Las Vegas Motor Speedway Weekend Notebook
03/15/2025 04:34 PM
Michael McDowell wins pole for Sunday‘s NASCAR Cup race at Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS—A change of scene did nothing to diminish Michael McDowell‘s qualifying prowess.
After winning the first six pole positions of his NASCAR Cup Series career with Front Row Motorsports last season, McDowell moved to Spire Motorsports in 2025 and apparently retained the speed he found last year.
Turning a lap at 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 28.883 seconds (186.961 mph) in Saturday‘s time trials, McDowell claimed the top starting spot for Sunday‘s Pennzoil 400—his first Busch Light Pole Award at Las Vegas, his first of the season and the seventh of his career.
Turns 3 and 4 were the key to McDowell‘s blistering lap. When his No. 71 Chevrolet stuck firmly in the first two corners, McDowell took full advantage during the balance of the run.
"When my car went through (Turns) 1 and 2 and had a lot of grip, I didn‘t think I had used it all up," said McDowell, who beat reigning series champion Joey Logano (186.864 mph) for the pole by 0.015 seconds. "I knew that I had an opportunity to potentially do that (run the final two corners) without scrubbing speed and without putting myself in a bad spot.
"That‘s the chance you take, right? You put wheel into it, get loose, and you start tracking up. The car had a lot of speed, obviously, and a lot of grip, and just from studying and seeing how (Christopher) Bell was able to do that last year in Round 2 … I felt like that was the right move to make.
In Saturday‘s session, which featured a single lap from each car, Austin Cindric qualified third at 186.793 mph, followed by Kyle Busch (186.638 mph) and Erik Jones (186.632 mph).
Alex Bowman, Josh Berry, William Byron, Zane Smith and Kyle Larson claimed positions six through 10 on the starting grid, respectively.
Christopher Bell, seeking a fourth straight Cup Series victory, claimed the 13th starting spot.
Breakthrough win can‘t come soon enough for Kyle Larson
To borrow a phrase from philosopher Rene Descartes, "the future is now" where Kyle Larson is concerned.
Never mind that Larson will race on two of his best tracks after Sunday‘s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Larson isn‘t concentrating on Homestead-Miami Speedway (Mar. 23), where he loves to run the wall, or Martinsville Speedway (Mar. 30), statistically one of his best tracks in the Next Gen era.
He doesn‘t plan to wait for a breakthrough moment until the NASCAR Cup Series has moved on from Sin City.
"I‘m hoping to break through this week," Larson said emphatically.
That‘s not an unrealistic ambition for a driver who has won three of the last eight races—and two of the last three—at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With Hendrick Motorsports teammates Alex Bowman and William Bowman also claiming victories in that eight-race span, HMS has established itself as the dominant organization at the 1.5-mile track.
Standing in Larson‘s way, however, is his dirt-track rival, Christopher Bell, who brings a three-race winning streak to the Nevada desert.
Larson doesn‘t resent Bell‘s success—yet.
"I had a great season in 2021 and was able to win three points-paying races in a row twice that year—four in a row once with the All-Star Race in there," Larson said. "So I think having lived through it on my own, I can respect it a lot more, and it doesn‘t bother me when I see somebody else having success like that.
"If he wins this weekend, maybe it‘s like 'All right, this is getting annoying.‘"
Kyle Busch sees concrete improvement in the quality of his RCR cars
Last year, for the first full season in his career, Kyle Busch failed to win a NASCAR Cup Series race, ending a record 19-year streak of at least one victory per season.
With his last win having come at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on June 4, 2023, Busch‘s drought has now reached a career-long 61 races.
On the occasions when he has a car with the potential to win, Busch has to resist the urge to push too hard.
"When I was winning a lot, you were doing it quite often," Busch said. "You were in position quite often. And so you could harness those emotions and those feelings, be able to go out there and just do your job and kind of let it come to you."
That wasn‘t the case last year. On Sept. 29 at Kansas Speedway, Busch felt his car was capable of winning. He led 26 laps at the 1.5-mile speedway, but late in the race, he tried to drive through an opening next to the wall, only to have the hole close quickly and pinch him into the barrier.
"Kansas last fall, I felt rushed," said Busch, who finished 19th. "I felt hurried. I felt like I needed to get through the traffic as fast as I could, and I put myself in a bad spot; we hit the wall and lost the race.
"So, you know, those things are certainly on your mind as you come to them, especially with as close as the competition is today."
Fortunately, Busch‘s Richard Childress Racing cars have proven to be more consistently competitive this season. He led a race-high 42 laps at Circuit of the Americas and was out front when a late caution cost him a chance to win.
Busch has scored top-10 finishes in his last three races this season and is seventh in the Cup standings, tied with reigning champion Joey Logano and perennial contender Denny Hamlin.
"So far so good," Busch said. "I mean, from last year to this year … just, you know, Legos being the same, apparently they’re not because we’re doing something different, and the cars are driving much better.
"I just appreciate the efforts and values of everyone at RCR putting all that in. And so, you know, there’s not a team out there that will outwork us, that’s for sure."
— NASCAR News Wire —
See the complete qualifying results and the Pennzoil 400 Starting Lineup.
