5 things to watch at NASCAR South Point 400 weekend at LVMS

Las Vegas will be at the center of the NASCAR world this weekend.

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the South Point 400 at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the first race of the Round of 8 in the playoffs.

Drivers Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe and Joey Logano are still alive for the Cup Series title.

Action at the 1½-mile track begins Saturday with Cup Series practice and qualifying, followed by the Xfinity Series Focused Health 302 playoff race.

Here are five things to watch for this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

1. The benefit of a win at LVMS

Las Vegas has been coined by some drivers as the most important race in the playoffs, after the championship race in Phoenix.

That’s because if one of the eight playoff drivers wins Sunday, he will automatically lock a spot in the Championship 4 and be eligible to race for the Cup Series title Nov. 2 at Phoenix.

The winning driver then would have two extra weeks to prepare for Phoenix. He also would not have to sweat out a wild-card-type race at Talladega Superspeedway, where a big wreck can wipe out most of the field at any moment, and a 500-lap race around Martinsville’s half-mile paperclip.

Logano knows the benefit of having the extra weeks to prepare for Phoenix. In 2022 and 2024, he won the South Point 400, the first race in the Round of 8, and went on to win the championship in Phoenix.

2. Will Toyota’s dominance continue?

The strongest manufacturer through the first two rounds of the playoffs has been Toyota.

Hamlin (Gateway), Briscoe (Darlington) and Bell (Bristol), all driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, each won one of the three races in the Round of 16.

At Kansas, a similar 1½-mile track to Las Vegas, on Sept. 28, the three were in contention to win. But Elliott made a last-lap pass, and Hamlin (second), Bell (third) and Briscoe (fourth) finished in the top five.

Bell has come close to winning the South Point 400 the past two years, finishing second in each of the past two fall LVMS races. Hamlin is tied for the series lead with five wins, and Bell, with four wins, is tied for the series lead with 19 top-10 finishes.

Hamlin leads the points standings, eight points above the cutline. Bell (-4 points) and Briscoe (-14) are below the cutline.

3. Can Penske contend for the title?

Team Penske drivers have a knack for coming up clutch in the playoffs. The organization has won the past three series titles — Logano in 2022 and 2024, and Blaney in 2023.

Logano, for a second straight year, just scratched his way into the Round of 8. Ross Chastain spun on the final lap last week at Charlotte’s Roval, and Logano gained enough spots to advance.

The tracks in the playoffs set up nicely for Penske, with its success at flat short tracks like Phoenix and superspeedways like Talladega.

Logano has had plenty of success at Las Vegas, with four wins at the track. Josh Berry, driving for Penske affiliate Wood Brothers Racing, won at LVMS in the spring.

Blaney is second in points, four points above the cutline, and Logano is eighth (-24)

4. Will Hendrick Motorsports rebound?

Hendrick Motorsports has three of its drivers in the Round of 8 — Byron, Larson and Elliott, the remaining Chevrolet drivers. This edition of the playoffs hasn’t been the smoothest for the three.

Elliott’s win at Kansas is the only victory from the three in the playoffs. Before that, Byron’s win at Iowa on Aug. 3 was the previous time any of them had won a race. Larson and Bryon did not finish in the top 10 in the first round.

Las Vegas will be a test to see if Hendrick has a title contender.

Larson has three wins at Las Vegas. Bryon won in the spring of 2023, and Elliott should have some confidence with the similarities between Kansas and Las Vegas.

Larson and Byron are above the cutline with a four-point advantage. Elliott is 14 points below the cutline.

5. Xfinity title race

The NASCAR Xfinity Series is also beginning its Round of 8 of the playoffs at Las Vegas.

The eight drivers still alive for the title are Connor Zilisch, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Sam Mayer, Jesse Love, Sammy Smith, Carson Kvapil and Sheldon Creed.

Zilisch has 10 wins this season and has finished in the top five in every race (16) since May 24 at Charlotte. The 19-year-old racing prodigy, driving for JR Motorsports, led 28 laps and finished ninth in March at Las Vegas.

Allgaier, Zilisch’s teammate and the defending series champion, won at LVMS in March, leading a race-high 102 laps.

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.