South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

(⏰ Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET | 📺 NBC, NBC Sports App | 📻 PRN, SiriusXM)

Everything you need to know for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the 33rd points-paying race of the 2023 Cup Series campaign.

Weekend schedule | TV schedule | Weather tracker | Las Vegas playoff race 101

📍 Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
📐 Track length: 1.5 miles
🎟️ Buy tickets: Find weekend passes, seats for the race
💰 Cup Series race purse: $7,785,320
📏 Race distance: 267 laps | 400.5 miles
🔢 Stages: 80 | 165 | 267
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📋 Starting lineup: TBA
🚗 Pit stall assignments: TBA
🏆 Defending winner: Joey Logano, fall 2022

Key things to watch 🔑

Big story line

Can Martin Truex Jr. rediscover his regular-season mojo and become a championship favorite again?

To say the least, after a strong regular season, it has been shocking to see Truex’s dip in performance since the start of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Despite all the bumps along the way, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver still managed to make a deep playoff run into the Round of 8, thanks to the 36 playoff points earned on the way to the Regular Season Championship. While Truex advanced to the Round of 8 by 12 points after finishing 20th at the Charlotte Roval, he does not have a top-10 finish in any playoff race so far. In the last seven races, he has finished 17th or worse.

The No. 19 team will aim to snap out of this cold streak on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In 11 of the last 12 races at the 1.5-mile track, Truex has two victories and just one result outside the top 10, including six consecutive finishes of eighth or better. With the current playoff format, winning can solve a lot of problems. If Truex wins at Las Vegas and earns another Championship 4 berth, that string of disappointing finishes will quickly become a distant memory. | Kyle Petty: Can Martin Truex Jr. rediscover early-season success?

History tells us…

William Byron may sweep Las Vegas in 2023 and make his first Championship 4 appearance.

Byron continues to enjoy a career year in the Cup Series, scoring six victories, most of all drivers. In the Round of 12, he finished no worse than second place and picked up the win at Texas to punch his ticket to the Round of 8. The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has seven top 10s in the last eight races. When the last 23 races up, the remarkable consistency is clear with 15 top-10 finishes and four wins during this stretch.

Looking at Byron’s Las Vegas stats, the 25-year-old led a total of 255 laps in the last seven of nine races in Sin City. In the previous five races, he finished eighth or better three times, including winning the Las Vegas spring race earlier this year. Based on the No. 24 team’s momentum, there is a good chance that he may end up sweeping both Las Vegas races in 2023 and advance to Phoenix to square off for his first Cup title. | Relive Byron’s OT win in the Vegas spring race | Watch the race on NASCAR Classics

He may not be the betting favorite to win, but watch out for…

Ross Chastain. While the Trackhouse Racing driver will not be a part of this year’s Championship 4, there will still be opportunities for the No. 1 team to end 2023 with some solid results heading into next year. Most of 2023 has been hit or miss for Chastain, in a season filled with ups and downs. Chastain enters Las Vegas with 22-1 odds of winning Sunday’s South Point 400 (2:30 p.m., NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

Chastain’s last six races resulted in three top 10s and finishes of 13th or worse three times. In the last three Las Vegas races, Chastain finished in the top three twice. Based on the No. 1 Chevrolet’s inconsistent finishes throughout the year, there is no telling which Chastain will show up to Vegas, but his recent history at this track suggests a respectable day could be a possibility despite no longer being in playoff contention.

Familiar favorites ⭐️

Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.

• At-track photos: TBA
• Bubble Watch: High stakes in the desert | See the analysis
• Fantasy Fastlane: Will MTJ hit the jackpot in Sin City? | See the picks
• Paint Scheme Preview: See the schemes for Las Vegas | Pick a favorite
• Power Rankings: Which Martin Truex Jr. will we see in the Round of 8? | Latest driver rankings
• Stacking Pennies: Ben Kennedy joins Corey LaJoie to talk about the 2024 schedule and marquee moments in NASCAR and his career. | Listen to the podcast

💎 NASCAR 75: Learn more about the history of the sport, from pioneers to current stars | Visit NASCAR 75 hub

Get in on the action 💰

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• Fantasy Live: Participate in interactive gameplay from week to week | Choose your lineup
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• NASCAR BetCenter: Don’t miss your chance to make picks each week | Visit the BetCenter
• Going the distance: 2023 Cup Series championship odds | See them here

🔮 Advance to Victory Lane: Racing Insights projects the finishing order