On Sunday, the celebs of the NASCAR Cup Sequence will take to 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the fifth race of the 2025 season.
Forward of Sunday’s ultimate leg of the three-race west coast swing, this is a favourite, an underdog and the storylines it’s best to comply with.
Favourite: Christopher Bell (+400, per DraftKings)
Following his third straight win of the season at Phoenix, it ought to come as no shock that Bell is atop the oddsboard coming into Las Vegas. With 5 straight high 10s on 1.5-mile tracks and three high fives within the final 4 races in Sin Metropolis, there’s a good likelihood Bell can be part of NASCAR Corridor of Famer Invoice Elliott (1992) as the one drivers to win 4 of the primary 5 races in a season.
Underdog: Alex Bowman (+2200, per DraftKings)
It is arduous to name Bowman an underdog, given he drives for the powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports group and has the Eleventh-best odds coming into the weekend. Nevertheless, his begin to the season and former historical past at Las Vegas recommend he needs to be even larger on the record.
Bowman sits sixth within the level standings with three high 10s to start the season. He’s additionally a earlier winner on the Nevada observe (2022) and owns three top-five finishes in his final 5 begins there. If he can have a mistake-free race, do not be shocked to see Bowman up entrance and contending for the win.
Can anybody cease Bell?
Bell enters Las Vegas using an enormous excessive with three consecutive wins on three various kinds of tracks (Atlanta, COTA, Phoenix). As he appears to turn into the primary driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to win 4 races in a row, can anybody within the area cease him?
There are a couple of that would give Bell a run for his cash. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and William Byron have been glorious at Las Vegas as of late. Larson has received two of the final three races, whereas Byron owns one win (2023) and has discovered the entrance of the sector in 10 of the final 12 races there.
One other driver to look at is 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who completed runner-up within the spring race final yr and has 5 high 10s within the final seven races at Las Vegas. If anybody can halt Bell’s momentum, these three drivers have nearly as good a shot as any.
Can Joey Logano flip his misfortune round?
It has been a attempting begin to the season for the three-time Cup Sequence champion Logano. After he couldn’t get a high 10 end at Phoenix following an early penalty for going under the yellow line on a restart, Logano turned the primary defending champion in Cup Sequence historical past to not earn a high 10 end within the first 4 races the next season.
A visit to Las Vegas could possibly be simply what Logano wants to ascertain some momentum. A winner of 4 races on the observe since 2019, maybe that is the weekend Logano lastly places a whole run collectively.
How will the season’s first cease at a 1.5-mile observe play out?
Sunday will mark the primary of seven races on a 1.5-mile intermediate observe for the Cup Sequence this season. The schedule begins taking form with Homestead-Miami Speedway on faucet subsequent weekend after some early wild-card races. With solely two winners via the primary 4 races, it will likely be attention-grabbing to see if the identical drivers run up entrance or if totally different contenders emerge over the following few weeks.
