2023 NASCAR Las Vegas odds, picks and predictions for Sunday's Cup Series playoff race
Eight drivers have three more chances to qualify for the final four spots in the NASCAR Cup Series championship race, which will take place Nov. 5 in Phoenix.
And if you thought the racing has been fierce in 2023, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Last week, Brad Keselowski, Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace and Kyle Busch were eliminated from the playoffs in the final race of the Round of 12. A.J. Allmendinger’s surprise win at the Charlotte road course made it so.
Now the Elite Eight – William Byron, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney – will duel it out over the next three races to see who makes the Final Four in the quest for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series championship.
It starts Sunday at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the South Point 400.
Byron won the Cup Series' regular-season race in Vegas on March 5, which was the first of his series-leading six wins in 2023. It was also his first career win at the 1.5-mile track.
Joey Logano and Keselowski have the most Las Vegas wins of any active driver with three. Truex is the only driver still alive in the playoffs who has multiple wins there, racking up two. Hamlin is the only other drive in the Round of 8 who has visited victory lane in Sin City.
A win Sunday by any of the eight remaining playoff drivers will automatically put them in the Final Four.
And with that, FrontPageBets takes a look at drivers to watch in the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon (2:30 p.m.; NBC).
Pick to win: William Byron (+600)
Byron is the hottest driver in the Cup Series, winning six times and finishing in the top 5 in 13 of the season’s 32 races – that’s better than 40% of the time.
In six playoff races, his average finish is 5.5. He has one postseason win and back-to-back runner-up finishes (Talladega and Charlotte), heading into this weekend’s race at Las Vegas.
Byron has finished in the top 10 in five out of the six postseason races, with his worst finish a 15th-place at Kansas.
In 11 career starts at Las Vegas, the driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy has one win and four top-10 finishes.
Top-3 pick: Tyler Reddick (+195)
Reddick enters the South Point 400 ranked seventh out of the remaining eight drivers still alive in the postseason.
The driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota has won twice this season, including the postseason race in Kansas.
While he’s struggled since that victory, Reddick has been improving each week. The resurgence paid off last week, as he notched his first top-10 finish in four races at the Charlotte ROVAL.
Reddick has three top-10 finishes at Las Vegas in seven career starts. He also was on the poll in last year’s playoff race at the 1.5-mile track.
Top-10 pick: Denny Hamlin (-390)
A one-time winner at Las Vegas, which came during the 2021 playoffs, Hamlin comes into Sunday’s race ranked third in points, just 9 behind Byron for first.
Hamlin has won three times this season, including the playoff race at Bristol a month ago. He’s finished in the top five in four of the six postseason races so far, including a runner-up at Kansas and a third at Talladega.
In 23 career starts at Vegas, the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has 11 top-10 finishes, including six top-5s. His average finish is 12.8, while he’s completed nearly 99% of the laps on the 1.5-mile track.
Odds-on favorites to win the South Point 400 at Las Vegas
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