 91% | 11 | 99.3 | 116.3 | 82.2 | -8 | 0.00 | 17 | 17.1 |
Kyle Busch | 33 | 86% | 6 | 102.9 | 108.1 | 97.3 | 5 | 7.50 | 5.2 | 5.6 |
Paul Menard | 25 | 48% | 1 | 82.4 | 108.1 | 64.2 | 6.2 | 0.38 | 25.7 | 18.2 |
Austin Dillon | 7 | 48% | -7 | 81.3 | 104.4 | 63.1 | -2.5 | 0.13 | 23.1 | 18.2 |
Kasey Kahne | 28 | 78% | -4 | 89.5 | 102 | 78.2 | -4 | 0.00 | 12.5 | 11.3 |
Ryan Blaney | 17 | 64% | 7 | 89 | 102.9 | 63 | 5 | 0.00 | 13.9 | 26 |
Jamie McMurray | 6 | 52% | 2 | 77.2 | 86.9 | 58.8 | 1.5 | 0.00 | 9.7 | 18.4 |
Kurt Busch | 20 | 38% | 6 | 74.6 | 93.3 | 62.9 | -8 | 2.67 | 18.7 | 11.7 |
Clint Bowyer | 6 | 28% | 4 | 68.4 | 84.4 | 51.2 | -1.2 | 0.00 | 16 | 17.2 |
AJ Allmendinger | 18 | 26% | 3 | 71 | 94.1 | 50.5 | 3.3 | 0.00 | 23.1 | 20.5 |
Erik Jones | 0 | 95% | 9 | 90.5 | 90.5 | 90.5 | -7 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 3 | 21% | 1 | 64.7 | 81.8 | 53.7 | -4.8 | 0.00 | 17.1 | 11 |
Trevor Bayne | 0 | 14% | 4 | 64 | 75.5 | 51.1 | 9.8 | 0.06 | 11.5 | 12.9 |
Aric Almirola | 1 | 12% | -5 | 65.8 | 72.5 | 60.3 | -7.3 | 0.00 | 6.7 | 5.5 |
Daniel Suarez | 2 | 4% | -16 | 60 | 60 | 60 | -9 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 |
Ty Dillon | 0 | 2% | -5 | 58.2 | 58.2 | 58.2 | 3 | 0.50 | 0 | 0 |
Chris Buescher | 0 | 1% | -7 | 51 | 53.5 | 48.4 | 0.5 | 0.00 | 2.5 | 2.6 |
Michael McDowell | 0 | 1% | -9 | 43.9 | 57.2 | 33.4 | 0.8 | 0.13 | 13.3 | 10.5 |
Gray Gaulding | 0 | 1% | -9 | 35.7 | 35.7 | 35.7 | 1 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 |
Cole Custer | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Darrell Wallace Jr | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Joey Gase | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Ross Chastain | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
William Byron | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Matt DiBenedetto | 2 | 0% | 0 | 40.5 | 45.2 | 35.8 | 4 | 0.00 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
David Ragan | 0 | 0% | 0 | 42.2 | 53.8 | 31.7 | -3.3 | 0.00 | 11.6 | 10.5 |
Jeffrey Earnhardt | 0 | 0% | -3 | 31 | 32.3 | 29.6 | 4.5 | 0.00 | 1.3 | 1.4 |
Cole Whitt | 0 | 0% | 3 | 36 | 41.5 | 23.2 | 0 | 0.00 | 5.5 | 12.8 |
Alex Bowman | 0 | 0% | -8 | 34.4 | 35.7 | 33.1 | -8.5 | 0.00 | 1.3 | 1.3 |
Top-15 Drivers at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Since 2007 (on a mobile device scroll right)
Avg. | Avg. | Avg. | Top | Top | Top | Top | Laps | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Driver | Races | Start | Run Pos. | Finish | Wins | 5s | 10s | 15s | 20s | Led |
Brad Keselowski | 9 | 9.8 | 14.6 | 15.4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 188 |
Kevin Harvick | 10 | 15.6 | 10.8 | 14.2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 181 |
Jimmie Johnson | 10 | 12 | 11 | 13.9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 385 |
Kyle Busch | 9 | 8.8 | 10.3 | 14.3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 225 |
Martin Truex Jr | 10 | 14 | 11.1 | 12.6 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 156 |
Joey Logano | 9 | 8 | 11.1 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 169 |
Ryan Newman | 10 | 12.3 | 13.8 | 14.4 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 14 |
Kasey Kahne | 10 | 12.9 | 12.8 | 10.8 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 115 |
