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South Point 400: Power Rankings

Joey Logano with another strong start at Vegas

By Mark Abell
NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400 Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Race Information

Race: South Point 400
Laps: 267
Date: September 27th
Venue: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
2019 Winner: Martin Truex Jr (2:48:34)
Network: NBCSN

Track

Las Vegas Motor Speedway: Built as a road course with a drag strip in 1972, it was later purchased by Richie Clyne and morphed into the current track in 1996. The 1.5 mile asphalt oval has banking turns of 20 degrees with a front and backstretch of 9 degrees. The track itself has seen success in ratings and revenue brought in. So much so that it will be taking the race from New Hampshire in 2018.

NASCAR Racing 2004 - UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400 Photo by Chris Farina/Corbis via Getty Images

Favorites

Joey Logano (ninth selections this year) — Logano is the perennial favorite at Las Vegas. He has a win here last year and another six top 10 finishes here over the last five years (four of those six finishes he was among the top four).

Martin Truex Jr. (ninth selections this year) — Truex Jr. has five consecutive top ten finishes at Vegas. Right now he’s riding an “every other race” record where he finished fourth, 22nd, second and 24th over the last four races. Naturally I’m expecting a top four finish this weekend.

High Risk/High Reward

Ryan Blaney (eighth selections this year) — If you remove the 22nd place finish Blaney had in the regular season race here last season, he has had nothing but top seven finishes at Vegas over the last three years. Blaney needs some good news.

Aric Almirola (fourth selections this year) — Almirola has back to back top 10 finishes here in recent years. Additionally, he is really on a roll right now with three straight top 10 finishes going into the playoffs.

The Dark Horse

William Byron (eighth selections this year) — Byron was 12th here last year. He’s coming off a 38th place finish but the last three times he finished worse than 30th he rebounded to finish 12th, eighth and 10th.

Fun Fact: In 2019, this race was moved to prime-time to make it more comfortable for drivers and fans being in the Vegas September heat.

2020 Results

Favorite: Avg Finish 11th (27th Percent)
High Risk/High Reward: Avg Finish 16th (41st Percent)
Dark Horse: Avg Finish 19th (48th Percent)