Following Christopher Bell's win at Phoenix, his third straight win in the season's first four races, the NASCAR Cup Series wraps up its west coast swing with a trip to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the running of the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube on Sunday. It is the first of seven stops at a 1.5-mile intermediate track this season for NASCAR's premier series.
With four races in the books, only two drivers - points-leader William Byron (Daytona 500) and Bell (Atlanta, COTA, Phoenix) have found victory lane. As Byron has continued to show consistency with three top 10 finishes and Bell stringing together three wins consecutively, all remaining drivers come into Las Vegas empty-handed in the win column and in search of that first win of the season.
The NASCAR Cup Series makes its first of two trips this season to Sin City, with the second date serving as the Round of 8 opener in the playoffs. Much like Phoenix, this weekend gives drivers and teams a first look at the track this season to put some notes together and figure out what they need to run well before the series returns to the venue in October. Heading into Las Vegas, these three drivers are in search of a rebound performance.
Brad Keselowski, No. 6 (Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford)
It has been a miserable start to the 2025 season for the 2012 Cup Series champion. With only one top 15 finish and three finishes of 26th or worse, including a 33rd place finish at Phoenix, Keselowski finds himself 33rd in the standings, which is only ahead of three other full-time drivers (Ty Gibbs, Cole Custer, Cody Ware).
Keselowski is a three-time winner at Las Vegas (2014, 2016, 2018), but all three wins were with Team Penske. Since Keselowski became an owner/driver for RFK Racing, his Sin City finishes have left plenty to be desired with only one top five and two finishes of 24th or worse. He has, however, scored stage points in three of the last four races at Las Vegas. If Keselowski can remain in the top 10 for the duration of the race, a long-awaited, solid points day could be in store for the veteran, which is exactly what he needs at this point.
Ryan Blaney, No. 12 (Team Penske Ford)
After a pair of top 10s to begin the season, Blaney has been unable to find the top 15, including a 28th-place finish at Phoenix following a blown engine. Amazingly, that ended a run of seven straight top fives at the one-mile track for Blaney and ended his day prematurely after running inside the top 10 for the majority of the race.
While Blaney has been unable to find victory lane at Las Vegas, he has produced six top fives and 10 top 10s in 17 starts. However, three finishes of 28th or worse are not an encouraging sign for a driver looking to regain his footing after some disappointing results the last two weeks. With more good results than bad at the track, expect Blaney to have the speed all weekend and be a contender on Sunday.
Bubba Wallace, No. 23 (23XI Racing Toyota)
With a solid ninth-place finish and an outside front row start along with a Stage 1 win at COTA, Wallace entered Phoenix with some momentum after his Daytona 500 run ended with a crash. That momentum did not carry over to the Arizona desert with a blown tire late in the final stage and only eight points total after a 29th-place result.
Las Vegas may not offer the best opportunity at a rebound. In 14 starts at the Nevada track, Wallace has two top 10s and three finishes outside the top 30. Since has has been with 23XI Racing, Wallace has scored stage points in some capacity in all but two of those eight races, so a rebound performance cannot be ruled out.