NASCAR notebook: UNLV’s Odom gives command, Reddick flips — WATCH

UNLV football coach Barry Odom didn’t get much sleep this weekend.

He walked into his house a little after 4 a.m. Sunday after flying back to Las Vegas following the Rebels’ 33-25 win at Oregon State on Saturday night.

Odom’s light amount of rest did little to impact his enthusiasm before he gave the command to start the engines for Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“I had a really good nap,” Odom said before the race. “Then we got practice later on today, so we’ll be ready to go.”

Odom is a NASCAR fan.

The first race he attended was the Daytona 500. He also had a friend in NASCAR who worked with the now-defunct Red Bull Racing.

He also had other reasons to be excited Sunday.

UNLV (6-1) became bowl eligible for the second straight season Saturday, something the program had never accomplished before.

“I knew Las Vegas is the sports mecca of the world and I was worried a little bit about is there enough space for college football? There absolutely is,” Odom said.

The Rebels will next play No. 17 Boise State at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Allegiant Stadium. It’s the first meeting between the teams since the Broncos’ 44-20 win in the Mountain West title game on Dec. 2.

“We’ve captured the momentum on what our team has done up to this point, and we’ve got to capitalize on it,” Odom said. “We’ve got opportunities in front of us with Boise, bye week and then four more conference games which will ultimately determine who will be the champion of our league. Live in the moment, make sure we do the things that we can control, and our guys will be excited about having a chance.”

Odom, like a typical college football coach, studied for his performance Sunday.

He said he watched a YouTube video of the top 10 commands given before NASCAR races. Other local sports figures who have given the command at Las Vegas Motor Speedway include Raiders punter A.J. Cole, Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill and UFC president Dana White.

“I don’t know who ranked those, so I will try not to disappoint, and I’m excited about having the opportunity to give those words to start off the day,” Odom said.

Reddick flips

Tyler Reddick appeared to be off to a great start at Las Vegas in the opening race of the Round of 8 in the NASCAR playoffs. The regular-season champion won Stage 1 and picked up 10 points.

But the enjoyment of a strong start was short-lived. Reddick crashed in Turn 4 on lap 89 as he tried to pass Chase Elliott on the outside. As he spun on the frontstretch, Reddick’s No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota clipped the grass and flipped near the start-finish line.

Reddick finished 35th and sits sixth in the playoff standings, 30 points below the cutline from the top four. He said after the crash on a TV interview that he was fine.

“Unfortunately, it took us out of the race,” Reddick said. “We had a really fast Toyota and thought we could have been in the mix all day long. We’ll learn from it.”

‘Never been pulled over’

Olympic silver medalist swimmer and Las Vegas native Katie Grimes wasn’t going to say how fast she’s gone in a car. Especially with her parents in the room.

“I’ll leave that one there,” Grimes said before she served as the honorary pace car driver Sunday. “I’ve never been pulled over. Let’s just say that.”

Grimes won silver at the 2024 Olympics in Paris in the 400-meter individual medley. Since Grimes returned home, the 18-year-old has been honored around the city for her performances at the Summer Games.

“It means so much to be born and raised here,” Grimes said. “The support from Vegas has been awesome. We have such a good community that likes to get behind people who are going out and doing things.”

Before Grimes led the field to the green flag, she got out on the track to get some practice laps in the pace car.

“I was surprised at how steep it was on the bank, and they were telling me there’s tracks that are even steeper than this,” Grimes said. “That was crazy. I had a little bit of a physics lesson in my brain going because I just didn’t understand how it worked like that. I have so much respect for the drivers being able to sit in the car and go as fast for as long as they do.”

Nine-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky has said Grimes is the future of U.S. swimming. Grimes said she is already back training with her Sandpipers team for the 2025 world championships in Singapore and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

If Grimes can carry the momentum after Paris and match her self-proclaimed clean driving record, she should be bringing many more medals home to Las Vegas.

“I’ve never been in trouble with the law,” Grimes said. “I’ve never been pulled over, never been caught speeding. So I feel like I’m pretty good at driving. I’m excited to be a part of this.”

Locals in the race

Las Vegas natives Kyle Busch and Noah Gragson finished 13th and 18th, respectively, on Sunday.

Busch is still looking for his first win of the season. The two-time Cup Series champion has won a race in each of the past 19 seasons, every season he’s been a full-time driver in the series.

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