The Cup Series travels to back to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the fifth race in “The Chase.” The Cup Series teams will not only have the notes from the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March to work with; the notes from last week’s race at Kansas Speedway should also translate into speed in Sin City. The teams have shown their cards. It is now time to “go all in” and see who can hit the jackpot in Las Vegas. The South Point Casino 400 can be seen Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET on USA.
Here are my picks for your season long Fantasy NASCAR games…
DRIVER GROUP GAME PICKS FOR LAS VEGAS
GROUP A DRIVERS
DENNY HAMLIN (4): How can you not have Hamlin in your Driver Group Game lineup this weekend? He finished 1st, 4th, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd and 3rd on the 1.5-mile, intermediate tracks this year (2.7). He also finished 1st, 1st, 1st, 3rd, 1st and 3rd in Total Speed at these tracks (1.7 average total speed rank). Hamlin won the last two races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and he is a series threat to make it three in a row Sunday.
KYLE LARSON (3): Larson sleep-walked through the regular season, but he has woken up in the playoffs. He finished 5th at Darlington, won the race at Gateway, finished 2nd at Bristol and destroyed the field last weekend in Kansas. So, how has Larson been at Las Vegas Motor Speedway? He has finished 1st or 2nd in 4 of the last 7 races in Sin City. Larson has a great chance to add another win to his 2026 Chase Resume.
GROUP B DRIVERS
AUSTIN CINDRIC (5): I cannot ignore how fast the No. 2 car was last week at Kansas Speedway. Cindric started 11th and immediately made his way to the front. Cindric finished 2nd at Kansas Speedway and now he has a great chance to finish in the top-10 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He gets a spot in Group B this weekend.
BUBBA WALLACE (4): Wallace looked horrible at the start of the race last week in Kansas. The No. 23 team fixed the car up and Wallace was able to finish 9th. 23XI Racing will have some notes to bring to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, so I expect the No. 23 car to unload with more speed than they had at Kansas. Wallace finished 9th in Sin City in March. He should have a great chance to finish in the top-10 again Sunday.
RYAN PREECE (9): I am going to take a chance with Preece based on what he did at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March and what he did last week at Kansas Speedway. Preece started 8th and finished 11th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. Last weekend he started 9th and finished 10th at Kansas Speedway. I have plenty of allocations left with Preece, so I will have him in my lineup in Sin City.
ALEX BOWMAN (8): I was going to use Brad Keselowski in this spot, but he has too much drama going on. I will take a chance with Bowman. Hendrick Motorsports has found some speed in the playoffs. I am sure Bowman will be used to test setups for his teammates in the Chase, but he still has a history of finishing up front on tracks like Las Vegas Motor Speedway. I will take a chance with the No. 48 car Sunday.
* I am out of allocation with TYLER REDDICK. I would use him over Brad Keselowski if I had any allocations left with the No. 45 car.
GROUP C DRIVERS
DANIEL SUAREZ (3): Suarez has the best stats from Group C drivers in the last four races on the 1.5-mile, intermediate tracks (Yes, even better than Carson Hocevar). Suarez finished 6th at Texas Motor Speedway, won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, finished 14th at Chicagoland Speedway and 14th last week at Kansas Speedway. That is an average finishing position of 8.75 in his last four intermediate track races. He also finished 2nd in Las Vegas last year and 3rd in 2024. Suarez has a great chance to be the best driver in Group C this weekend.
RILEY HERBST (7): It was tough to find a driver to pair with Daniel Suarez. The best choice is CARSON Hocevar, but I am out of allocation with the No. 77 car. I will pivot to Hebrst. This is a home race for the Las Vegas native. He always runs well in front of his family and friends. Herbst has a win in the O’Reilly Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He should be a good pick in his 23XI Racing Toyota Sunday.
* Be sure to check back Sunday morning for my starting lineup.
SPEEDWAY COLLECTIVE PICKS
GROUP A DRIVERS: My picks for Group A in the Speedway Collective game will be the same as the picks in Group A for the Driver Group Game. KYLE LARSON and DENNY HAMLIN have been the two best drivers at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, so they get the spots in Group A.
GROUP B DRIVERS: My picks for Group B will be BUBBA WALLACE and ALEX BOWMAN. Wallace is the easy pick. I will use Bowman because he is in a Hendrick Motorsports car and they typically run well in Las Vegas.
GROUP C DRIVERS: My picks in Group C will be RYAN PREECE and ERIK JONES. The two best choices in Group C are Austin Cindric and Carson Hocevar, but I am out of allocations with these two drivers. Preece and Jones are the next best options, so they get the spot in Group C this weekend.
GROUP D DRIVERS: My picks in Group D will be JOHN H. NEMECHEK and RILEY HERBST. The best option in Group D are Daniel Suarez but I am out of allocations with the No. 7 car. Nemecheck and Herbst have been hit of miss on the intermediate tracks this year. I am hoping one of them shows up with some speed this week. This is the home track for Herbst and he has a history of running well in front of his family and friends.
* Be sure to check back Sunday morning for my starting lineup.
FANTRAX PICKS
* Each league in Fantrax is different. Some leagues have bench drivers and award qualifying points and others do not. The two leagues that I am playing in do not have bench drivers. Also, most leagues (including mine), do not require your lineup to be set until minutes before the race starts. My picks will change after practice and qualifying for most races. If you need bench drivers, you can use my picks from the Driver Group Game.
* Be sure to check back Sunday morning for my starting lineup.
Good Luck Sunday!
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