Four races remain in the Cup season. While eight drivers are in contention for the championship, the rest of the field is looking for a win or strong finishes to carry some momentum into the offseason and the start of the 2026 season.
The next stop for teams is Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It marks the opening race in the Round of 8.
Pre-race coverage begins at 5 p.m. ET Sunday on USA Network.
With help from Racing Insights, here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup drivers and teams heading to Sunday’s race at Las Vegas.
23XI Racing — Good news: Tyler Reddick (ninth) and Bubba Wallace (10th) are both in the top 10 in points, as the organization seeks to have two cars finish in the top 10 in driver points for the third time in the last four years. Bad news: Both Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick were eliminated from the playoffs last weekend at the Charlotte Roval. … Reddick owns the last Toyota win on a 1.5-mile track but it was last October at Homestead in the playoffs. … Riley Herbst originally finished 30th at the Roval before his car was disqualified for failing to meet minimum weight and was moved to last place. … Wallace has one top-10 finish in the last 10 Las Vegas Cup races.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Todd Gilliland has placed in the top 20 in the last three races. Bad news: Gilliland and Zane Smith are among nine drivers who have yet to score a top-10 finish on a 1.5-mile track this season. … Both have a top finish of 11th on such tracks. … Gilliland has an average finish of 27.1 at Las Vegas, his worst among 1.5-mile tracks. … Noah Gragson has qualified 30th or worse in seven of the last 10 races.
Haas Factory Team — Good news: Cole Custer is making his 150th career Cup start this weekend. Bad News: Custer has finished 22nd or worse in eight of the last 10 races.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: Kyle Larson has nine top 10s in the last 11 races at Las Vegas, including three wins and two runner-up results. … Larson ranks No. 1 in speed and No. 2 in long run speed on 1.5-mile tracks, according to Racing Insights rankings. … Larson has scored the most stage points in the postseason among playoff drivers at 73 (next is Ryan Blaney with 55). … Two of Larson’s three wins this year have come at 1.5-mile tracks (Homestead and Kansas). … William Byron has scored five consecutive top 10s at Las Vegas, the longest active streak in the series. … Larson and Chase Elliott are the only drivers to finish in the top 10 earlier this season at Las Vegas, Talladega and Martinsville — the Round of 8 tracks. … Alex Bowman has four top 10s in six starts at Las Vegas in the Next Gen era. Bad news: Elliott has one top-10 finish in the last five Las Vegas races. … Elliott finished outside the top 30 in the last two Las Vegas playoff races. … Bowman has placed 26th or worse in four of the last seven races.
Hyak Motorsports — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s 19th-place finish last weekend at the Charlotte Roval was his best result since placing sixth in late June at Atlanta. Bad news: Stenhouse has one top-10 finish in the last 15 races at a 1.5-mile track.
Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Denny Hamlin is the points leader entering the third round. … Hamlin has seven top 10s in his last 10 starts at Las Vegas. … Christopher Bell’s third-place finish last weekend at the Roval gives him 11 top-three finishes in 32 starts this season. … Bell has finished second in the Las Vegas playoff race each of the past two seasons. … Bell has five consecutive top-10 finishes in the playoffs, the longest active streak. … Chase Briscoe has won the pole for the past two races on 1.5-mile tracks. … Briscoe has the best average finish (6.7) in the playoffs among all drivers. … Ty Gibbs has started in the top 10 in three of the last four races. Bad news: Briscoe is the only driver among the eight remaining playoff drivers who has never reached the Cup championship race. … Gibbs has finished 22nd or worse in five of his six Cup starts at Las Vegas.
Kaulig Racing — Good news: Three of AJ Allmendinger’s seven top-10 finishes this season have come at 1.5-mile tracks, including an eighth-place result at Las Vegas in March. … Allmendinger has two top 10s in the last four Las Vegas Cup races. … Ty Dillon finished 13th at Kansas, in the most recent race at a 1.5-mile track, for his best result in the last 14 races. Bad news: Dillon has placed 27th or worse in eight of the last 11 races.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: John Hunter Nemechek placed ninth in last year’s playoff race at Las Vegas. … Erik Jones qualified fifth at Las Vegas in March. Bad news: Nemechek has finished outside the top 25 in each of the last three races. … Jones has two top-10 finishes in his last 20 starts on 1.5-mile tracks.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Las Vegas is the only 1.5-mile track that Austin Dillon has multiple top-five finishes in Cup. … Kyle Busch has five top-five finishes in the last nine Cup races at Las Vegas. Bad news: Last weekend’s Roval race marked the second time this season that Richard Childress Racing did not have a car finish in the top 30. … The other time that happened was at Las Vegas in March. … Busch has one top 10 in the last 12 races. … Dillon has placed outside the top 20 in five of the seven races since his Richmond victory in August.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Cody Ware finished 21st in last year’s playoff race at Las Vegas, his best result in eight starts at the track. Bad news: Ware has finished 29th or worse in the last six races.
RFK Racing — Good news: Chris Buescher has four top-10 finishes in the last seven races. … Ryan Preece finished sixth last weekend at the Roval for his first top 10 in the last nine races. … Preece placed third at Las Vegas in March. … All five of Preece’s top 10s at 1.5-mile tracks have come in the last seven races at such tracks. … Brad Keselowski’s average finish of 12.6 at Las Vegas is his best among active 1.5-mile tracks. Bad news: Keselowski’s 35th-place finish at the Roval, due to a drivetrain issue, was a career-high seventh time this season he’s failed to finish a race. … Buescher has led 43 laps this season, which would be his fewest laps led in a season since 2020.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: Michael McDowell, who placed fifth at the Roval, has two top-10 finishes in the last three races. … McDowell has five consecutive top-20 finishes, his longest streak of the season. … McDowell won the pole at Las Vegas in March. … Justin Haley has three top-15 finishes on 1.5-mile tracks this season. Bad news: Carson Hocevar has finished 29th in back-to-back races.
Team Penske — Good news: Joey Logano secured the last transfer spot and joins teammate Ryan Blaney in the Round of 8. … Logano’s four wins at Las Vegas are the most among active drivers. … Logano has won two of the last six Las Vegas Cup races. … Team Penske has won in the Round of 8 in four of the last five seasons. … Blaney has five top-five finishes in the last eight races. … Austin Cindric finished sixth at Las Vegas in March, tying for his best result at that track in seven starts there. Bad news: Cindric was eliminated from the playoffs last weekend. … Cindric has three finishes of 30th or worse in the last four races. … Logano is 24 points below the cutline entering the Round of 8, the largest deficit in playoff history entering this round. … Blaney has an average finish of 22nd at Las Vegas in the Next Gen car.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Shane van Gisbergen became the second driver in NASCAR history to win five consecutive Cup road course wins with his victory last weekend at the Charlotte Roval (Jeff Gordon owns the record at six in a row). … Daniel Suarez placed seventh at the Roval last weekend, his first top 10 in the last six races. … Suarez finished second at Las Vegas in March. … Ross Chastain has a series-high five top fives at Las Vegas in the Next Gen car. … Chastain has finished 12th or better in all seven Las Vegas races in the Next Gen era. Bad news: Chastain was eliminated from the playoffs last weekend.
Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Josh Berry won the most recent Cup race at Las Vegas, taking the checkered flag there in March. Bad news: Berry has only four top-10 finishes since that Las Vegas win in March.
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