Jackpot for William Byron in Las Vegas

Victory for William Byron and hat-trick for Hendrick Motorsports. Tonight in Vegas, we had to play Hendrick to break the bank.

Without offending their talent, it must be recognized that the victories of Ricky Stenhouse Jr at Daytona and Kyle Busch at Fontana were real surprises. For this third round of the season, the peloton of NASCAR Cup Series was back on a 1,5 mile oval, the soul of the discipline, and at the end of the 271 laps of the race, 267 regulation and 4 overtime, it was the strongest who won.

William Byron and Kyle Larson dominated the race © NASCAR

2020 champion Chase Elliott was out in Las Vegas after fracturing his left tibia while snowboarding in Colorado on Friday. His unavailability should unfortunately not be limited to this round. Fortunately for him, a long-term absence does not destroy his title chances because it is no longer necessary to appear in the Top 30 of the Championship to qualify for the Playoffs in the event of victory in the regular season. As for whether practicing snowboarding in high season is reasonable... Josh Berry, regular competitor in NASCAR this week-end.

The reigning Champion, Joey Logano, had taken pole position, his 27th career, but gradually slipped to 13th place at the end of a complicated first segment for the Fords. William Byron concluded this first sequence of races in the lead ahead of his teammate Kyle Larson and the leader of the general classification Ross Chastain. The latter and his teammate Daniel Suarez have proven since the start of the season that 2022 was not a fluke for Trackhouse Racing.

The second segment looked like a show of strength from the Hendrick boys with Alex Bowman joining Byron and Larson at the front, in third position.

Winning Bet in Las Vegas for Byron © NASCAR

We could sense from the start that pole sitter Joey Logano was in difficulty. On the 184th lap, the Team Penske driver lost control of his Ford after a slight collision with Brad Keselowski and went into trouble, causing the first neutralization of the race. Suspensions damaged in his off-road excursion, Logano's hopes of victory were over.

A three-wide battle doesn't end well for @joeylogano! pic.twitter.com/48QdHUix8P

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 5, 2023

If Kyle Larson seemed to hold on to victory, a final neutralization caused 4 laps from the finish by Aric Almirola offered the drivers the possibility of a final pit stop. Byron's team performed miracles, putting its driver back on track in front of Larson while Martin Truex Jr. remained on track. The latter fought until the last turns to stay in the lead but he had to cede command to Byron who won at the end of the 271 laps of the race in front of his teammates Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman while a final crash in the last loop deprived of checkered flag AJ Allmendinger, Michael McDowell, Erik Jones and Brad Keselowski. 

ALSO READ > Stainless Kyle Busch