There is a saying that has floated round NASCAR for ages: “The precise season begins after Daytona” or one thing to that impact. That is partly on account of Daytona being its personal animal with its personal guidelines and status, but in addition because of the easy incontrovertible fact that it is a superspeedway race — an outlier occasion. It is inconceivable to gauge who the most effective groups out of the gate are at such a spot.
NASCAR’s choice to position drafting tracks back-to-back for the opening of the season pushes that concept to the third week of the yr. Whereas the wins depend all the identical regarding the playoffs, the rivals will not know who actually has the sting till Phoenix and Vegas are within the rearview. Talking to media Saturday at Atlanta, 2020 NASCAR Cup Collection champion Chase Elliott echoed this sentiment, noting that it is “completely truthful” to say we can’t have a transparent thought of who’s main the way in which till finish of the March or starting of April.
“By the point you get by Vegas, you will have a fairly good thought of what is going on on,” Elliott defined. “You have delayed it per week, principally with the second speedway [Atlanta] and the highway course factor [COTA].”
In 2025, the selection to maneuver COTA as much as the third race on the calendar means the primary considerably ‘regular’ oval will not be seen till Phoenix in Week 4, and even that monitor is an outlier amongst ovals regardless of being the location of the season finale.
Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, Mobil 1 Toyota Camry
Picture by: David Rosenblum / NKP / Motorsport Pictures
The primary intermediate oval (that hasn’t been changed into a pseudo-superspeedway) is Las Vegas, which sits because the fifth race monitor the collection plans to go to in 2025. Excluding the reconfigured Atlanta because it now aligns extra with Daytona and Talladega, this would be the newest into the season NASCAR has gone earlier than visiting a standard intermediate monitor since 1981. That yr, the season opened with two highway programs, the Daytona 500 and a brief monitor race at Richmond.
Intermediate tracks are so essential in seeing the true energy of the sector because of the absence of the wildcard nature that’s an inherit a part of a few of these different tracks. At Daytona and Atlanta, there are a number of drivers it as their solely shot to get a win because of the nature of pack racing leveling the taking part in discipline. Actually anybody can and generally do win, as evidenced by the numerous shock victors through the years — even on the 500. And at a highway course, specialists like A.J. Allmendinger and Shane van Gisbergen turns into favorites to win, however they’d been seen as shock upsets in the event that they received nearly anyplace else on the schedule. What makes a race like Vegas so important is the truth that what works there works at a number of different ovals all year long as intermediate tracks nonetheless make up the vast majority of the Cup schedule. To be quick there means you are more likely to be a constant participant on the entrance of the sector all year long.
Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro
Picture by: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Pictures
And up to date historical past helps that, because the winningest driver in three of the final 4 seasons additionally received within the collection’ early-season go to to Sin Metropolis. Larson’s ten-win season in 2021 started with a checkered flag in Vegas. Byron’s six-win season in 2023 — Vegas once more. Larson’s six-win season in 2024: Yep, it began with a win in Vegas. And that is as a result of LVMS is your typical cookie cutter 1.5-miler and as said, what works there additionally works at a variety of different circuits throughout the 36-race schedule.
Within the fashionable playoff format, constant pace is not any assure of a title as showcased by Joey Logano’s 17.1 common end on his technique to profitable his third crown final yr, nevertheless it actually units you up as those to beat. So sure, the 2025 NASCAR season could formally be underway, however the actual contenders are possible to not reveal themselves for an additional few weeks.
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