{"id":98290,"date":"2024-10-25T11:15:59","date_gmt":"2024-10-25T18:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=98290"},"modified":"2024-10-25T11:15:59","modified_gmt":"2024-10-25T18:15:59","slug":"nascar-las-vegas-recap-full-of-surprises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/nascar-las-vegas-recap-full-of-surprises\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Las Vegas Recap: Full of Surprises"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NASCAR<\/h2>\n

Two surprise winners made this week one to remember.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

What a wild ride it’s been for Joey Logano<\/strong>. Two weekends ago at the Charlotte Roval, he pulled down pit road for the last time, dejected that he was bumped from the Round of 8. Just a few short hours later, he found himself back in contention after fellow playoff driver Alex Bowman<\/strong> was disqualified due to a too-light race car. One week later, he pulled off the track (after a lengthy burnout) and found himself headed to victory lane, securing himself a chance to win his third championship, which would be a record among active full-time drivers.<\/p>\n

I hesitate to use the word “lucky” when describing events like last weekend’s playoff race. It’s incredibly difficult to win a Cup race, and you have to position yourself to be ready to take advantage of certain situations. Few would argue that Logano had a dominant car at Las Vegas. That distinction would go to Christopher Bell<\/strong> or, perhaps earlier in the race, Tyler Reddick<\/strong>, who won Stage 1 before colliding with fellow playoff driver Chase Elliott<\/strong> and tumbling across the tri-oval.<\/p>\n

Aside from this accident, the race was relatively clean, although pit road miscues for playoff drivers such as Kyle Larson<\/strong> and Denny Hamlin<\/strong> proved costly. Late-race green-flag pit strategy would not favor Bell, who managed to charge ahead on fresh tires in the waning laps, but never found himself within striking distance of Logano. The resulting playoff picture has Bell looking good, but other drivers, such as Elliott and Hamlin, have work to do heading into this weekend’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.<\/p>\n