LAS VEGAS 2
Saturday, October 11 – NASCAR Xfinity Series, 7:30 p.m. ET (CW)
Sunday, October 12 – NASCAR Cup Series, 5:30 p.m. ET (USA)
There are two Ford Mustang Dark Horse drivers still with championship aspirations in each of NASCAR’s top two series as the Round of 8 begins this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Champions Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney lead the way in the NASCAR Cup Series while Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed are doing the same in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
BLANEY AND LOGANO ADVANCE
Ford Mustang drivers Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney have combined to win the last three NASCAR Cup Series championships. As the series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend, both men remain in contention to extend that streak after advancing to the Round of 8. Blaney’s spot secured his position after winning the opening race in the Round of 12 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway while Logano earned the last spot after a chaotic final lap on the Charlotte ROVAL.
BERRY GOING FOR VEGAS SWEEP
Josh Berry may have been eliminated from the playoffs, but he’s still got plenty to race for this weekend as he goes for a season sweep at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Berry got the first win of his NASCAR Cup Series career in March when he passed Daniel Suarez and led the final 16 laps. That marked the 101st all-time win for Wood Brothers Racing and clinched a playoff berth. While that marked his first trip to Victory Lane at LVMS in the Cup Series, he’s been there before after winning in the NASCAR Xfinity Series twice (2021 and 2022).
LOGANO’S DRIVE FOR FIVE
Logano’s win a year ago was his fourth career NASCAR Cup Series victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, tying a personal best for a single track. The other facility where he’s won four times is Phoenix Raceway, site of this year’s championship finale. Statistically, Logano has made 24 career starts at Las Vegas with an average finishing position of 9.8, which equals his best mark in races where he has at least 10 starts (Richmond). Besides his four Vegas victories, Logano has 8 top-5 and 14 top-10 finishes since joining the series in 2009.
BLANEY STILL LOOKING FOR VEGAS WIN
Ryan Blaney will be making his 19th career NASCAR Cup Series start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend and while he’s been consistently up front with six top-5 and 10 top-10 finishes, he’s still looking for his first victory. Blaney, who won the pole in 2018, is making his sixth appearance in the Round of 8.
FORD DRIVERS IN THE CUP SERIES PLAYOFFS
DRIVER – POINTS POSITION
Ryan Blaney – 2nd (+6 above the cut line)
Joey Logano – 8th (-24 below the cut line)
Note: Top 4 advance after Martinsville
FORD PLAYOFF DRIVERS AT LAS VEGAS
Joey Logano: 24 starts, 4 wins, 8 top-5, 14 top-10
Ryan Blaney: 18 starts, 0 wins, 6 top-5, 10 top-10
RYAN BLANEY: WHAT IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO HAVE GOOD WEEKEND IN LAS VEGAS? “After we won New Hampshire people asked me if anything changed, and I think the only thing that changed is we looked at Vegas a little bit earlier than what we normally would have. I feel like the last two Vegas events haven’t been good from practice and then the race ended poorly as well, but I feel like our cars have been pretty good there. I thought we learned a lot in Kansas even though I thought the best I was gonna run was seventh behind a handful of those guys. I thought we learned a little bit moving forward and hopefully we can put a good weekend together there. I look forward to getting to it.”
JOEY LOGANO: WHAT WENT THROUGH YOUR MIND WHEN YOU GOT THAT FOURTH WIN OF YOUR CAREER IN VEGAS AND KNEW YOU WERE IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP 4? “Just pure excitement because the goal when you start the season is to win the championship and it takes a lot of stepping stones to get to that place. One of the largest ones is just getting to the Championship 4. That’s the one closest to the championship, so getting to the Championship 4 is so hard to do, so when we won that race, you automatically know, ‘Gosh, we’re in it. We’ve got a chance.’”
LOGANO TAKES ADVANTAGE OF SECOND CHANCE
Joey Logano began his run to a third NASCAR Cup Series championship a year ago when he won the Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, passing Daniel Suarez with five laps remaining. That capped a frenetic week that saw Logano eliminated after the Charlotte ROVAL and then reinstated after Alex Bowman was disqualified during post-race inspection. Logano took advantage of his second chance, finishing eighth and fifth in the first two stages of the race and then going into fuel conservation mode. His strategy paid off as he got by Suarez and then held off a hard-charging Christopher Bell on the final corner to register his third points victory of the season and fourth overall, including the All-Star Race.
SWEEP DELIGHT FOR KESELOWSKI
Brad Keselowski completed a weekend sweep in 2014 after taking the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series events on consecutive days. Even though Keselowski led the most laps in the NCS race, he needed a little bit of luck and got it on the final lap when Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was conserving fuel, ran out on the back straightaway. That enabled Keselowski to win going away and post the first of his six victories that season.
MAYER AND CREED ADVANCE TO ROUND OF 8
The Haas Factory Team duo of Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed will continue their bid for this season’s NASCAR Xfinity Series championship after advancing into the Round of 8. Mayer, who goes into this weekend’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway fourth in the playoff standings and two points above the cut line, has been fast all season. He’s qualified in the top 10 a total of 15 times in the last 16 races, which includes 12 starts in the top five. Creed is still looking for his first career series victory, but has been steady in the playoffs to this point, finishing second (Bristol), fifth (Kansas) and 11th (Charlotte) in three events. Both drivers posted top-10 runs in the first visit to LVMS this season with Mayer finishing fifth and Creed 10th.
FORD DRIVERS IN THE XFINITY PLAYOFFS
DRIVER – POINTS POSITION
Sam Mayer – 4th (+2 above the cut line)
Sheldon Creed – 8th (-13 below the cut line)
Note: Top 4 advance after Martinsville
FORD PLAYOFF DRIVERS AT THE ROVAL
Sam Mayer: 8 starts, 0 wins, 2 top-10, 4 top-10
Sheldon Creed: 7 starts, 0 wins, 0 top-5, 4 top-10
FORD’S LAS VEGAS CUP SERIES WINNERS
1998 – Mark Martin
1999 – Jeff Burton
2000 – Jeff Burton
2003 – Matt Kenseth
2004 – Matt Kenseth
2008 – Carl Edwards
2011 – Carl Edwards
2014 – Brad Keselowski
2016 – Brad Keselowski
2018 – Kevin Harvick (1) and Brad Keselowski (2)
2019 – Joey Logano (1)
2020 – Joey Logano (1)
2022 – Joey Logano (2)
2024 – Joey Logano (2)
2025 – Josh Berry (1)
FORD’S LAS VEGAS XFINITY SERIES WINNERS
1999 – Mark Martin
2000 – Jeff Burton
2002 – Jeff Burton
2005 – Mark Martin
2009 – Greg Biffle
The Ford Mustang, celebrating its 61st anniversary in 2025, is the world’s best selling sports car. It is also one of the planet’s most popular race cars. With Mustang-based race cars competing in international sports car competition (GT3 and GT4), NASCAR, NHRA, Formula Drift, in Australian Supercars, at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and in its own bespoke one-make series – Mustang Cup and Mustang Challenge – the platform has an unprecedented global reach. This weekend, 39 Mustang race cars are scheduled to race across all disciplines. Learn more at FordPerformance.com.
