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One of the central concepts at the very heart of modern civilization is the idea that mankind is born in sin and must reject and avoid whatever leads them to sin. Try as they may to strive toward virtue, though, man has built a Sin City in Las Vegas dedicated to its vices. And within its city limits, they have also built a place for their impulse to go fast, wild and unrestrained.

The NASCAR Cup Series makes its first trip of the season to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Pennzoil 400, beginning a two-race stretch of races out West in the first several weeks of 2024. The trip west comes at quite the time for stock car racing, as Daniel Suarez's victory last week in a three-wide photo finish -- the third-closest finish in Cup history -- became not only an instant classic in NASCAR, but also a viral highlight that wowed many throughout the wider world of sports.

It just so happens that the last time NASCAR raced at Las Vegas, there was another fantastic finish. Last fall, Kyle Larson held off a charge in the final corner by Christopher Bell, beating him by a mere car-length at the finish line to take the win and advance to the Championship 4. With Las Vegas yet again in the playoffs' Round of 8, this weekend's spring race will be essential in both generating momentum to start the year and establishing a baseline for when the stakes are far greater this October.

Once again starting out front this week is Joey Logano. The veteran claimed his second pole position in three races on Saturday -- and his third consecutive front row starting spot. He'll be looking for his second card victory at Las Vegas in the Cup Series after previously winning in 2019.

How to watch the NASCAR Cup Series at Las Vegas

Date: Sunday, March 3
Location: Las Vegas Motor Speedway -- North Las Vegas, Nevada
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
TV: Fox
Stream: fubo (try for free)

What to watch

After two straight drafting racetracks to open the 2024 season, Las Vegas presents the first challenge of a standard downforce track set to showcase which teams have struck the right balance of aerodynamics and horsepower and which drivers should be expected to contend on a weekly basis going forward. And after the results of the first two weeks, this is going to be a major test to see whether some teams and drivers are ready to take the next step in being capable of running at the front on a regular basis.

Front Row Motorsports has made a major splash early this season since becoming a Tier One Ford team and forming a technical alliance with Team Penske, and they're coming off of an Atlanta race weekend in which they won the pole with Michael McDowell and led the most laps with Todd Gilliland, whose mark of 73 laps led through the first two weeks leads all drivers in Cup so far this season. 

Spire Motorsports has also made their presence felt, with Corey LaJoie earning a fourth-place finish in the Daytona 500 and following it up with a top 15 at Atlanta -- CBS Sports spoke to LaJoie recently about the idea of improved performance and elevated expectations at Spire -- and even Rick Ware Racing has enjoyed good performances to start the year with Justin Haley and Kaz Grala.

Front Row in particular has ascended toward becoming a very good race team in the Next Gen era, but its strengths -- and the strengths of teams like Spire who have been in the same weight class -- have generally been through the great equalizer of the draft. What gains these teams have made in terms of performance on downforce tracks makes for an interesting subplot, as the competitive depth of this year's Cup Series hinges on these teams capitalizing on improvements to their program to challenge the likes of other upstarts like Trackhouse Racing, 23XI Racing and RFK Racing.

Pennzoil 400 starting lineup

  1. #22 - Joey Logano
  2. #5 - Kyle Larson
  3. #2 - Austin Cindric
  4. #24 - William Byron
  5. #23 - Bubba Wallace
  6. #14 - Chase Briscoe
  7. #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
  8. #54 - Ty Gibbs
  9. #17 - Chris Buescher
  10. #20 - Christopher Bell
  11. #9 - Chase Elliott
  12. #34 - Michael McDowell
  13. #47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  14. #77 - Carson Hocevar (R)
  15. #12 - Ryan Blaney
  16. #99 - Daniel Suarez
  17. #7 - Corey LaJoie
  18. #45 - Tyler Reddick
  19. #3 - Austin Dillon
  20. #1 - Ross Chastain
  21. #8 - Kyle Busch
  22. #43 - Erik Jones
  23. #48 - Alex Bowman
  24. #71 - Zane Smith (R)
  25. #6 - Brad Keselowski
  26. #4 - Josh Berry (R)
  27. #42 - John Hunter Nemechek
  28. #11 - Denny Hamlin
  29. #21 - Harrison Burton
  30. #10 - Noah Gragson
  31. #38 - Todd Gilliland
  32. #15 - Kaz Grala (R)
  33. #16 - Derek Kraus
  34. #31 - Daniel Hemric
  35. #51 - Justin Haley
  36. #41 - Ryan Preece
  37. #44 - J.J. Yeley

News of the week

  • NASCAR announced Tuesday the No. 10 and No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing teams have both been assessed L1-level penalties for using illegal rail roof deflectors that were confiscated by officials in inspection last Friday. Noah Gragson, Ryan Preece and their respective teams have been penalized 35 driver and owner points.
  • In addition, NASCAR has also fined Joey Logano $10,000 for modifying an SFI-approved protective glove, violating Section 14.3.1.1 of the NASCAR rulebook pertaining to driver protective clothing and equipment. Logano had been sent to the rear of the field and was ordered to serve a pass-through penalty at the start of the race at Atlanta after it was discovered that he had been using a webbed glove, which was speculated to provide Logano with an aerodynamic advantage in qualifying when he put his hand up to his window net in order to try and seal air off from entering the cockpit.
  • Greg Moore, the son of NASCAR Hall of Fame car owner and crew chief Bud Moore, died Wednesday at the age of 67 after reportedly having dealt with various health issues over the past several years. Moore served as the team manager for his father's race team, which was a fixture in the Cup Series for many years, with 63 wins and two Cup championships with driver Joe Weatherly in 1962 and 1963.

    "NASCAR is saddened to learn of the passing of Greg Moore," read a NASCAR statement. "Greg was a fixture in the NASCAR garage and played an important role in the success of Bud Moore Engineering.  Our thoughts are with his family and friends during this difficult time."
  • JR Motorsports announced Thursday that Bubba Pollard, one of the most accomplished short track racers in the country and one of the biggest stars of the grassroots level, will make his NASCAR debut for the team in the Xfinity Series race at Richmond in March. The soon-to-be 37-year-old from Senoia, Ga. boasts more than 100 career victories in late model racing, including its biggest events such as the All-American 400 at Nashville Fairgrounds, the Slinger Nationals, the World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna and more.

    Pollard is the second driver out of the late model ranks to get an Xfinity Series start with JR Motorsports, a team that was pivotal in bringing Josh Berry from the late model ranks to now having a ride in the Cup Series. Carson Kvapil, the two-time and defending champion of the CARS Late Model Stock Tour, will make his Xfinity debut for JRM at Martinsville in April.

Pick to win

Kyle Larson (+400) -- Since joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2021, Larson has been nothing short of outstanding at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In the last six Las Vegas races, Larson has two wins, two runner-up finishes, and five top 10s overall, with a crash in fall 2022 being the lone stain on what is otherwise an exceptional recent resume. That includes both Vegas races in 2023, where Larson led 63 laps in the spring before finishing second and 133 laps in the fall on his way to victory.

By the way, if we go back even further than 2021, Larson had a three-race stretch in Vegas between 2017-2018 where he finished second, third and second while driving for Chip Ganassi Racing. At this track and with the race team he has behind him, betting on Kyle Larson is about as safe as safe bets get.