NASCAR Cup Series driver heavily favored to win at Las Vegas

Following two straight drafting races to open up the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, Las Vegas Motor Speedway is scheduled to host the Pennzoil 400 this Sunday afternoon.

The "normal" portion of the 2024 schedule, per se, is scheduled to begin with this 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Las Vegas, Nevada oval after two "wild card" superspeedway races at Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.

And it's not all that surprising who the heavy favorite is.

FanDuel Sportsbook, which is giving fans a $150 bonus for placing a successful $5 bet, lists Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson as the clear favorite to win Sunday's race.

Larson favored to score another Las Vegas win

Though he never won there during his time at Chip Ganassi Racing, Las Vegas Motor Speedway was always one of Larson's best tracks. He scored nine runner-up finishes on 1.5-mile ovals before winning, and two of them came at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in back-to-back years.

Larson earned his first win with Rick Hendrick's team at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March 2021, ending his historic drought on 1.5-mile ovals. He has since added five more wins on such tracks, including another one at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last October.

In six starts at the track behind the wheel of the No. 5 Chevrolet, he has two wins and two runner-up finishes. He also scored a 10th place finish after starting from the pole position and winning stage one in September 2021. On only one occasion did he not lead any laps, and that was in October 2022, when he was intentionally wrecked by Bubba Wallace.

FanDuel Sportsbook lists Larson's odds to win Sunday's race at +400, which are considerably short odds for a driver in race at a 1.5-mile oval. Three drivers are tied for second place behind him at +900: Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron, Team Penske's Ryan Blaney, and Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin. Byron won the March race at the track last year.

The Pennzoil 400 is set to be broadcast live on Fox from Las Vegas Motor Speedway starting at 3:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, March 3. If you have yet to begin a free trial of FuboTV, do so now and don't miss it!