NASCAR Pennzoil 400 preview: Favorite, underdog, top storylines

On Sunday, the stars of the NASCAR Cup Series will take to the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the running of the Pennzoil 400 (4 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Here is everything you need to know ahead of Sunday's race in "Sin City."

Favorite: Kyle Larson (+400, per DraftKings)

It is hard to believe that the two-time Cup Series champion and 32-time winner has gone winless since his Kansas Speedway win last May. After qualifying fifth on Saturday and heading to one of his best tracks, a return trip to Victory Lane may be in store.

Larson has led the most laps in five of his 10 starts at the track with Hendrick Motorsports and even holds the record for the most laps led (819). The new Chevrolet body may still pose some concerns, but with five top-two finishes in eight Next Gen starts at LVMS, expect Larson to be in contention once again.

Underdog: Ryan Preece (+4000, per DraftKings)

After winning the exhibition Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium to unofficially kick off the season, the regular season has only produced one top 10 in four races so far. That could be about to change on Sunday.

Preece was third and ninth in the two Las Vegas races last season and has six top-10 finishes in his last eight 1.5-mile races. After posting the second-fastest lap of any Ford in Saturday's qualifying session (eighth), the weekend is already off to a good start for the RFK Racing driver.

Toyota looking to translate dominant qualifying effort into another race win

Led by pole winner Christopher Bell, Toyotas swept the top four starting positions for the seventh time in the manufacturer's history on Saturday.

While Tyler Reddick became the first driver to win the first three races of a season, Joe Gibbs Racing is still in search of its first 2026 win. With Bell, Hamlin and Ty Gibbs locking down the first three spots on the grid, Toyota could not have asked for a better start to the weekend as JGR searches for its first win of the season.

Alex Bowman sidelined for another week

As a result of vertigo that forced him to get out of his No. 48 Chevrolet during the race at Circuit of The Americas two weeks ago, Bowman will miss his second consecutive race on Sunday at Las Vegas. Current O'Reilly Auto Parts Series full-timer Justin Allgaier will fill in after Anthony Alfredo served as the relief driver at Phoenix and finished 33rd after getting caught up in a crash.

Bowman is a previous winner at Las Vegas (2022), but he currently sits last in the standings (36th) after a miserable start to the season. As least for one more week, he will be watching the race and missing out on valuable points that could be a challenge to overcome.

Las Vegas is first of nine 1.5-mile races in 2026

With the return of Chicagoland Speedway and the fall race on the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval, there will be nine races on 1.5-mile tracks this season. After back-to-back drafting-style races, a road course and a one-mile track to begin the season, NASCAR's best will add a 1.5-mile challenge to that list with Sunday's 400-miler at Las Vegas.