Las Vegas Motor Speedway 2025 NASCAR Track Profile

[Editor’s note: The following article is from Athlon Sports’ 2025 Racing Annual magazine. Order your copy online today, or buy one at retail racks and newsstands nationwide.]

The fall date at Las Vegas Motor Speedway has proved to be one of the most important races on the Cup schedule. The playoff Round of 8 opener in the Next Gen era, its race winner has wound up Cup champion two out of the last three years. In both his championship campaigns, Joey Logano’s win in Sin City locked him into the finale.

The 1.5-mile oval is one of the sport’s cookie-cutter tracks built in the 1990s, constructed to accommodate suits in the suites as much as provide compelling on-track competition. The final product is far more reliable than gambling away at the Vegas casinos; upsets come few and far between.

Since going to the Next Gen car in 2022, Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske have kept Vegas on lockdown. Like Logano, Kyle Larson has two wins in the last six races in Sin City and has led the most laps in that span (405). HMS’ Alex Bowman and William Byron are the only other drivers to notch victories the last three years.

Ross Chastain has the best average finish at Vegas in the Next Gen era (5.5). He’s tied with Larson for the most top 5s (4) and tied with Byron for most top 10s (5). If he finds himself alive in the playoffs when the circuit hits Vegas, it could springboard him into the Championship 4.

Christopher Bell is another top-tier driver in position to break through the Hendrick and Penske stranglehold, with 248 career laps led and two consecutive runner-up finishes here. In each race, he was reeling in the leader but ran out of laps. Bell has also won the pole in half the Next Gen races at LVMS.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway track info

Site: Las Vegas, Nevada

Laps: 1.5-mile tri-oval

Banking/Turns: 20 degrees

Banking/Tri-oval: 9-12 degrees

Banking/Backstretch: 9-12 degrees

2025 Dates: March 16, Oct. 12.

Distance: 267 laps, 400.5 miles

2024 winners

March: Kyle Larson

October: Joey Logano

Scouting report

One thing the Next Gen car does best is race on 1.5-mile, D-shaped ovals. Drivers still feel like there’s too much on-throttle time here, which makes passing a challenge, but Vegas is also one of the widest tracks, so finding clean air – needed to complete passes – is available. All told, this is one of the best venues to attend a NASCAR race weekend as a fan, especially if you score a Neon Garage pass. Oh, there’s also the Vegas strip just a couple miles away.