The Cup Series had their practice session Saturday and then set the field through qualifying. It was their first real practice session in 2023 (The practice at Daytona was more a shack down of the cars). The field was set through qualifying immediately after practice and the cars will be impounded for the race Sunday. The speed the drivers had in practice is the speed they will start the race with Sunday.
Here are the practice speeds for the practice session Saturday at Las Vegas…
I analyzed all of the key stats, looked at the short and long-run speeds from practice, text a few friends who work in the NASCAR garage and now the Driver Group Game picks have been finalized.
Here is my starting lineup for the race at the race at Las Vegas…
CUP SERIES PICKS
GROUP A: JOEY LOGANO won the last race at Las Vegas, and he is my pick to win Sunday. He starts from the pole, posted the third-fastest speed in practice with the seventh-fastest long run speed. The No. 22 team will be tough to beat with the No. 1 pit stall and the third-fastest pit crew this year.
GROUP B: KYLE BUSCH looked horrible in practice, but the team worked on the car, and he qualified fifth for the race. He has track position to score a lot of Stage Points and he will be very motivated to win at his home track.
GROUP B: MARTIN TRUEX JR. will be my last pick in Group B. It was tough choosing between Truex and Alex Bowman because Truex looked horrible in practice and qualifying. He always does though. Last year Truex was 24th fastest in practice and qualified 27th for the race. The No. 19 car then went out and scored Stage Points in both Stages and finished seventh. Truex has one finish outside the top-10 at Las Vegas since 2016.
GROUP C: AJ ALLMENDINGER got screwed in qualifying. He was one of the first cars out and the track had sunlight and no speed. Now Allmendinger starts 23rd. the No. 16 car was 13th fastest in practice and Allmendinger finished ninth in this race last year. I will roll the dice with Allmendinger at his best 1.5-mile track.
* I would use Ty Gibbs if he is available for you in Group C.
Good Luck This Week!
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