Race Information
Round: NASCAR Cup Series Race No. 33 of 36 (Playoffs Round of 8)
Track Location: Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, Nevada
Race Name: South Point 400
Broadcast: Sunday, October 15th at 2:00 PM ET live on NBC (TV), PRN (Radio), and SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90
Team Entrants:
No. 42 | Carson Hocevar & Luke Lambert – Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
No. 43 | Erik Jones & Dave Elenz – Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Carson Hocevar, No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Las Vegas Motor Speedway Stats
-NCTS: Starts: 4; Best Start: 5th (Fall 2021); Best Finish: 7th (2023); Top-10s: 1; Laps Led: 36
-NCS: Starts: Carson Hocevar will make his first NASCAR Cup Series start this weekend at LVMS.
2023 NASCAR Cup Series Season Stats
-Starts: 6 Best Start: 16th (Bristol); Best Finish: 11th (Bristol); No. 42 Owners Points: 32nd
About Sunseeker Resort: Opening in 2023, Florida’s newest luxury resort located in Charlotte Harbor is the first resort property of Sunseeker Resorts, a wholly owned subsidiary of Allegiant Travel Company. Sunseeker Resort Charlotte Harbor occupies over 22 waterfront acres with 785 guest rooms, including 189 Signature Sunsuites™. Set upon the Peace River and Florida Gulf Coast, this premier resort offers 20 original food and beverage concepts; including seven stand-alone restaurants, eleven bars and lounges, two poolside offerings and a 25,000-square-foot multi-dining experience. Additional hotel amenities include a waterfront promenade, two unique rooftop and waterfront pool experiences, 60,000-square-feet of combined convention space, full-service spa and salon, a 7,100-square-foot state-of-the-art fitness center with four group exercise studios with specialty instructor lead classes, three retail and market shops, and an 18-hole championship level golf club exclusive to hotel guests only. The resort is conveniently located within a short drive of Punta Gorda, Fort Myers, Sarasota, St. Petersburg-Clearwater, and Tampa airports. For more information, visit www.sunseekerresorts.com. Follow us on Instagram: @sunseekerresorts and like us on Facebook: @sunseekerresorts.
Guess who’s back?: Carson Hocevar is back this weekend for the NASCAR Cup Series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where he will make his first series start at the 1.5-mile track. Hocevar is slated to run the rest of the season in the No. 42 Chevrolet as he simultaneously is in the running to the championship four in the NASCAR Truck Series.
Photo skills: Last weekend at Charlotte’s ROVAL, Hocevar was a there to cheer on the team as he observed Mike Rockenfeller and the No. 42. He showed a fun side by taking over the team social media instagram and photography. Visit LEGACY M.C.’s Intagram account for the behind the scenes look from Carson’s vantage point.
Signed for 2024: Hocevar announced this week the news he would be racing full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2024 in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports entry.
Luke at Las Vegas: Crew chief Luke Lambert has 14 career starts in the NASCAR Cup Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and has one top-five and four top-10’s with five different drivers. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Lambert has three starts with two different drivers who never started worse than fourth and never finished worse than third with 165 laps led.
Carson Appearances: Fans attending the Las Vegas race will have opportunities to meet LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s driver of the No. 42 Chevrolet:
Carson Hocevar Merchandise Rig Autograph Session | Sunday, Oct. 15th: Carson will be at the track and will sign autographs at the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB merchandise trailer in the Fan Zone from 8:30 AM to 9:00 AM.
Race Day Q&A Session | Sunday, Oct. 15th: Located in the Fan Midway at the South Point Casino Stage, Carson will do a Q&A with fans from 9:00-9:15 A.M.
Breast Cancer Awareness: As we enter the month of October, a team tradition that has taken place for many years will continue for the next three races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, and Martinsville Speedway. Both LEGACY MOTOR CLUB™ cars will carry pink ribbons onboard to honor family members of the respective car’s crew members that have been affected by breast cancer.
Quoting Carson Hocevar: “I like running at Las Vegas. We’ve been quick there and have had some speed in the truck. With that race being at the start of the year for us in the Truck Series, it’s been a tougher race balance-wise to try and win the race or go for stage points. It’s always a fun track, one that you can move around a little bit. The Cup cars look like they can be a lot of fun there. Luke (Lambert) and this No. 42 group feel pretty confident about going back to Vegas after their spring outing, the post-work they’ve done, and everything that the team has put together on their mile-and-a-half package. We’re all excited to go there and excited to get to work.”
Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Las Vegas Motor Speedway Stats
NCS Starts: 12; Poles: 1 (Fall 2018); Best finish: 8th (Spring 2018 & Fall 2022); Top-10s: 4
NXS Starts: 2; Best start: 2nd (2016); Best finish: 3rd (2016); Top-5s: 1; Top-10s: 1; Laps led: 7
NCTS Starts: 2; Best start: 13th (2014); Best finish: 1st (2014); Top-5s: 1; Top-10s: 2; Laps led: 19
2023 NASCAR Cup Series Season Stats
Starts: 32; Best start: 8th (COTA) ; Best finish: 3rd (Kansas); Top-5s: 1; Top-10s: 7; Laps led: 24; Points position: 27th
About Allegiant: Las Vegas-based Allegiant (NASDAQ: ALGT) is an integrated travel company with an airline at its heart, focused on connecting customers with the people, places and experiences that matter most. Since 1999, Allegiant Air has linked travelers in small-to-medium cities to world-class vacation destinations with all-nonstop flights and industry-low average fares. Today, Allegiant’s fleet serves communities across the nation, with base airfares less than half the cost of the average domestic roundtrip ticket. For more information, visit us at Allegiant.com.
Last time around: In his last attempt at the 1.5-mile tri-oval, Erik Jones qualified 22nd and fell a lap down during the later stages of the race. Jones earned the free pass on lap 265 as the caution came out and was back into contention, seen running just outside of the top-15 with 20 laps to go. Unfortunately, Jones was collected in the overtime chaos but still managed to come home with a respectable 19th-place finish despite being collected in the wreckage.
Playing his Cards right: In 2014, Jones picked up his second win of the season in the NASCAR Truck Series. This marked his first win in the truck series on a mile-and-a-half track. Despite having an error on pit road, Jones worked back to the front to take the lead with just under 20 laps to the checkered flag. He led for 19 laps and almost all of these came when it mattered most as he held off his then-teammate Bubba Wallace, marking a milestone 35th victory for his former truck team, Kyle Busch Motorsports.
1.5-Mile: In his most recent attempts at 1.5-mile tracks, specifically Kansas and Texas, Jones has exhibited remarkable speed and competitiveness. At Kansas, he earned an impressive third-place finish, marking his highest of the season. Meanwhile, in Texas, Jones was a standout performer, spending most of the race in second place, trailing only Kyle Larson, while maintaining an almost three-second lead over the third-place car. Unfortunately, his day was cut short in Texas as he was involved in a wreck on the front stretch, ending the race 22 laps shy of the checkered flag for the No. 43 team.
Pole Sitter: Jones clinched his second career Cup Series pole at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, as he led the field green for the 2018 South Point 400. Jones displayed impressive speed by clocking the fastest lap time of 28.705 seconds while reaching a speed of 188.121 miles per hour. This marked his first pole position of the year and his 17th top-10 start during the 2018 racing season.
Dave at Vegas: Crew Chief Dave Elenz has a noteworthy record of 11 career Xfinity Series starts during his tenure with JR Motorsports. His track record includes six top-five’s, eight top-10’s, and six laps led. Additionally, Elenz has coached five drivers to an impressive average finish of 8.1 in races spanning from 2015 to 2021, with six laps led. In his three NASCAR Cup Series starts alongside Jones, Elenz and the team have achieved one top-10 finish.
Learning from the Bossman: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s co-owner, Jimmie Johnson, has a remarkable history at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, with a track record that includes seven top-five finishes, ten top-10 finishes, and 595 laps led. Johnson holds an impressive average finish of 11.6 across 22 starts. Johnson’s performances have solidified his status as a dominant force at the 1.5-mile asphalt tri-oval. Johnson holds the record for the most wins, having four trips to victory lane. Notably, three of these victories came consecutively from 2005 to 2007, capturing the checkered flag once again in 2010.
Quoting Erik Jones: “I am really looking forward to Vegas. Our mile-and-a-half package has been really good most of the year, especially in the last half of the season. Texas was a good day for us with a lot of speed, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out for us in the end. I think our Vegas car has been given a lot of extra effort and preparation to make sure that we are bringing a really good piece. So, I am excited to get out there and see it play out. I like the track a lot, I am really looking forward to Vegas.”
ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB:
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB is a professional auto racing club owned by businessman and entrepreneur Maurice J. Gallagher and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion (NCS) Jimmie Johnson. The club competes full-time in the NCS fielding the Nos. 42 and 43 Chevrolet Camaro entries, respectively, along with the No. 84 part-time entry for Johnson in 2023. Richard Petty “The King” serves as team ambassador.
In 2021, Gallagher acquired Richard Petty Motorsports and renamed the team to Petty GMS. With the addition of Johnson to the ownership structure in 2023, the organization rebranded to LEGACY MOTOR CLUB (LEGACY M.C.). With a unique title signifying a nod to car clubs of past eras, LEGACY M.C. is an inclusive club for all motorsport enthusiasts to celebrate the past and future legacies of its members, while competing for wins and championships at NASCAR’s elite level.
Based in Statesville, N.C., LEGACY M.C. operates alongside GMS Racing (GMS), which currently fields three full-time entries in the NASCAR Truck Series. Since the formation of GMS in 2012, Gallagher and Mike Beam, team president, have shared incredible success. GMS Racing captured the 2015 ARCA Racing Series championship, the 2016 and 2020 NASCAR Truck Series championships and the 2019 and 2020 ARCA East championships, accumulating over 65 wins across six national racing circuits.
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