Around The Track - Drivers to watch at Las Vegas
Yahoo Sports' Nick Bromberg breaks down the key figures in this weekend's South Point 400 - the first race in the Cup Series playoffs Round of 12.
Video Transcript
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NICK BROMBERG: Kyle Larson, and Martin Truex Jr. safely advanced to the third round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, but need to improve their postseason performance to advance to the championship race in November. Let's go around the track presented by Toyota Racing and focus on what you need to know ahead of round three of the 2023 Cup Series playoffs.
Truex won the regular season title and his excellence during the first 26 races of the season is a big reason why he still has a shot at the championship. Truex does not have a finish better than 17th through the first six races of the playoffs, and finished 17th, 18th, and 20th over the course of the three second round races. But he didn't have to sweat too much at the end of the race at the Charlotte Roval because of all those playoff points he accumulated during the regular season.
Larson won the playoff opener at Darlington, and finished fourth and second in the other two first round playoff races. But he was caught in a crash at Texas and finished 15 at Talladega and 13 at the Roval on Sunday. He too didn't have much to worry about at the end of that Roval race thanks to his playoff point total.
But playoff points only go so far, especially in the third round when a win can automatically earn a driver a shot at the title. Truex enters Sunday's race at Las Vegas just five points back of points leader, William Byron, while Larson is 17 points back and forth. They won't stay in the top four if they keep finishing outside the top 10, however. And Vegas is a great opportunity for both of them. Larson enters the first race of the third round as the favorite at plus 500, while Truex is eight to one odds to get his fourth win of the year. That's our trip around the track brought to you by Toyota Racing.