Diez: Cup hits Vegas after Atlanta excitement

Last week’s NASCAR Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway had something for everybody. It was the third-closest finish in Cup history, with Daniel Suarez winning by .003-second in a photo finish over Ryan Blaney and Kyle Bush another few-thousandths back in third. On the negative side, the race also featured the biggest multi-car wreck in history at the track. Todd Gilliland’s Front Row Motorsports Ford led a race-high 58 laps but finished four laps down in 26th after the “big one.”

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After two rain-marred races to start the season, it was a relief to have a dry track to race on. This weekend it should be more of the same, as the weather in Las Vegas will be dry and sunny with a predicted high of 66 Saturday and 60 for Sunday’s Pennzoil 400. For the third weekend in a row, all three of NASCAR’s top series are in action. The Craftsman Trucks ran Friday night, and Saturday’s action includes Cup practice and qualifying starting at 11 a.m. and a 300-mile Xfinity race named “The LiUNA!” at 2 p.m. Both will air on FS1. Fox will broadcast the Pennzoil 400 Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Hendrick Chevrolets have won four out of the last five Las Vegas races. Kyle Larson took last October’s race as well as the 2021 March event. William Byron won here a year ago and Alex Bowman the year before that. Joey Logano won at Las Vegas in 2022, 2020, and 2019. Brad Keselowski also has three wins there and Martin Truex Jr. has two. One-time winners are Byron, Alex Bowman, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Busch. The sports books in Vegas favor the last two winners, with Larson at opening odds of 4-1 and Byron 17-2, shared with Hamlin. Blaney and Christopher Bell are at 9-1, Tyler Reddick and Martin Truex Jr. 10-1, and Busch 12-1. My dark horse pick is Atlanta winner Suarez, who starts at 100-1 odds.

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This weekend is also the opening of the Formula 1 season, with a Saturday race at the Sakhir course in Bahrain. The first two races of the 2024 F1 season will run on Saturday because of a conflict with the feast of Ramadan. Since Sunday, March 10, is the beginning of Ramadan, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is moved to Saturday the 9th. And because F1 regulations stipulate a minimum of a full week between races, this weekend’s race had to be moved to Saturday, as well. Saturday’s Bahrain Grand Prix airs on ESPN at 6:55 a.m. Next week’s practice 1 is on Thursday at 5:30 a.m. and practice 2 airs at 9 a.m. Friday’s practice 3 is at 5:30 a.m. with qualifying at 9 a.m. The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will start at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

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The NTT IndyCar series also opens its 2024 season next weekend. Friday practice will air on Peacock from 11:45 a.m. until 1 p.m. I’ll have the Saturday and Sunday broadcast times and a race preview in next week’s column. The series conducted a pre-season test on Tuesday at Sebring International Raceway, and Andretti Global driver Marcus Ericsson topped the speed charts with a lap of 115.724 mph. Team Penske’s Will Power was second-fastest, Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren third, Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer-Shank Racing fourth, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Graham Rahal fifth. Defending champion Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing posted the sixth-fastest time. Of the 27 drivers who took part in the test, 26 were within one second of Ericsson’s time, which bodes well for a competitive season.