All Times Eastern
NASCAR Cup Series
South Point 400.
Site: Las Vegas, Nevada.
Schedule: Saturday, practice, 4:35 p.m.; qualifying, 5:20 p.m., Sunday, race, 2:30 p.m. (NBC)
Track: Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Race distance: 267 laps, 400.5 miles.
Last year: Kyle Larson became the first driver to advance to the championship four when he won at Las Vegas. Larson outraced fellow playoff driver Christopher Bell to the line for the victory. Non-playoff drivers Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Ross Chastain rounded out the top five.
Last race: Larson closed the playoff’s round of 12 this past week with a win at Charlotte’s Roval. It was a satisfying triumph for Larson, who had hoped to complete the Indy 500-Coca-Cola 600 double last May before rain in Charlotte prevented him from turning any NASCAR laps. So Larson dominated on the way to his series-best sixth win on the season. Bell was second, followed by William Byron, Austin Cindric and Chase Elliott.
Fast facts: There was drama after The Roval when Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman’s car was found to be under weight in post-race inspection and disqualified. The ruling left the No. 48 car out of the playoffs and the only one of the four Hendrick drivers not advancing to the round of eight. … Larson leads the playoff standings with Bell right behind. Regular-season champion Tyler Reddick is third and William Byron fourth. … The drivers currently on the wrong side of the cutline are defending champion Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott and two-time champ Joey Logano, who was on the outside until Bowman’s disqualification put him back in the playoffs. … After Las Vegas, the round of eight goes to Homestead-Miami and Martinsville before the final four playoff survivors race for it all in Phoenix next month. … Larson has won three of the past seven Cup Series races at Las Vegas, including the past two — last October and last March.