Live updates: Kyle Larson sweeps stages, wins NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas

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Charlotte Observer NASCAR reporter Shane Connuck will be passing along live updates throughout Sunday’s Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the section below. Refresh this page for the latest news. Full results will be posted at the conclusion of the race. All times are Eastern.

Lap 267: Kyle Larson has won at Las Vegas. It wasn’t wire to wire, but it was as close to that as you might get in today’s NASCAR. Dominant performance and he held off Tyler Reddick for each stage win!

Lap 262: Larson maintains a small gap on Reddick, who was closing on Larson at the end of each earlier stage, too, but never got by him. Can he do it here?

Lap 257: Ross Chastain has started to move backward, the victim, we think, of older left-side tires. Kyle Larson still in front, but Tyler Reddick is still hot on his heels. Ryan Blaney moved into third now.

Lap 250: Kyle Larson eventually held Chastain off and has opened up a 1.1 second gap. Tyler Reddick then passes Chastain for second position as they try to chase down Larson, who has dominated this race.

Lap 240: Back to green we go! Larson and Chastain take off. Chastain technically leads the lap as they come back around, but they are side by side.

Lap 234: Corey LaJoie brings out another caution! His right rear tire appears to be flat, and the No. 7 car spins. Brad Keselowski may have gotten into him. LaJoie had run in the top-five in this race, as he has in the early goings this season.

Lap 230: Kyle Larson quickly got back into the race lead following the green-flag pit stops and leads the field by nearly two seconds. Kyle Busch had been in the top-five for most of the day, but his splitter came over the line on his pit box, and Busch is now a lap down.

Lap 218: Derek Kraus, a Truck Series driver making his Cup debut, briefly leads as drivers make pit stops. This race has had 22 lead changes in total, but no one has led more than Kyle Larson (130 of 221 laps led).

Lap 211: More green flag pit stops! Kyle Larson is among those who head down pit road. William Byron, who had a trash bag get caught on his grille and fell to 35th earlier, briefly holds the race lead.

Lap 208: Kyle Larson continues leading the field, holding a small lead over Tyler Reddick. Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin are in the top-five.

Lap 192: Bubba Wallace has served a penalty after pitting a second time during the stage break to cut off a lug nut stuck on his car. He’s 13 laps down, as is Zane Smith.

Your Top 10: Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Austin Dillon, Chase Briscoe, Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott.

Lap 185: Kyle Larson continues to look dominant in his No. 5 Chevy at Las Vegas, leading by more than two seconds for nearly the entire final stage. Toyotas run behind him, with Tyler Reddick second, Denny Hamlin third and Martin Truex Jr. fourth.

Lap 173: We’re green for the final stage! Lots of battles, including Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick going three-wide for second place behind Kyle Larson. The restart was briefly under review by NASCAR.

Stage 2

Lap 165: Kyle Larson, the NASCAR Cup Series’ last winner at Las Vegas, sweeps Stages 1 and 2!

Lap 163: Kyle Larson grabs the lead from Alex Bowman on the backstretch around Turn 3!

Lap 161: It’s a five-lap shootout for the Stage 2 win! Kyle Larson, who has led most and won Stage 1, restarts second, alongside Alex Bowman. Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney are in the front.

Lap 158: Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin — who have been running in the front all stage — were among those who pitted under this caution late in Stage 2. Ty Gibbs was in position for stage points but made a four-tire change.

Lap 156: Caution! Christopher Bell spins while running by himself around Turn 2 in 13th place. Nine laps remain in Stage 2.

Lap 152: Kyle Larson continues pacing the field in Stage 2, leading the rest of the pack by nearly four seconds.

Lap 146: Your Top 10 with 20 laps to go in Stage 2: Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Chase Elliott and Corey LaJoie.

Lap 140: Bubba Wallace, who finished fifth in each of the Cup Series’ first two races, has fallen to 35th and is told by crew chief Bootie Barker that he has a lug nut issue, and it will probably have to be cut off at the next caution.

