Round 2 of NASCAR Cup Playoffs Kick Off a New Numbers Game at Las Vegas

Statistics seldom prove anything indisputably, but sometimes they at least give some insight into what might be coming.

Take, for example, Race 1 of Round 2 of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs this Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Three of the four drivers below the cut line as Round 2 opens on Sunday have victories at the 1.5-mile track just north of the city. With Talladega and Charlotte looming in Round 2, LVMS is considered by most NASCAR-watchers as the most predictable and manageable track in this three-race series.

It’s likely the 12 drivers are counting on it since there’s nothing at all predictable or manageable about upcoming races at ‘Dega and on the CMS roval.

Despite finishing second to Kyle Larson at Bristol last weekend, former series champion and Ford driver Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing is ranked 12th among the 12 remaining championship hopefuls. He’s 12 points below the cut line, which currently sits at 3,014 points. But his record at LVMS is solid: two victories, seven top-5 runs, and 12 top-10 finishes in 24 starts;

Toyota driver Christopher Bell ranks 11th among the 12 contenders, nine points below the cutline. He’s relatively new to Cup, so his Las Vegas resume is modest: only one top-10 finish in three starts. That seventh-place came this spring, in his first LVMS start with his current team at Joe Gibbs Racing;

Former champion Brad Keselowski is the winningest active driver at Las Vegas, with three victories in 16 starts … plus five other top-five finishes and six other top-10s. He was good there in the spring, finishing second in his Team Penske Ford behind only Chevrolet-driving Kyle Larson. He’s 10th in the standings, six points below the line;

And former champion Joey Logano, also in a Ford for Team Penske, is ninth in the standings, one point below the line. But he’s also been good at Vegas, winning twice in 16 starts and finishing nine other times in the top-10, including ninth in this year’s spring race.