Chase Elliott enters Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a sense of urgency. Four races into the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, the 2020 champion sits fourth in points but 97 behind leader Tyler Reddick. After a 23rd-place finish at Phoenix following late-race damage, Elliott is eager for a consistent run.
“Not the greatest start. I think we have a lot of work to do, so we’ll see,” Elliott said. “It’s a marathon and you can change narratives fast. One good week can certainly go a long way. Hopefully, that’s this week at Vegas.”
Sunday’s race marks the first 1.5-mile oval of the season, a welcome change after the drafting tracks at Daytona and Atlanta and the road course at Circuit of the Americas. Elliott, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, has six top-10 finishes in 17 starts at Las Vegas but an average finish of 18.9.
“Hopefully, Vegas is a good step and then from there we can just dig our heels in and get rolling,” the 30-year-old said. “You answer a lot of questions over the course of the next two weeks that we have internally of where we’re at.”
Elliott and his Chevrolet teammates are adapting to a new Camaro ZL1 body designed to improve aerodynamics. He called Las Vegas a “good test” for the car’s high-speed performance. “We’re going to be asking a lot of the car … How can we make that thing more efficient and also just adjust and figure out what our car balance needs to make it go? That’s really No. 1 (priority) for everyone right now,” Elliott said.
The track’s unique challenge lies in Turns 3 and 4. “The big one out there is getting through (Turns 3 and 4),” Elliott explained. “It seems like (Turns 1 and 2), a lot of people can muscle their way through there with the way the backing picks up, but the way the corner is shaped in 3 and 4, it’s really important to have the balance good on that end of the track.”
Weather could also play a factor, with air temperatures in the 80s and cloudy conditions expected. “That can be challenging (to find the right balance) when the sun’s out and it’s warm,” said Elliott, son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott.
NASCAR’s new playoff format eliminates the win-and-in rule; the top 16 drivers in regular-season points qualify regardless of wins. The champion will be determined by points after 10 playoff races, with no eliminations. Las Vegas hosts a playoff race on Oct. 4. Elliott said he hasn’t noticed a difference yet. “It just depends (on the situation) and people are going to adjust and race differently at different times depending upon the situation that they’re in,” he said.
Practice and qualifying begin Saturday. The green flag flies just after 1 p.m. Sunday on FS1.