Denny Hamlin | 10 | 19.8 | 15.8 | 13.4 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 14 |
Clint Bowyer | 10 | 17.7 | 19.7 | 16.2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 16 |
Paul Menard | 10 | 23.7 | 16.4 | 15.2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 9 |
Kyle Larson | 4 | 11 | 14.3 | 15.8 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
Chase Elliott | 2 | 12.5 | 9 | 20.5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Austin Dillon | 5 | 16.6 | 17.8 | 17.4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
Jamie McMurray | 10 | 20.7 | 18.1 | 16.6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 2 |
Fast | Top 15 | Pass | Avg. | High | Low | Pos. | Laps Led | Rating | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Driver | Laps | Rate | Diff. | Rating | Rating | Rating | Diff. | Pts/Race | Range |
Brad Keselowski | 163 | 62% | -3 | 91.1 | 134.6 | 27.5 | -5.6 | 5.22 | 107.1 |
Kevin Harvick | 178 | 76% | 7 | 100.9 | 141.5 | 62.2 | 1.4 | 4.53 | 79.3 |
Jimmie Johnson | 296 | 71% | 6 | 105.5 | 130.3 | 47.1 | -1.9 | 9.63 | 83.2 |
Kyle Busch | 95 | 76% | 4 | 100.9 | 118.5 | 74.1 | -5.5 | 6.25 | 44.4 |
Martin Truex Jr | 89 | 75% | 3 | 96 | 147.6 | 52.7 | 1.4 | 3.90 | 94.9 |
Joey Logano | 112 | 73% | -4 | 96.3 | 130.6 | 73.9 | -2 | 4.69 | 56.7 |
Ryan Newman | 24 | 67% | -5 | 83.4 | 103.4 | 59.8 | -2.1 | 0.35 | 43.6 |
Kasey Kahne | 91 | 67% | 4 | 89.8 | 138.9 | 68.5 | 2.1 | 2.88 | 70.4 |
Denny Hamlin | 17 | 47% | 2 | 80.2 | 108.7 | 61.7 | 6.4 | 0.35 | 47 |
Clint Bowyer | 11 | 39% | 1 | 70.8 | 93.6 | 40.5 | 1.5 | 0.40 | 53.1 |
Paul Menard | 40 | 49% | 2 | 77.8 | 108.1 | 48.1 | 8.5 | 0.23 | 60 |
Kyle Larson | 16 | 59% | -6 | 86.3 | 113 | 53.3 | -4.8 | 0.00 | 59.7 |
Chase Elliott | 17 | 91% | 11 | 99.3 | 116.3 | 82.2 | -8 | 0.00 | 34.1 |
Austin Dillon | 8 | 39% | -4 | 78.4 | 104.4 | 63.1 | -0.8 | 0.10 | 41.3 |
Jamie McMurray | 14 | 45% | 9 | 73.3 | 94.8 | 46.7 | 4.1 | 0.05 | 48.1 |
Top-15 Drivers at 1.5-mile Tracks Since Feb. 2015 (on a mobile device scroll right)
Avg. | Avg. | Avg. | Top | Top | Top | Top | Laps | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Driver | Races | Start | Run Pos. | Finish | Wins | 5s | 10s | 15s | 20s | Led |
Martin Truex Jr | 25 | 6.9 | 5.6 | 6.2 | 10 | 14 | 20 | 24 | 24 | 2120 |
Jimmie Johnson | 25 | 15.4 | 13 | 14.1 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 15 | 18 | 483 |
Kevin Harvick | 25 | 6.1 | 6.5 | 8.2 | 3 | 12 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 1550 |
Brad Keselowski | 25 | 7 | 10.8 | 12.3 | 3 | 9 | 16 | 20 | 21 | 332 |
Kyle Busch | 25 | 9.2 | 8.9 | 9.8 | 2 | 11 | 16 | 20 | 22 | 687 |
Denny Hamlin | 25 | 7.3 | 10.4 | 12.3 | 1 | 10 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 355 |
Austin Dillon | 25 | 15.3 | 15.1 | 15.8 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 20 | 14 |
Chase Elliott | 25 | 13.6 | 11.8 | 12.8 | 0 | 10 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 241 |
Joey Logano | 25 | 11.1 | 11.4 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 318 |
Kyle Larson | 25 | 16.6 | 11.3 | 15.1 | 0 | 9 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 539 |
Kurt Busch | 25 | 10.4 | 11.4 | 12.9 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 168 |
Ryan Blaney | 25 | 13.4 | 15.4 | 15.8 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 15 | 17 | 242 |
