Las Vegas Motor Speedway can throw up a number of variables in regard to weather during the March race weekend. We’ve seen 90-degree weather in the past. There was a NASCAR Xfinity Series race that was red-flagged due to snow.
You can have perfect weather or you can have sandstorms.
Last weekend — while it didn’t see a sandstorm during on-track activity — featured some of the worst winds during a NASCAR race weekend in recent memory.
By Sunday (March 3), things had calmed down a little, but Saturday was brutal.
Before we get going, some news regarding the future of Dale Earnhardt Jr. on television broke last week. The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reported Thursday that Earnhardt has signed a deal that will see him join both Warner Bros. Discovery (via TNT and Max) and Amazon Prime Video’s NASCAR coverage starting in 2025.
That ends a bit of a saga for Earnhardt surrounding what he was going to do on TV since his previous deal with NBC expired at the end of 2023. There is a lot more to talk about about Earnhardt and his upcoming move (which none of the parties involved have actively commented on to this point).
We’ll cover the issue in a little more detail later this week.
Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube
Sunday’s race will likely be best remembered for being a day in which Kyle Larson had the field in the palm of his hand. He won last fall and should have won this race last year if not for a late caution that drew everyone to pit road.
William Byron was probably the driver best suited to take the battle to Larson, just like last year. Then, a garbage bag that reportedly had a beer can in it blew onto the track and covered up the nose of Byron’s car. The broadcast mentioned that Byron’s water temperature reached 350 degrees before he pitted to have it removed.
That was lap 48.
Shockingly, Byron finished the race in 10th but spent the rest of the day trying to get his track position back.
That left Tyler Reddick as the man to take the fight to Larson.
It seemed like he was faster on worn tires than Larson and made runs to try to win all three stages Sunday. I’d argue that deviating from what worked for him in the last couple of laps was why Larson won (the booth agreed), but Reddick argued that Larson was blocking both lanes. That is what prevented him from winning.
Last week, I talked about FOX’s insistence on doing Crank It Up segments during rounds of pit stops under…
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