Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing have dominated the NASCAR Cup at Las Vegas for the final three seasons, which has additionally been the case within the first 4 races of the brand new yr. However Sunday showcased the strengths of drivers exterior of the Hendrick and JGR-circle like Berry, Suarez, and Preece as they raced in direction of the entrance. The plethora of pit street points for a number of the sport’s largest names and pure misfortune for others actually topped the cake of an sudden and calamitous race weekend general.
Now, let’s check out the largest winners and losers from the NASCAR Cup Sequence race at Las Vegas:
Winner: Berry brings some glory to the Wooden Brothers
Watch: Josh Berry: It was our day, I am unable to imagine it
A straightforward alternative for a number of causes. Josh Berry, making his 53rd begin, has turn out to be a winner within the Cup Sequence. But it surely’s the crew he did it for that makes this actually particular. The Wooden Brothers are NASCAR’s oldest crew and regardless of 101 victories between 1960 and 2025, there was a interval the place this historic group practically ceased to be. They scaled again to a part-time effort simply to stay in enterprise, however now, they’re going to be part of the NASCAR Cup Sequence playoffs for the second consecutive yr. Whereas Harrison Burton’s 2024 Daytona win was a shock upset, what makes this one so spectacular is the truth that it occurred at a conventional intermediate observe and that Berry had aggressive tempo (and never for the primary time this yr). That is the crew’s first win at a non-drafting observe since 2017 and the final driver to do this for them [Ryan Blaney] went on to turn out to be a Cup Sequence champion.
Loser: Joey Logano leaves the observe pissed off as soon as once more
Watch: Joey Logano: ‘I’ve left the race observe each single weekend mad’
Over the weekend, Logano commented on how he has “left the race observe each single weekend mad at one thing.” That seemingly did not change after Sunday’s race. The reigning and three-time NASCAR Cup Sequence champion has led extra laps than any driver this yr, including one other 40 to his tally at Vegas, however he is failed to attain even a single top-ten end at any. If it wasn’t a wreck within the Daytona 500, it was a restart violation at Phoenix, or a mistake on pit street in Vegas. Logano was main when the ultimate warning of the race flew, however his crew fumbled the ultimate cease and the driving force of the No. 22 might solely handle a Fifteenth-place end in one other irritating finish to what might have been a race win.
Winner: Trackhouse’s double top-five
Watch: Daniel Suárez ‘disenchanted’ with runner-up effort at Las Vegas
Trackhouse Racing Group has been in want of some good luck. In every of the earlier 4 races to begin the yr, a minimum of two of their three (or typically 4) vehicles have been concerned in a serious accident. Whereas Vegas might have gone higher for Shane van Gisbergen, each Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain have been capable of capitalize with quick vehicles and intelligent technique. Every of them led double digit laps and had a shot on the win. Suarez was really main on the ultimate restart and with a useful shove from Chastain, cleared Berry. He wasn’t capable of dangle on to the win, however each he and his teammate have been capable of deliver residence top-five finishes and a giant bucket of factors. As Chastain stated afterwards, “it’s fairly cool to be speaking about what we might do higher” after ending second [Suarez] and fifth [Chastain].
Loser: Each crew with a free wheel
Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Picture by: Chris Graythen – Getty Photographs
So many races have been derailed on Sunday on account of free (or runaway) wheels, and a number of other crew members are going through holidays in consequence. Each Chase Briscoe and Kyle Busch misplaced a wheel on observe, which suggests two crew members from every can be suspended within the coming days. It took Briscoe the complete occasion to claw again from the in-race penalty whereas Busch had no alternative to take action as his automotive was too closely broken after dropping a wheel and hitting the wall. They weren’t alone in scuffling with free wheels. Of notice, an unsecured wheel derailed Bell’s bid for 4 consecutive Cup wins. He had entered the pits from second place and by no means recovered from it, though it was fairly intelligent to tug into his teammate’s field after leaving his personal and let their crew end tightening the wheel for him earlier than returning to the observe and going through a fair larger drawback. However nonetheless, he by no means recovered from the misplaced the observe place and so, Jimmie Johnson in 2007 stays the newest Cup driver to efficiently full the uncommon four-peat.
Winner: Ryan Preece with a profession day
Ryan Blaney, Group Penske Ford, Ryan Preece, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford, Josh Berry, Wooden Brothers Racing Ford
Picture by: Jonathan Bachman – Getty Photographs
Ryan Preece is the definition of taking advantage of what you might have. After a wild flip within the Daytona 500, he is fortunately stored the automotive on the bottom ever since. At COTA, he used an alternate technique to attain a stage win earlier than practically doing the identical at Phoenix. And at Vegas, he spent a lot of the race mid-pack earlier than quietly slipping into the top-ten on a fuel-save technique. Whereas it is unlikely they might have made it to the top, Preece caught a lucky warning. Everybody was on equal footing with recent tires for the top, however Preece didn’t falter. He really moved ahead, passing Chastain and Byron to complete a wildly spectacular third. Sunday’s end result matches the perfect of Preece’s whole Cup profession, and his first top-three since Talladega practically six years in the past. This No. 60 crew, which got here collectively in November and did not have a crew chief till January, is rapidly discovering their groove on observe.
Loser: Ty Gibbs can not seem to proper the ship
Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (at Phoenix)
Picture by: Jonathan Bachman – Getty Photographs
This yr is not getting any simpler for the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Sequence champion. He’s practically final in factors, and the one full-time drivers he’s presently forward of are Cole Custer and Cody Ware — each of which compete for single-car groups. He began the weekend with a wild rollover crash in a Dash automotive, and ended it along with his fourth consecutive end exterior of the top-20. Gibbs sits thirty fourth within the championship standings, 14 locations decrease than his closest teammate, and contemplating the truth that he made final yr’s playoffs on factors alone, one has to marvel what’s going on with Gibbs and this No. 54 crew.
Dale Earnhardt Jr, JR Motorsports, Hellmann’s Fridge Hunters Chevrolet Camaro, Sam Mayer, JR Motorsports, Speed up Professionals Expertise Chevrolet Camaro, Josh Berry, JR Motorsports, Harrison’s USA Chevrolet Camaro
Picture by: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Photographs
Sure, Dale Jr. gained as an proprietor this weekend when Justin Allgaier captured the checkered flag within the NASCAR Xfinity race, however that is not what I am referring to. Earnhardt has been a giant backer of Berry for years, having initially met whereas sim racing on-line. Dale all the time believed he had Cup-level expertise, and even gave him his first shot in a NASCAR inventory automotive when he drove for JR Motorsports at Richmond … 11 years in the past. So yeah, it has been a very long time coming, however lastly, Berry has reached the head and confirmed Dale proper along with his Las Vegas triumph. From sim racer to late mannequin driver and now a Cup Sequence winner — and as proven within the social put up under — Dale Jr. could not be prouder.
Loser: 23XI’s missed alternative
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Picture by: Chris Graythen – Getty Photographs
23XI had two of their three vehicles operating up entrance for an excellent portion of Sunday’s race, however you would not know that by trying on the closing outcomes. Tyler Reddick led 34 laps however completed twenty fourth whereas Bubba Wallace led 20 laps and completed twenty eighth. However from the drop of the inexperienced flag, each drivers had profitable velocity and ran inside the highest 5. All of it went mistaken for Wallace on Lap 196 when he was on the surface of a four-wide state of affairs. Ryan Blaney crashed throughout his nostril and Wallace was additionally hit from behind, wounding his No. 23 Toyota. Reddick remained in rivalry later, however his determination to separate the ultimate run and pit early proved pricey as a warning quickly afterwards trapped him within the again.
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