Oddsmakers see clear favorite in Las Vegas NASCAR race

Kyle Larson has won two of the last six NASCAR Cup Series races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, including the South Point 400 in October.

The driver for Hendrick Motorsports — which has won four of the last six Cup events at LVMS — is the +450 favorite at the Westgate SuperBook to win Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at the track.

“This is the first time NASCAR has ever started a year with back-to-back restrictor plate races,” SuperBook oddsmaker Ed Salmons said. “Usually, they have a race before they hit Las Vegas where you can kind of tell what’s going on. So there are a lot of unknowns how these cars are going to drive because it’s the first time we’ve seen them in a race.

“But the one constant is that Kyle Larson is always the favorite in these kinds of races. This is his bread and butter. And he’s won out here.”

Larson also won the 2021 Pennzoil 400 at LVMS en route to claiming the Cup Series championship.

Daytona 500 champion William Byron, Larson’s teammate who won last year’s Pennzoil 400, is the 8-1 second choice to repeat as the race winner.

Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell are 10-1, and Martin Truex Jr. is 12-1. Hamlin won at LVMS in 2021, and Truex won Cup races at LVMS in 2017 and 2019.

“Hendricks and Joe Gibbs are seemingly the best two teams every year,” Salmons said. “You can take Byron and Larson, and Hamlin, Bell and Truex, that’s your starting point to this race.”

Reigning Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney also is 10-1.

“He’s usually really good at Las Vegas,” Salmons said.

Kyle Busch has four third-place finishes in the past six races at his 1½-mile hometown track, but the two-time Cup Series champion has won only once at LVMS, in 2009. Busch is 16-1 to get his second home win.

“You always put Kyle Busch in as part of the equation,” Salmons said. “He usually runs really well in the first race of the year in Las Vegas. I expect him to have a decent chance to win this week.”

Busch is 5-1 at the SuperBook to finish in the top three, and his finish over-under is 10½.

Three-time LVMS winners Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski also are 16-1 to take the checkered flag.

“After practice on Saturday, we’ll have a much better idea what to expect,” Salmons said.

John Hunter Nemechek is the +350 favorite to win Saturday’s The LiUNA NASCAR Xfinity Series race at LVMS.

Las Vegas resident Riley Herbst is tied for the 8-1 fourth choice after he won the Xfinity event in October on his home track.

Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer, Herbst’s teammate, are tied for the 5-1 second choice to win the Xfinity race.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.