Lap 133: Kyle Larson has recaptured the race lead, pacing the field by about 2.5 seconds. Denny Hamlin is second, Kyle Busch third, Ryan Blaney fourth and Ty Gibbs fifth.

Lap 121: Drivers are making green-flag pit stops with roughly 45 laps to go in Stage 2.

Lap 108: Kyle Larson is back into the lead! He’s led for 38 of these 107 laps.

Lap 97: Denny Hamlin continues leading early in Stage 2, and Kyle Larson has moved back into second place. Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Corey LaJoie round out the top-five.

Lap 89: We’re green for Stage 2! Denny Hamlin leads.

Lap 87: There have been 10 lead changes in this race thus far. Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson and Corey LaJoie will lead the field to green on the restart that begins Stage 2.

Lap 83: The Top 10 who collect stage points: Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, Corey LaJoie, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric and Christopher Bell.

Stage 1

Lap 80: Kyle Larson wins Stage 1! Tyler Reddick surges to a second-place finish.

Lap 77: Tyler Reddick passes Kyle Busch for second! The No. 45 Toyota has run well throughout the stage. Kyle Larson is leading the race by a little over one second.

Lap 72: Ty Gibbs has moved into the top 10 and is battling Denny Hamlin for fifth. Larson and Busch are separated by less than a second. William Byron won the free pass, over JJ Yeley.

Lap 62: Christopher Bell has surged to 10th. He prompted the race’s first caution after having an issue with his right rear tire but quickly worked through the field. Larson and Busch still lead as Stage 1 winds down.

Lap 55: William Byron, who led the race earlier in Stage 1, has plummeted to 35th. He is now a lap down after a trash bag got caught on his grille.

Lap 52: Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson have jumped out ahead, pacing the field by nearly three seconds. Tyler Reddick runs third, Martin Truex Jr. fourth and Daniel Suarez fifth.

Lap 50: Kyle Busch and Daniel Suarez have battled for the race lead since the restart from the red flag, sparked by a repair after Chris Buescher hit the wall. Your current Top 10, with 30 to go in Stage 1: Busch, Kyle Larson, Suarez, Martin Truex Jr., Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Michael McDowell, John Hunter Nemechek, Corey LaJoie and Ty Gibbs.

Green flag, 4:34 p.m. (Lap 36): Green again! Daniel Suarez and Michael McDowell lead the field back to green. John Hunter Nemechek, who won yesterday’s Xfinity race, runs toward the front, along with Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch.

4:28 p.m.: NASCAR had planned to have its welding truck up against the wall ready for a repair and keep the race yellow for a hopeful quick fix, a NASCAR spokesperson posted on X. But once the truck arrived, it realized it would need to park on the apron, which would add time, so it decided to just throw the red flag instead of extending the caution.

Looks like the repairs in Turn 1 are close to completion. Daniel Suarez currently holds the race lead, followed by Michael McDowell, John Hunter Nemechek, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace and Corey LaJoie.

Red flag, 4:19 p.m. (Lap 32): NASCAR has decided to throw the red flag as it needs to repair the wall that Buescher hit. The race has already been stopped for roughly 15 minutes, and the safety team is on the track welding the wall.

Lap 27: Caution again, as another driver named “Christopher” has had a tire problem. Chris Buescher slammed into the wall on Turn 1, and his right wheel popped off. His day is done. NASCAR needs to weld the wall that Buescher hit, so this could be an extended caution break. No red flag.

Lap 25: William Byron, the Charlotte native who won the Daytona 500, has been leading the race since the restart. Kyle Larson runs in second, Chase Briscoe third, Corey LaJoie fourth and Bubba Wallace fifth.

Lap 15: Green again! Zane Smith lost six laps on pit road after hitting the wall earlier and is running four laps down. Christopher Bell sped on pit road after the caution for his tire. Todd Gilliland has been sent to the rear for crew members coming over the wall too soon.

Lap 12: Many cars are heading down pit road as the race has been stopped for Bell’s caution.

Lap 10: Christopher Bell, who I predicted below would win this race, prompts the first caution. Issue with his right rear tire.