Jamie McMurray | 25 | 13.8 | 14.6 | 14.4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 16 | 21 | 5 |
Ryan Newman | 25 | 14.8 | 17 | 18.2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 15 | 31 |
Kasey Kahne | 25 | 21 | 17.9 | 17.6 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 5 |
Fast | Top 15 | Pass | Avg. | High | Low | Pos. | Laps Led | Rating | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Driver | Laps | Rate | Diff. | Rating | Rating | Rating | Diff. | Pts/Race | Range |
Martin Truex Jr | 1117 | 94% | 4 | 122 | 150 | 70.2 | 0.7 | 21.20 | 79.8 |
Jimmie Johnson | 426 | 71% | 10 | 93.5 | 133.6 | 53.2 | 1.3 | 4.83 | 80.4 |
Kevin Harvick | 792 | 89% | 6 | 116.4 | 146.1 | 62.2 | -2.1 | 15.50 | 83.9 |
Brad Keselowski | 367 | 82% | 2 | 97.5 | 130.4 | 29.7 | -5.3 | 3.32 | 100.7 |
Kyle Busch | 601 | 81% | 0 | 105.3 | 129.8 | 69 | -0.6 | 6.87 | 60.8 |
Denny Hamlin | 235 | 80% | -5 | 93.3 | 136.9 | 55 | -5 | 3.55 | 81.9 |
Austin Dillon | 93 | 63% | 0 | 80.4 | 104.4 | 35.9 | -0.5 | 0.14 | 68.5 |
Chase Elliott | 307 | 78% | 12 | 95.7 | 129.1 | 35.2 | 0.8 | 2.41 | 93.9 |
Joey Logano | 254 | 75% | -2 | 93.9 | 140.6 | 44.9 | -1.9 | 3.18 | 95.7 |
Kyle Larson | 432 | 74% | 13 | 95.1 | 140.1 | 51.1 | 1.5 | 5.39 | 89 |
Kurt Busch | 131 | 77% | 1 | 88.9 | 113.9 | 67.7 | -2.5 | 1.68 | 46.2 |
Ryan Blaney | 209 | 59% | 0 | 83.6 | 128.4 | 46.7 | -2.4 | 2.42 | 81.7 |
Jamie McMurray | 46 | 66% | 4 | 81.4 | 103.8 | 46.7 | -0.6 | 0.05 | 57.1 |
Ryan Newman | 78 | 48% | -5 | 75.4 | 99.9 | 38.5 | -3.4 | 0.31 | 61.4 |
Kasey Kahne | 64 | 44% | 3 | 72.8 | 96.2 | 41.8 | 3.4 | 0.05 | 54.4 |
DraftKings Points Changes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
17 Race | Season | DK Pts +/- | |
---|---|---|---|
Driver | DK Pts. | Avg DK Pts. | Season AVG |
AJ Allmendinger | 19 | 23.30 | -4.30 |
Aric Almirola | 46 | 28.74 | 17.26 |
Austin Dillon | 17.5 | 27.60 | -10.10 |
Brad Keselowski | 89.75 | 41.64 | 48.11 |
Chase Elliott | 55.5 | 40.30 | 15.20 |
Chris Buescher | 23 | 26.64 | -3.64 |
Clint Bowyer | 37 | 28.28 | 8.72 |
Cole Whitt | 21 | 19.14 | 1.86 |
Daniel Suarez | 16 | 28.62 | -12.62 |
David Ragan | 18 | 24.04 | -6.04 |
Denny Hamlin | 47.5 | 39.96 | 7.54 |
Erik Jones | 22 | 28.86 | -6.86 |
Gray Gaulding | 11 | 16.26 | -5.26 |
Jamie McMurray | 40.5 | 26.84 | 13.66 |
Jeffrey Earnhardt | 16 | 14.28 | 1.72 |
Jimmie Johnson | 58.25 | 34.15 | 24.10 |
Joey Logano | 50.75 | 32.43 | 18.32 |
Kasey Kahne | 27.5 | 24.98 | 2.52 |
Kevin Harvick | -12 | 43.84 | -55.84 |
Kurt Busch | 2 | 26.68 | -24.68 |
Kyle Busch | 13 | 55.94 | -42.94 |
Kyle Larson | 48 | 47.34 | 0.66 |
Martin Truex Jr | 115.5 | 62.76 | 52.74 |
Matt DiBenedetto | 23 | 18.93 | 4.07 |
Michael McDowell | 34.5 | 24.85 | 9.65 |
Paul Menard | 20.5 | 26.01 | -5.51 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 7 | 27.76 | -20.76 |
Ryan Blaney | 35.5 | 25.54 | 9.96 |
Ryan Newman | 31 | 30.92 | 0.08 |
Trevor Bayne | 41 | 26.24 | 14.76 |
Ty Dillon | 26.5 | 29.62 | -3.12 |
Average +/- | 14.60 |
Top-10 and Bottom-10 Value Drivers
Top 10 Value | Bottom 10 Value | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Chris Buescher | 6.67 | 37 | Joey Gase | 0.00 |
2 | Ryan Blaney | 6.36 | 36 | Cole Custer | 0.02 |
3 | Michael McDowell | 6.24 | 35 | Jimmie Johnson | 1.43 |
4 | Austin Dillon | 6.20 | 34 | Daniel Suarez | 1.96 |
5 | Paul Menard | 5.62 | 33 | Alex Bowman | 2.37 |
