LAS VEGAS — Two weeks into the new NASCAR season, Chevrolet was undefeated heading into Las Vegas Motor Speedway for another full weekend of racing.
And not just in the top-tier Cup Series, where Daniel Suarez of Trackhouse Racing came out on top after a three-wide photo finish at the checkered flag at Atlanta Motor Speedway last Sunday, a week after William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports won the Daytona 500.
Chevrolet’s winning streak crosses all three NASCAR national series, with the bow-tie brand having swept the start of the schedule in both the second-tier Xfinity Series and the third-tier Truck Series. Spire Motorsports drivers Nick Sanchez and Kyle Busch won the first two Truck Series races at Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta, respectively, while Austin Hill of Richard Childress Racing was 2-for-2 in Xfinity Series events.
It marked the first time in NASCAR history a manufacturer sweep stretched through the first two weekends of a season. Chevy also became the first automaker with more than one Daytona sweep; its first at the iconic Florida track was in 2018.
Chevy has now won at least one race in the NASCAR national ranks every weekend since last October’s action on the Roval course at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
This weekend — including Friday night’s late Truck Series race — will be a different kind of test, though, compared to the first two weeks, and that goes for all three manufacturers currently running in NASCAR’s national series.
While NASCAR teams employ superspeedway packages at both Daytona (which is 2.5 miles) and Atlanta (which is 1.5 but has extreme banking that allows faster speeds), the layout at Las Vegas is a traditional 1.5-mile oval — the type of track that comprises the bulk of the annual schedule and a closer indicator on where Ford and Toyota stack up against their rival.
Only thing is, Chevy was really good last year at Las Vegas, too. Byron won in March and Kyle Larson won the playoff race there in October for a Hendrick sweep of the track’s Cup Series dates. Hill won the Xfinity Series race there last March, when Busch was the Truck Series winner.
AP photo by John Raoux / Kyle Busch waves to fans during driver introductions before the Daytona 500 qualifying auto races on Feb. 15. Busch, a Chevrolet driver for Richard Childress Racing, is atop the Cup Series points standings for the first time since winning his second title in 2019.The competition is hardly throwing in the towel, though. Ford and Toyota both unveiled new cars for the 2024 season with the Mustang Dark Horse and the Camry XSE, respectively, and the drivers are eager to get them to victory lane. Chevrolet made no changes to its 2023 model Camaro ZLI but has still beaten its updated rivals.
Las Vegas native Riley Herbst, who earned his first career victory last October in the Xfinity Series race at his home track, went so far as to predict he can win by 20 seconds Saturday in his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 98 Ford. Herbst and Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace both quickly shook their heads side-to-side, indicating a firm ‘no’ when asked if the Chevy streak would continue through this three-race weekend.
“We’re just two races in. Chevrolet isn’t going to win all the races,” said Wallace, who was fifth at both Daytona and Atlanta in the 23XI Racing No. 23 Toyota. “I think it’s just a matter of being in the right place at the right time, and so far that has been Chevrolet drivers.”
Busch, another Las Vegas native, has returned home as the Cup Series points leader for the first time since joining Richard Childress Racing last season on the top-tier circuit, having left Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota. He holds a one-point lead over both fellow Chevy driver Byron and Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, part of the Ford camp, heading into Sunday’s race.
Busch’s current climb to the top began with a 12th-place finish at Daytona, and then he was scored third in the photo finish at Atlanta. The highest Busch sat in the standings at any point last year was third after the July race at Atlanta.
Until this week, he had not been the points leader since he won his second Cup Series title in 2019 (a span of 145 races), when he still drove for JGR.
Now he looks for his first win of the season at his home track, where he has 25 career Cup Series starts with only one victory — though he does have 15 top-10 finishes and an average finish of 10th.
He also has five top-five finishes in his past six Cup Series starts there, though he still reflects on his March 2009 victory.
“It was huge and such a cool deal. That to me felt like my Daytona 500,” Busch said. “I’ve had some big wins. I’ve won Indy. I’ve won the Southern 500. I’ve won the Coke 600, All-Star Race, all that stuff. But the Vegas win, it was just such a relief and such a monumental win for me because I remember I grew up right down the street watching that place be built.”
He said that win relieved a lot of pressure to deliver at home, but his failure to win again has haunted him.
“I’ve never backed it up. You still want to win there every time you go, being the hometown,” he said. “I think I have four or five third-place finishes there in the last six or seven races. We’re right there; we just don’t get it.”
Larson is the betting favorite for Sunday’s race, per FanDuel Sportsbook.