Lap 8: Joey Logano led the field to green, and Kyle Larson got to the bottom and passed the pole-sitter from the inside. Larson, William Byron and Logano are running in the front early.

Green flag, 3:51 p.m.: We’re green! Let’s go racing!

3:38 p.m.: After an electrifying command from A.J. Cole, engines are fired in Las Vegas!

2:30 p.m.: Driver introductions begin at 3:05 p.m, and the invocation will be at 3:30. Tiera Kennedy, a rising country music singer from Alabama, will perform the national anthem at 3:31 p.m. Las Vegas Raiders punter A.J. Cole will give command at 3:38, and six-time MLB All-Star Jose Bautista, who owns a professional soccer team in Vegas, will wave the green flag at 3:49 p.m.

2:25 p.m.: Ross Chastain has been sent to the rear because of unapproved adjustments, in addition to Justin Haley, along with Ryan Preece who’s using a backup car.

2 p.m.: Good afternoon on the third NASCAR Cup Series race day of 2024!

There has been good racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s 1.5-mile intermediate track this weekend. Rajah Caruth started on the pole and won a mostly-green Truck Series race on Friday night — becoming the third Black driver to win a NASCAR national series race.

John Hunter Nemechek ran toward the front throughout the back half of Saturday’s Xfinity Series race and built a lead over Chandler Smith, who won the first two stages, and the rest of the field. Each race totaled just four cautions, including the two for stage breaks.

Sunday’s Cup Series race, in which recent Vegas winners and series champions Joey Logano and Kyle Larson will start on the front row, should be no different. After a thrilling photo finish and a late Big One, the 2024 season has already had its share of moments, and Las Vegas could provide even more green-flag racing from the best stock car drivers in the world.

Joey Logano, three-time Vegas winner, snags another pole

For the second time in three races, Joey Logano will lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to green. He won the top spot on the grid with a 184.357 mph run in qualifying on a windy Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas.

Logano has already won three races — in 2019, 2020 and 2022 — at Las Vegas’ 1.5-mile intermediate track, which ties Brad Keselowski for the most among full-time active drivers. He beat Kyle Larson, who won at Las Vegas in both 2021 and 2023, for the pole position by 0.021 seconds.

Who’s going to win?

Kyle Larson, who’s won twice in three years at Las Vegas, is favored to defend his recent victories at +350 odds, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. He’s followed by Joey Logano (+550), William Byron (+700), Kyle Busch (+800) and Martin Truex Jr. (+1200).

Busch initially had the third-best odds at +900, but a 15th-place finish in the Truck Series race at his home track had his odds drop as low as +1600, the 12th-best of any Cup Series driver, on Friday night. Logano also saw a significant shift to his odds after the former Vegas winner won the pole on Saturday. Expect this to continue as sportsbooks go live on March 11 in North Carolina.

Shane Connuck is picking Christopher Bell to take the checkered flag. Bell finished within a quarter-second of Larson after a last-lap push in the playoff race at Las Vegas last October, following up a fifth-place performance at the race in March. One of NASCAR’s strong young drivers who reached last year’s Championship 4, Bell still seems to be running well on this track, securing a top-five finish in Friday night’s Truck Series race. He will start Sunday’s race in the 10th position.

Bell is tied for the sixth-best odds to win at +1400, along with Tyler Reddick, Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney.

How to watch the NASCAR race at Las Vegas

Race: Pennzoil 400 Presented by Jiffy Lube

Place: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Clark County, Nevada, about 15 miles from the Las Vegas Strip)

Date: Sunday, March 3

Time: 3:30 p.m. (Green flag at 3:49 p.m.)

Purse: $9,386,054

TV: FOX, 3 p.m. (pre-race coverage on FS1 from 2 p.m. until college basketball ends)

Streaming: FOX Sports

Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Distance: 400.5 miles (267 laps)

Stages: Stage 1 ends on Lap 80; Stage 2 ends on Lap 165; and the Final Stage ends on Lap 267.

Starting lineup for the Pennzoil 400