 |
NASCAR Fans ViewAuthor: Rusty Norman
A former hometown Stock Car driver and car owner, Rusty Norman brings a real racers perspective to every NASCAR Cup Series weekend. Each week throughout the season from Daytona in February to the Championship at Phoenix in November Rusty shares his honest opinions on the drivers, the racing, and the storylines fans actually care about. Its NASCAR, from someone whos actually been behind the wheel. NASCAR Fans View is an independent, unofficial fan podcast and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NASCAR LLC. Language: en-us Genres: News, Sports, Sports News Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
Listen Now...
episode 2634-Chase Race Five At Las Vegas
Sunday, 4 October, 2026
From a NASCAR Fan’s View It’s Chase Race Five at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and things are heating up at the top of the standings. I don’t know about you, but this fan can’t believe we’re already at the midpoint of The Chase, and the intensity hasn’t let up for one minute yet. I will say this. It’s been an interesting start to the 2026 Chase, and this fifth race will likely be just a continuation of the unexpected. After all, I don’t know many fans who thought Kyle Larson would have the results in the first four races that he did, but he did, and he has been on a good run so far. We all watched him dominate last weekend at Kansas and walk away with a 26-point lead over Denny Hamlin after taking a maximum-points day of 76. But this is Vegas. The Toyotas took the top five qualifying spots to start the race, and Denny Hamlin took the pole. He was followed by his three JGR teammates, Ty Gibbs, Christopher Bell, and Chase Briscoe. Tyler Reddick, who has been struggling for a while now, showed up with speed this weekend and qualified fifth. I’m not sure how you feel about their show of speed during qualifying, but to this fan, it looks pretty ominous. The top fourteen qualifiers are all Chasers. The other two Chasers, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano, qualified twentieth and twenty-third. The two of them sit fourth and fifth in the points. That may not seem too bad, but I would say they both have their work cut out for themselves if they want to maintain their places or advance further up in the standings. From this fan’s view, they both need really good points days, and Blaney needs them worse. He is ninety-one points behind Larson going into today’s race and can’t afford another bad day at the races. I’m thinking he wants a win in the worst way. I do find it interesting that the four JGR Toyotas are starting in the top four starting spots. After the way the last two weeks have gone, I guess it should be expected. After all, Denny Hamlin has won the last two races at Vegas, and with his pole starting position, he just might make it three in a row. His teammate, Ty Gibbs, also seems pretty confident about taking the win today and has spoken very positively of his chances of pulling it off. He starts second, next to Hamlin on the front row. Even though Christopher Bell took the win at the first Chase race at Darlington, he hasn’t been able to make a big impact at follow-ups since. He hasn’t been running all that bad, but he hasn’t been running all that good either. At least, not good enough to take another victory. He runs well on the intermediate tracks, but is still looking for his first victory at Vegas. Chase Briscoe has definitely had a rough start in the Chase, but he and his team look to have found something, with recent performances, especially last weekend, until he hit the wall several times trying to beat Larson. He finished fourth but still was showing found speed and I wonder if it will carry over to this weekend. All four of the Hendrick Chevys are starting in the top fifteen. Of them, Kyle Larson starts sixth, and William Byron starts eighth. We all know how Kyle has been running. It just remains to be seen whether or not he continues running as strong as he has started the Chase. He runs well at Vegas, and his chances are as good as any I mentioned so far to have a great points day or take another win. I’m anxious to see how his day goes. William has been struggling a lot in recent times, but much like the rest of his Hendrick teammates, he has been showing a lot of improvement, and this fan can’t help but wonder if today might be his day to get his first win in 2026. Not saying he will, but he was the fastest in practice yesterday. There are a couple of things to watch out for in today’s race. The biggest may be tire problems. Several drivers did experience tire problems in yesterday’s practice. Now, I’m not saying tires will play a big part in the race. In fact, they may not play a part at all, but since there were problems in practice, everyone will be a little on edge for the possibility. It is going to be hot and slick, and from my view, it will be important to have good long-run speed to be successful and to run at or near the front at the end of the stages and the end of the race. Although there are several who are very good at managing their tires and fuel, it will be important in this one. Two of the best at it at Vegas are the top two in the points race, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson. Will it make a difference in today’s race, and will these be the two battling it out in the final laps? Yeah, that is a definite possibility, but not the only possibility. With most of the Chase competitors starting in the top fifteen, just about anything is possible. That’s not to mention the fact that someone other than one of the Chasers could win. What will that mean for the points? I don’t know, but I can guarantee it could make things even more interesting… Hey, this is Russ and that’s my view… See ya next time… All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer © October 04, 2026 – all rights reserved Rusty Norman, Nascarfansview.com, and PodCastNorm Dot Com All audio productions by www.podcastnorm.com and Pod Cast Norm Productions All music TwoBuckThemes from Mike Stewart unless otherwise stated NASCARFansView.com is an independent, unofficial fan site and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NASCAR LLC.
