By Roy J. Akers — www.skyviewsports.net
NASCAR is four races into the Chase with six to go. Drivers quickly realized Stage points and wins really matter. Do neither and you are one of 12 drivers out of 16 that need the former or they will sink with the non-playoff drivers. Kyle Larson leads Denny Hamlin by 26 points. Christopher Bell is 50 behind and Joey Logano is 67 points. The other 12, they better win and win fast and make sure they earn Stage points. One stat that came out this week was Jimmie Johnson’s unlikely run to the 2006 title. Johnson was 156 behind at this point in the Chase and look at his finish. There were no Stage1/2 points back then and he boomeranged great finishes into being the 2026 Champion. Look at Chase Briscoe’s stats. He is similar to Johnson. It’s time for those back in the back to find that extra gear.
NASCAR Standings going into Las Vegas
NASCAR National Series – NCS/NOAPS
Hamlin looks for third straight Las Vegas victory…Denny Hamlin looks to add yet another Las Vegas victory. The Virginia-native has won the last two races at the track, including his milestone 60th Cup Series victory last fall. Last October, Hamlin took the lead in the closing laps to claim the win, while he was dominant in the spring – leading 134 of 267 laps on his way to victory.
Bell pursues first Las Vegas victory … Christopher Bell continues to pursue his first Las Vegas win despite several close near misses. The Oklahoma-native has won the pole four times and finished in the top-five five times at the track, including three runner-up finishes. Bell sat on the pole, led 31 laps and finished fourth in the Spring.
Joe Gibbs Racing Vegas top-five streak … Joe Gibbs Racing has placed three drivers in the top-five the last two races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, led by Hamlin’s victories in both events. Bell finished third in this race one year ago before being scored in fourth in the Spring. Chase Briscoe was fourth last Fall, while Ty Gibbs added a fifth here in March.
Toyota continue to rank high in point standings … Hamlin and Bell lead six Toyota drivers in the top-10 in the championship battle. Hamlin (second) paces the Toyota contingent in second, with Bell one spot behind in third. Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick, and Chase Briscoe rank sixth through eighth in the standings while Bubba Wallace continues to hold down 10th overall.
| JOE GIBBS RACING Driver spotlight – CHRISTOPHER BELL No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE BELL AT LAS VEGAS: Christopher Bell has posted three top-five finishes in the last four NASCAR Cup Series races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, including a third-place finish last fall and a fourth-place result earlier this season. In 13 Cup Series starts at Las Vegas, Bell has recorded five top-five finishes, seven top-10s, four pole awards, and 279 laps led. He also earned three top-five finishes in four NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series starts at the track. Additionally, Bell finished sixth or better in three of his four NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts at Las Vegas. KANSAS RECAP: Bell finished sixth in last weekend’s race at Kansas Speedway. After starting third, he ran inside the top 10 throughout the race and scored stage points by finishing fifth in both stages. He ran inside the top five throughout the segment before being passed on the final lap, leaving him with a sixth-place finish. 2026 CHASE: Bell currently sits third in the Chase standings, 50 points out of first, with six races remaining in the season. Through four Chase races, Bell has one win (Darlington), two top-five finishes, and three top-10s. |
| JGR AT LAS VEGAS: Joe Gibbs Racing owns six NASCAR Cup Series victories at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, including the last two races with Denny Hamlin. In 124 combined starts at the track, the organization has tallied 36 top-five finishes, 67 top-10s, 10 pole awards, and 1,556 laps led. Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, and Martin Truex Jr. on the list of drivers who have taken JGR to victory lane at Las Vegas. JGR has placed three drivers in the top five in the last two trips to the 1.5-mile tri-oval. |
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 FORD DRIVERS IN THE CHASE4th – Joey Logano (-67 behind leader Kyle Larson)5th – Ryan Blaney (-91)9th – Austin Cindric (-140)14th – Ryan Preece (-173)15th – Chris Buescher (-186)  LOGANO’S DRIVE FOR FIVEJoey Logano has four NASCAR Cup Series wins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, tying a personal best for a single track with Phoenix Raceway. Statistically, Logano has made 26 career starts at Las Vegas with an average finishing position of 9.8, which is his second-best mark in races where he has at least 10 starts (Richmond is first at 9.6). Besides his four Vegas victories, Logano has 8 top-5 and 15 top-10 finishes since joining the series in 2009.  BLANEY STILL LOOKING FOR VEGAS WINRyan Blaney will be making his 21st career NASCAR Cup Series start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend and while he’s been consistently up front with six top-5 and 10 top-10 finishes, he’s still looking for his first victory. Blaney, who won the pole in 2018, finished 16th earlier this year at LVMS which broke a stretch that saw him crash out of consecutive races at the track in 2025.  CINDRIC SOLID IN CHASEAustin Cindric’s second place finish last weekend at Kansas Speedway is the latest example of how consistent he’s been since the Chase started. In the first four races, Cindric has an average finish of 9.0 and has been no lower than 13th at the checkered flag. That string of solid efforts has also allowed him to move up from 15th when the Chase started to ninth going into Sunday’s event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. CINDRIC CHASE FINISHES13th – Darlington10th – Gateway11th – Bristol2nd – Kansas |
 LARSON BRINGS A SIZABLE CUSHION AND A STOUT VEGAS LEDGER TO THE DESERTKyle Larson heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway holding a 26-point lead over Denny Hamlin after a dominant, maximum points-earning performance at Kansas, where he led 235 of 267 laps to sweep both stages and pick up his second win in four Chase races. The reigning champion enters Las Vegas as just the fourth driver in history, and the first since 2017, to open the postseason with four-straight top-five finishes – a stretch that includes wins at Gateway and Kansas, sandwiched around top-five runs at Darlington and Bristol. Since joining Hendrick Motorsports, Larson’s resume at Las Vegas has been nothing short of impressive. His three Cup wins at the track ranks him second among the series’ active drivers. His first win with the No. 5 team came there in March 2021. He later earned back-to-back victories in the fall 2023 and spring 2024 events, both of which came alongside a sweep of the stages and triple-digit laps led. In the Next Gen era, he owns a series-leading average finish of 7.8, including top-two finishes in five of the nine events. |
| BYRON, ELLIOTT SEEK A MOMENTUM-BUILDING WEEKENDWilliam Byron and Chase Elliott both left the Sunflower State with a sense of much needed momentum. The pair of Team Chevy Chase contenders earned top-eight results at Kansas, building a solid baseline to carry to the second of three-straight 1.5-mile tracks. |
 Byron is one of four current Chase drivers to have a Las Vegas victory to his name in the Next Gen era (spring 2023), a triumph that came paired with a front-row qualifying effort, a sweep of the stage wins and 176 laps led. While he’s still looking for a trip to victory lane this season, 1.5-mile tracks have been his bright spot. He has top-10 results in all six of this season’s 1.5-mile races, including a best-finish of third that came in the Las Vegas spring race. |  Elliott, meanwhile, is still chasing his first Las Vegas win but has quietly built a solid resume that consists of seven top-10s in 18 career starts, including a runner-up finish to Denny Hamlin this spring that matched his career-best result at the track. Both drivers will look to turn Kansas’s recovery into a run at victory lane at a track that has historically fared well for the Hendrick Motorsports camp. |
In 31 previous NASCAR Cup Series starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS), Spire Motorsports has one pole and 10 top-20 finishes. Justin Haley earned the team’s best result in March 2025 with a 14th-place effort. Spire Motorsports fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s in the Cup Series with Daniel Suárez, Michael McDowell and Carson Hocevar, respectively.The NASCAR Cup Series will contest the fifth race of The Chase Sunday at LVMS. Hocevar and Suárez sit 11th and 16th, respectively in the championship standings. McDowell is 20th in points following last week’s race at Kansas Speedway.The South Point 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be televised live on USA Network Sunday, Oct. 4 beginning at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The 31st of 36 points-paying races on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series calendar will also be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. |
| Daniel Suárez – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
