Viva Las Vegas!
Through the Gears rolls into this week’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on back-to-back winning weeks after Christopher Bell won in a photo finish with teammate Denny Hamlin at Phoenix Raceway, cashing a 20.2 unit profit with his win.
Can Bell make it four wins in a row, or can other favorites such as Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, William Byron or others emerge to win in Sin City?
Larson rolls into Las Vegas as the clear favorite to win with +500 odds via DraftKings Sportsbook (a bet of $10 wins $60). Larson has won two of the last three races at Las Vegas, including last year’s March race. The driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has won at Vegas a total of three times.
Behind him is Bell with +600 odds via FanDuel. Bell was able to become the first driver to win three races in a row in the Next Gen era after last week’s win, but no one has won four Cup Series races in a row since 2007 when seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson won five consecutive races. He is looking to become the ninth driver in the modern era (since 1972) to accomplish the feat.
Kyle Larson holds off a hard-charging Christopher Bell to WIN at Las Vegas! pic.twitter.com/HnqyCSvUgZ
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) October 15, 2023
Bell has come close to winning at Las Vegas, tracking down Larson in the closing laps in fall of 2023. He was unable to make the pass on Larson then. Can he get it done this weekend for his first win at the track?
Another driver that also tracked Larson down in last year’s race was Reddick. Reddick slides in at +700 odds on DraftKings as he looks to give 23XI Racing their first win at the track.
He holds off a hard-charging Tyler Reddick late at Vegas! Repost to congratulate Kyle Larson on his NASCAR Cup Series WIN. pic.twitter.com/AKpgdQnZfx
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 4, 2024
Other former winners in the Next Gen era at Las Vegas include Hendrick’s Byron at +750 odds, Team Penske’s Joey Logano at +1,500 odds and Hendrick’s Alex Bowman at +2,800 odds.
Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain has the best Next Gen average finish at the track with an average finish of 5.5. He has four top fives at the track but has yet to win. At +2,400 odds on FanDuel, Chastain is worth keeping an eye on this weekend if he has the car to beat.
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Wyatt Watson has followed NASCAR closely since 2007. He joined Frontstretchas a journalist in February 2023 after serving in the United States Navy for five years as an Electronic Technician Navigation working on submarines. Wyatt writes breaking NASCAR news and contributes to columns such as Friday Faceoff and 2-Headed Monster. Wyatt also contributes to Frontstretch's social media and serves as an at-track reporter, collecting exclusive content for Frontstretch.
Wyatt Watson can be found on X @WyattGametime