The Playoff season in is full swing, and The Blue Oval is in the championship hunt for both the Xfinity Series and Cup Series. The Round of 8 kicks off this weekend at Las Vegas, but the drivers in the title fight aren’t the only ones to keep an eye on in the Nevada desert this weekend – don’t sleep on the non-Playoff drivers, either.
As a reminder, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano are the only two NASCAR Ford drivers still in the Playoffs. Logano, who drives the No. 22 Ford Mustang Dark Horse, has three career victories at Vegas. It’s one of his best tracks and one of his favorite places on the schedule.
“The Vegas entertainment part, you’re talking to someone who might be a little boring when you’re talking about Vegas since you’re just going there for a work trip,” he said. “I’m there to win a race, so if you want to know what the most fun thing to do there is there’s a place inside the racetrack called Victory Lane.”
While he was knocked out of the Playoffs, Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 6 NASCAR Ford, could be a winner this weekend as well. He swept the Xfinity and Cup Series races is a single weekend back in 2014, beating Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the line when he ran out of fuel on the last lap. It was the first of six victories for Keselowski that season.
Speaking of the Xfinity Series, Cole Custer is The Blue Oval’s last hope to go back-to-back in the division championship. He’s won this year at Bristol and Pocono, and he could do it again at Vegas. In eight career starts, the driver of the No. 00 Mustang has four top five and six top-10 finishes at the 1.5-mile oval.
Blaney, meanwhile, says he’s looking forward to running his No. 12 Mustang at Vegas.
“I feel like that track is very underrated as far as race-ability and the type of shows that it puts on,” he said, “but I think everyone loves that track. It has so much character in it and you always have to worry about the bumps.”
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