Las Vegas playoff race 101: Round of 8 outlook on Sunday, trends to watch, tire info
Last year’s Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was a wild one that saw half of the playoff drivers at the time finish outside the top 10 while the other half finished inside the top five. If drivers want their shot at the title at Phoenix in three weeks, they will need to perform well in the high desert.
Before the green flag drops for Sunday’s South Point 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), see how the race is trending for drivers still vying for the Bill France Trophy, trends to watch, Goodyear tire info and interactive ways to follow all the weekend’s action.
RELATED: See paint schemes for Las Vegas | Betting favorites for Sunday’s Cup race
ROLL THE DICE IN VEGAS 🎲
It’s no exaggeration to say that the Round of 8 field is trending to dominate Sunday at Las Vegas. The door is open for any one of the eight remaining title-eligible competitors to punch their ticket to a Championship 4 berth as Homestead-Miami Speedway and Martinsville Speedway offer more challenges and have been dominated by only a handful of drivers in recent years.
Reverting to the spring race at Las Vegas, the lowest finish by a current playoff driver was Chris Buescher in 21st. Everyone else finished inside the top 15 with half of the Round of 8 scoring top-10 results.
Vegas will pay the points to most of the playoff drivers on Sunday, and teams are going to need to hit their setups perfectly right off the hauler in practice and qualifying to find any advantage they can entering the race.
MORE: Racing Insights’ projections for Sunday
📉 TRENDS TO WATCH 📈
— The last six races at Las Vegas have been won by different drivers.
— Six of the last seven Las Vegas winners started in the top 10.
— The driver who led the most laps won three of the last five Las Vegas races.
— Nine different drivers have won on 1.5-mile tracks in the Next Gen car. Only Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, and William Byron have won more than once.
(Via Racing Insights)
CLASSIC LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY RACES 🎥
2018: First Las Vegas playoff race turns into wild affair for playoff drivers | WATCH
2020: Kurt Busch wins first race at his home track | WATCH
2022: Joey Logano wins thriller to clinch Champ. 4 berth | WATCH
ON-TRACK SCHEDULE 🗓️
Saturday, Oct. 14
— 12:35 p.m. ET: Practice (USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App)
— 1:20 p.m. ET: Qualifying (USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App
Sunday, Oct. 15
— 2:30 p.m. ET: YellaWood 500 (NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App)
MORE: Full weekend schedule at Las Vegas
RULE CHANGES/GOODYEAR TIRE NOTES 🛞
Goodyear will run the same tire setup at Las Vegas that was introduced in last year’s playoff race. Teams will be allotted one set of tires for practice, one set for qualifying, and an additional eight sets for Sunday’s race.
NASCAR implemented safety updates to the Next Gen car.
Along the right-side door bars and extending toward the rear clip, teams are mandated to run a steel plate in addition to the chassis adjustments made for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The right-side door bar gussets and the removal of the front clip V-brace are changes that remain, in addition to the removal of other front-clip components, to create a softer and larger crush zone for frontal impacts.
Also included in the updates are front-bumper strut softening (modifications to existing parts), the requirement of an empty front ballast box, and a modified cross brace. NASCAR incurs the cost of all these updates.
In the event of a lost wheel that is contained to pit road, the offending team will be subject to a pass-through penalty under green-flag conditions. If the infraction occurs during a caution period, the offending team will restart at the tail end of the field.
If the wheel breaks free outside of pit road, the new rules guidelines mandate a two-lap penalty plus a two-race suspension for two crew members. Each penalty is series-specific: Violations in one series will not impact those crew members’ eligibility to participate in other series.
RELATED: See rules changes for 2023
FAN REWARDS 🫵
Fans can get in on the action all season long with NASCAR Fan Rewards, a free program that rewards fans for participating in the action when they watch races and play NASCAR Fantasy.
There‘s no cost to join. Fans must be 18 years or older to participate in the program.
Earn points by checking into a race from home or at the track, setting your Fantasy Live lineup, making purchases on the NASCAR.com shop, and more. Points can be redeemed for race tickets, merchandise, and VIP experiences at the track, including pace car rides and waving the green flag at qualifying.
FOLLOW THE RACE 📲
NASCAR Mobile has now added support for fans to “Follow the Race” and access live leaderboard and race information from Live Activities in the current app release (v13.2.0), available now. Android users, we didn‘t forget you — the same functionality has been custom-built for Android devices, as well.
How to access Live Activities on iPhones:
Make sure your iOS device has been updated to 16.1 or higher.
Available on the leaderboard of all NASCAR Series races.
Click on the three-dot menu near the top right of the screen.
Select “Follow the Race.”
Swipe up to access the home screen, and you will see the Live Activities at the top.
Lock the device, and you will see Live Activities on the Lock Screen.
To turn it off, simply visit the leaderboard, click the three-dot menu, and “Unfollow the Race.”
FANTASY LIVE 🏆
Want to manage a team and race your way to the top of the leaderboards? Check out NASCAR Fantasy Live, which resets for the playoffs. The free-to-play game lets you choose your drivers each week and show off your crew-chief instincts by garaging a driver by the end of Stage 2, and there is a $10,000 prize for the winner.
How to play: Fantasy Live | Set up a team today!
PLAYOFFS GRID CHALLENGE 🏆
During the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, fans have the opportunity to compete in The Playoffs Grid™ Challenge presented by Ruoff Mortage. Fans can enter by visiting The Playoffs Grid™ Challenge page and registering for a free NASCAR.com account before filling out a bracket. From there, choose from a list of playoff-eligible drivers round by round, and you‘re on your way to compete for prizes!
How to play: Playoffs Grid Challenge
ALSO ON NASCAR.COM 💻
Get additional camera views by logging on to NASCAR Drive, where each week, a select number of in-car cameras will be available — as well as a battle cam and an overhead look.
NASCAR has partnered with LiveLike to add fan engagement to the NASCAR Mobile App. Log in to the mobile app during the race for polls, quizzes, the cheer meter, and more — and see instant results from NASCAR fans like you.
