Las Vegas Fantasy NASCAR Mid Pack Predictions

Michael McDowell
Las Vegas Fantasy Spin – This year at high-speed 1.5-mile tracks, Michael McDowell has typically been about mid-twenties bad, but he just finished 15th at Texas, so perhaps there’s some hope. That said over the five combined races, McDowell has a 24th place average finish and the 24th best Total Speed Ranking. On Sunday, I would view him as a about 20th place driver who has some upside.
Las Vegas Track History – At Las Vegas over the last six races, Michael McDowell has a best finish of 17th and his average finish is 21.6. This spring, McDowell finished 25th, had a 24.4 average running position and then ranked 19th for Green Flag Speed and Total Speed Rankings. Last fall, the #34 was high-teens good and when the checkered flag waved, he finished 19th, had an 18.1 average running position and ranked 23rd for Total Speed Rankings and Green Flag Speed. In spring 2022, McDowell was very uncompetitive and finished a clunker 27th. In the race, McDowell had a 21.2 average running position and had the 24th best Total Speed Ranking. In the three races prior to that, McDowell had results of 21st, 17th and 21st.

Corey LaJoie
Las Vegas Fantasy Spin – At Las Vegas, I would look for Corey LaJoie to finish right around 20th. That’s exactly where he finished this spring, and it also matches up with his level of performance at high-speed 1.5-mile tracks in incident free races in 2023. This year on this sub-track type minus Texas where he had problems (26th), LaJoie was 4 for 4 at finishing between 17th to 22nd and his average finish was 19.8.
Las Vegas Track History – At Las Vegas in the Next Gen over the three races, Corey LaJoie has a 19.6 average finish. This spring, LaJoie finished 20th, had a 20th place average running position and was running in 20th before the late caution came out. Last fall, LaJoie finished 24th, had a 24.4 average running position, had the 30th best Total Speed Ranking and ranked 31st for Green Flag Speed. In spring 2022, LaJoie snuck in his best Las Vegas result and finished 15th. In the race, LaJoie had a 22.5 average running position and had the 26th best Total Speed Ranking. With 4 to go until the scheduled distance he was running in 19th.

Ryan Preece
Las Vegas Fantasy Spin – At Las Vegas, pencil in Ryan Preece as a high-teens to low-twenties driver. In 2023 at high-speed 1.5’s, Preece has a 20.8 average finish, a 22.2 average running position and at the two high-speed 1.5’s visited in the Playoffs, he’s come home with results of 18th (Kansas) and 23rd (Texas).
Las Vegas Track History – This spring at Las Vegas, Ryan Preece was a low 20’s performer. In the race, Preece finished 23rd, had a 23.4 average running position and ranked 27th for Total Speed Rankings. Back in fall 2021 when he next most recently raced here, Preece finished an uninspiring 28th. In the two Las Vegas races prior to that, Preece had finishes of 15th and 19th.

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