NASCAR Las Vegas Notes: Bubba Wallace Impresses; Young Brexton Busch Takes on Bullring

Bubba Wallace led the Toyota camp Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, producing his first top-five finish at the 1.5-mile track. Prior to Sunday’s Pennzoil 400, Wallace’s best finish at the speedway had been sixth in 2020.

“I thought we were going to settle for sixth right before the caution came out and I think that’s about where we were all day,” Wallace said after his first top-five finish since September 2022 when he won at Kansas. “We have a lot of stuff to work on, but a good, solid day.”

Wallace ran in the top 10 throughout the race. He finished Stage 1 in eighth and Stage 2 in sixth. He was sixth when the yellow flag waved with four laps remaining. Wallace said his car performed better in the race than it did in practice, but during the event they couldn’t get his Toyota’s front end to work.

The top-five finish was Wallace's 12th in the Cup Series. This is is sixth full season in Cup.

Elliott Starts Therapy

Chase Elliott, who broke his left leg Friday in a snowboarding accident in Colorado, was scheduled to begin therapy Monday.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver watched Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 with team owner Rick Hendrick at his home in Charlotte, N.C.

Elliott underwent three hours of surgery Friday night at a Colorado hospital. He returned to North Carolina on Saturday after being released from the hospital.

Josh Berry drove Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet to a 29th-place finish, two laps off the pace, in Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Even though Berry had two Cup starts in 2021, this was his first race in the current NASCAR Cup car.

Cindric Struggles His Way To First Top 10 This Season

Austin Cindric struggled through Sunday’s Pennzoil 400, coming from a lap down to finish sixth, his first top 10 this year.

“Felt like we earned a top 15 from the depths of hell for a while,” Cindric said. “A little bit of strategy, a little bit of good pit stops, some good restarts on my end and a good recovery. You’ve got to run up front in these things to expect to win, but when we don’t have it, it’s good to know that we can get back.”

Logano First Out at Las Vegas

Pole winner Joey Logano was the first driver to exit Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Logano was the loser of a three-wide battle involving himself, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch on lap 183. Logano collided with Keselowski who was in the middle, spun across the track and bounced across the apron. His Team Penske crew was unable to make the needed repairs during the allotted time.

“It is what it is,” Logano said. “Just off on overall speed. We had the balance somewhat close, just not fast.”

Logano said Keselowski pinched him into the corner a bit, but “I’m sure he didn’t mean to do it.”

A three-time Las Vegas winner, Logano finished last in the 36-car field.