It was Kyle Larson versus the field at Kansas Speedway, and the two-time Cup Series champion won for the second time in three weeks. Now the series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway amid a crucial three-race stretch featuring three intermediate tracks, and expect the same cast of characters to be in the mix in the Mojave Desert, as Larson, Denny Hamlin, and Joey Logano have combined to win 10 of the last 17 races here.
Vintage Larson from 2021 was on display at Kansas, crushing the field for 235 of 267 laps. Now the action heads to another notable track for the two-time champion, placing inside the top 10 in 75% of his starts (15 out of 20) at Las Vegas, and he has finished first or second in five of the nine Next Gen races here. Compared to Larson, Hamlin had a quiet third-place run at Kansas, losing 25 points to the points leader, but he will aim to become just the second driver, joining Jimmie Johnson, to hit the jackpot in three consecutive visits to Sin City, boasting eight straight finishes of fourth or better at 1.5-mile venues.
Hendrick Motorsports spends a lot of time out front in Vegas, winning 16 stages, the most by any team at a single track. William Byron makes his way to the front here, leading laps in 11 of the last 12 events, and the No. 24 team has six top-10 finishes in the last seven visits, including a dominant victory in 2023. Byron is also the top pick for the 36 for 36 fantasy game, having finished inside the top 10 in all six attempts in 2026 and leading the Cup Series with a 9.2 average finish at 1.5-mile tracks since the introduction of the Next Gen car in 2022.
On the flip side, some big names are worth avoiding this weekend. Carson Hocevar displayed plenty of speed at Kansas before a restart ruckus tumbled his day to a 33rd-place finish, and his Las Vegas numbers aren't ideal with a best finish of 15th in six starts, posting an average finish of 26.3. Chase Elliott is another to steer clear of; despite Hendrick Motorsports having a handle outside the Neon Garage, the results have been abysmal for Elliott in recent years, featuring four finishes of 18th or worse in eight Next Gen starts.
For sleepers, Austin Cindric arguably had the drive of his Cup career at Kansas, ending with a 3.39 average running position, his best in 181 Cup starts, while Daniel Suárez brings podium finishes in two of the last four Vegas races and 168 laps led in Sin City—his most at any Cup track.
Head-to-head battles bring plenty of intrigue, especially the heavyweight clash between Larson and Hamlin. Larson is white-hot at the right time, averaging 59.3 points per race and a 2.25 average finish through the first four Chase races, but pressure is mounting on the No. 11 team to keep up, setting up a clutch performance. In other matchups, Ty Gibbs gets the nod over Hocevar, Byron holds the edge over Elliott, and Chase Briscoe is favored over Cindric on the strength of eight top-five finishes in the last 12 races at 1.5-mile tracks.
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