The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where speed, strategy, and tire management collide under the desert sun. With playoff pressure intensifying, teams will gamble on setups and pit calls to find the perfect balance between short-run speed and long-run grip. Let’s break down the best betting values and prop plays for Sunday’s race at Las Vegas on DraftKings Sportsbook.
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Playoffs Hub
Down To Eight
Three of the four drivers who made the Championship Four last year are still in it. Can any of them win the ultimate prize?
Joey Logano (+1000)
History doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes. This isn’t the same story, but it’s close. History is closer to repeating than rhyming. Logano has won three Cup Series Championships. Each of the three felt like a fluke. He was never the favorite. He was never supposed to win. But he’s won three of them and two in the last three years. No one is that lucky. That can’t be a fluke.
Even if it is a fluke, the biggest fluke in motorsports history, why can’t it happen again? The reality is that Logano is a consistent playoff driver. It’s not a fluke. He’s done enough in previous seasons to qualify for the championship race, and Phoenix is a great track for Team Penske. Logano is undervalued due to a perception that he is lucky or that his championships are fluky. Most Cup Series championships in the current era are sprinkled with a tinge of good fortune due to the notorious playoff format. Logano’s title may have more than a sprinkle, perhaps a smattering. Nonetheless, he’s a three-time champ. Very few can say the same.
Chase Briscoe vs. Chase Elliott
Chase Elliott (-115)
Which Chase should we chase? Which Chase will be chasing Chase? Both line up in front of the grid on Sunday night. Both were fast in practice. JGR and Hendrick have brought their best stock cars to Sin City. Their eight Toyotas and Chevys all qualified inside the top 12. They make up the entire first three rows. This is anyone’s race.
Elliott may not have the consistent speed, but he has experience. This is Briscoe’s first season with JGR and his first legitimate title run in the Cup Series. Speed means more than narratives, and over the season, speed favors Briscoe. The season doesn’t matter in stock car racing. Only the present matters. Who is fast now? Elliott won the most recent intermediate-track race at Kansas. That 1.5-mile oval is very similar to the one in Las Vegas. The edge is with Elliott’s experience and recent performance.
