Runaway wheels and a day for the underdogs: Winners and losers from NASCAR in Vegas

Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing have dominated the NASCAR Cup at Las Vegas for the last three seasons, which has also been the case in the first four races of the new year. But Sunday showcased the strengths of drivers outside of the Hendrick and JGR-circle like Berry, Suarez, and Preece as they raced towards the front. The plethora of pit road issues for some of the sport’s biggest names and pure misfortune for others really topped the cake of an unexpected and calamitous race weekend overall.

Now, let’s take a look at the biggest winners and losers from the NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas:

Winner: Berry brings some glory to the Wood Brothers

Watch: Josh Berry: It was our day, I can’t believe it

An easy choice for several reasons. Josh Berry, making his 53rd start, has become a winner in the Cup Series. But it’s the team he did it for that makes this really special. The Wood Brothers are NASCAR’s oldest team and despite 101 victories between 1960 and 2025, there was a period where this historic organization nearly ceased to be. They scaled back to a part-time effort just to remain in business, but now, they’ll be a part of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs for the second consecutive year. While Harrison Burton’s 2024 Daytona win was a shock upset, what makes this one so impressive is the fact that it happened at a traditional intermediate track and that Berry had competitive pace (and not for the first time this year). This is the team’s first win at a non-drafting track since 2017 and the last driver to do that for them [Ryan Blaney] went on to become a Cup Series champion.

Loser: Joey Logano leaves the track frustrated once again

Watch: Joey Logano: ‘I’ve left the race track every single weekend mad’

Over the weekend, Logano commented on how he has “left the race track every single weekend mad at something.” That likely didn’t change after Sunday’s race. The reigning and three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion has led more laps than any driver this year, adding another 40 to his tally at Vegas, but he’s failed to score even a single top-ten finish at any. If it wasn’t a wreck in the Daytona 500, it was a restart violation at Phoenix, or a mistake on pit road in Vegas. Logano was leading when the final caution of the race flew, but his team fumbled the final stop and the driver of the No. 22 could only manage a 15th-place finish in another frustrating end to what could have been a race win.

Winner: Trackhouse’s double top-five

Watch: Daniel Suárez ‘disappointed’ with runner-up effort at Las Vegas

Trackhouse Racing Team has been in need of some good luck. In each of the previous four races to start the year, at least two of their three (or sometimes four) cars were involved in a major accident. While Vegas could have gone better for Shane van Gisbergen, both Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain were able to capitalize with fast cars and clever strategy. Each of them led double digit laps and had a shot at the win. Suarez was actually leading on the final restart and with a helpful shove from Chastain, cleared Berry. He wasn’t able to hang on to the win, but both he and his teammate were able to bring home top-five finishes and a big bucket of points. As Chastain said afterwards, “it’s pretty cool to be talking about what we could do better” after finishing second [Suarez] and fifth [Chastain].

Loser: Every team with a loose wheel

Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Chris Graythen – Getty Images

So many races were derailed on Sunday due to loose (or runaway) wheels, and several crew members are facing vacations as a result. Both Chase Briscoe and Kyle Busch lost a wheel on track, which means two crew members from each will be suspended in the coming days. It took Briscoe the entire event to claw back from the in-race penalty while Busch had no opportunity to do so as his car was too heavily damaged after losing a wheel and hitting the wall. They were not alone in struggling with loose wheels. Of note, an unsecured wheel derailed Bell’s bid for four consecutive Cup wins. He had entered the pits from second place and never recovered from it, although it was quite clever to pull into his teammate’s box after leaving his own and let their crew finish tightening the wheel for him before returning to the track and facing an even bigger problem. But still, he never recovered from the lost the track position and so, Jimmie Johnson in 2007 remains the most recent Cup driver to successfully complete the rare four-peat.

Winner: Ryan Preece with a career day

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford, Ryan Preece, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford, Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing Ford

Photo by: Jonathan Bachman – Getty Images

Ryan Preece is the definition of making the most of what you have. After a wild flip in the Daytona 500, he’s thankfully kept the car on the ground ever since. At COTA, he used an alternate strategy to score a stage win before nearly doing the same at Phoenix. And at Vegas, he spent most of the race mid-pack before quietly slipping into the top-ten on a fuel-save strategy. While it’s unlikely they could have made it to the end, Preece caught a fortunate caution. Everyone was on equal footing with fresh tires for the end, but Preece did not falter. He actually moved forward, passing Chastain and Byron to finish a wildly impressive third. Sunday’s result matches the best of Preece’s entire Cup career, and his first top-three since Talladega nearly six years ago. This No. 60 team, which came together in November and didn’t have a crew chief until January, is quickly finding their groove on track.

Loser: Ty Gibbs can’t seem to right the ship

Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (at Phoenix)

Photo by: Jonathan Bachman – Getty Images

This year isn’t getting any easier for the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion. He is nearly last in points, and the only full-time drivers he is currently ahead of are Cole Custer and Cody Ware — both of which compete for single-car teams. He started the weekend with a wild rollover crash in a Sprint car, and ended it with his fourth consecutive finish outside of the top-20. Gibbs sits 34th in the championship standings, 14 places lower than his closest teammate, and considering the fact that he made last year’s playoffs on points alone, one has to wonder what is going on with Gibbs and this No. 54 team.

Winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr. was right

Dale Earnhardt Jr, JR Motorsports, Hellmann’s Fridge Hunters Chevrolet Camaro, Sam Mayer, JR Motorsports, Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet Camaro, Josh Berry, JR Motorsports, Harrison’s USA Chevrolet Camaro

Photo by: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images

Yes, Dale Jr. won as an owner this weekend when Justin Allgaier captured the checkered flag in the NASCAR Xfinity race, but that’s not what I’m referring to. Earnhardt has been a big backer of Berry for years, having originally met while sim racing online. Dale always believed he had Cup-level talent, and even gave him his first shot in a NASCAR stock car when he drove for JR Motorsports at Richmond … 11 years ago. So yeah, it’s been a long time coming, but finally, Berry has reached the pinnacle and proven Dale right with his Las Vegas triumph. From sim racer to late model driver and now a Cup Series winner — and as shown in the social post below — Dale Jr. couldn’t be prouder.

Loser: 23XI’s missed opportunity

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Photo by: Chris Graythen – Getty Images

23XI had two of their three cars running up front for a good portion of Sunday’s race, but you wouldn’t know that by looking at the final results. Tyler Reddick led 34 laps but finished 24th while Bubba Wallace led 20 laps and finished 28th. But from the drop of the green flag, both drivers had winning speed and ran inside the top five. It all went wrong for Wallace on Lap 196 when he was on the outside of a four-wide situation. Ryan Blaney crashed across his nose and Wallace was also hit from behind, wounding his No. 23 Toyota. Reddick remained in contention later, but his decision to split the final run and pit early proved costly as a caution soon afterwards trapped him in the back.