6 | Joey Logano | 5.49 | 32 | Ty Dillon | 2.54 |
7 | Ryan Newman | 5.38 | 31 | Erik Jones | 2.84 |
8 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 5.32 | 30 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 3.04 |
9 | Gray Gaulding | 5.28 | 29 | Kasey Kahne | 3.13 |
10 | AJ Allmendinger | 5.21 | 28 | Kyle Busch | 3.42 |
Drivers to watch this week:
Martin Truex Jr.: Truex Jr. is the defending winner of this race and looked to get into form a bit at Atlanta last week as he had the fastest car on the track on for portions of the race. Aside from the win, he has two top-fives and four top-15s in the last four races here with 153 laps led, good for fifth-most. He has the third-highest average driver rating at 112.6, but has the highest high rating overall at 147.6 in the last four races. Everyone knows of his dominance at this distance in the last few years and his championship run from last year kicked off here at this race.
Brad Keselowski: Keselowski is the only two-time winner here in the last four races and the only one in the field over the last 10 races. He also has the best average finish at 3.5 in the last four but 15.4 over the last 10. Four top-10s are the reason for the high average finish of late but he also has the most laps led here with 175 since 2014. Also having the most fast laps and the best driver rating at 121.8 in that span doesn’t hurt his cause either. With him being $1,100 cheaper than Truex and providing a 4.67 value compared to a 4.03, he might be the higher owner driver.
Jimmie Johnson: JJ has long been known to be a very good 1.5-mile driver and this track is no exception. He has two top-10a and three top-15s in the last four races and the second-most laps led with 174, one less than Brad’s total. He has finished in the top-10 50% of the time over the last 10 races including a win and the most laps led with 385 overall. Johnson hasn’t had the smoothest start to the season so far with a rough Daytona speed weeks and then an up and down race at Atlanta, but he generally does well in the west-coast swing.
Paul Menard: Menard is a bit of a surprise driver this week but his numbers warrant being talked about here. He has a top-five and three top-15s in the last four races place a decent +6.2 position differential that is actually second-best in the field behind only Trevor Bayne. With this category lacking this week, Menard’s mark isn’t a bad target for your lineup especially at a cheaper cost to roster. It’s not just over the four-year run since 2014 either, he has the best mark in the field over the last 10 races here.
Kyle & Kurt Busch: The Brothers Busch are a joint talking point this week since this is both of their home track. Raised in Vegas they always get excited to come home for the week and have their friends and family come out to watch some racing, however their results aren’t always the greatest. Kyle is the better of the two with a top-five and two top-15s in the last three races and 90 laps led, but Kurt lags behind with just one top-10 in his last three with 32 laps run out front. That’s not encouraging history from two guys who are usually near the top of the salary list like Kyle is again this week at $10,000. Over the last 20 races (10 total races) they have one win, Kyle, and Kurt doesn’t even make the top-15 list this week.