NASCAR: Live 2020 Las Vegas qualifying updates
By Asher Fair
Follow along with our live qualifying updates for the first race at a 1.5-mile track of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
UPDATE: Qualifying has been canceled due to rain. The starting lineup has been confirmed.
Following the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, which includes the most in-depth qualifying format of any race on the 36-race schedule, the series heads west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube.
This race is the first race at a 1.5-mile intermediate track of the season, and as a result, it would have been the first race to feature the traditional single-car qualifying session, which was brought back during the 2019 season after a disastrous group qualifying session at Auto Club Speedway.
The front row would have been set in the same fashion as it was for the season opener, with the drivers who post the top two speeds in this session qualifying in first and second place, respectively.
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In the season opener, it was JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman who started on the front row, with Stenhouse on pole and Bowman alongside of him.
Unlike the season opener, however, the rest of the field would not have been set in the same fashion; there would not have been any Duel races to determine the starting order for the rest of the field. Additionally, there are only 38 cars on the entry list for Sunday’s race, so nobody will be bumped from the field. There were 43 cars on the entry list for the Daytona 500, which is three above the maximum field size of 40.
Because of the rain, the starting lineup for Sunday afternoon’s 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Las Vegas, Nevada was set by the inclement-weather policy in the NASCAR rulebook, and the first appearance of this single-car qualifying format in the 2020 season will have to wait until next Saturday, February 29 at Auto Club Speedway.
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Fox’s live broadcast of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season’s second race is set to air live beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET from Las Vegas Motor Speedway tomorrow afternoon. Be sure not to miss the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube.