The LiUNA!
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Course: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Format: Tri-Oval
Length: 1.5 miles
Laps: 200
NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Race Preview
NASCAR visits another traditional intermediate track this weekend with both the O'Reilly and Cup Series headed to Las Vegas. The O'Reilly Series kicks things off Saturday night. After his win in Phoenix last weekend, Justin Allgaier heads into the weekend with points lead. Some of the more surprising early-season performers include Carson Kvapil, who is currently fourth in the standings, and rookies Rajah Caruth and Corey Day.
Key Stats at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
- Number of Races: 37
- Winners from Pole: 6
- Winners from Top 5: 17
- Winners from Top 10: 29
Previous Winners at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Fall 2025 – Aric Almirola
Spring 2025 – Justin Allgaier
Fall 2024- AJ Allmendinger
Spring 2024- John Hunter Nemechek
Fall 2023- Riley Herbst
Spring 2023- Austin Hill
Fall 2022- Josh Berry
Spring 2022- Ty Gibbs
Fall 2021- Josh Berry
Spring 2021- AJ Allmendinger
It's the second consecutive weekend on a traditional oval track, but Las Vegas is quite distinct from Phoenix otherwise. Tire wear typically plays a minimal role in the race and there is significant banking on all four turns.
In addition to being more traditional intermediate tracks, the recent trends in Las Vegas mirror what we saw in Phoenix. Qualifying isn't all that important relative to other tracks, and its importance has lessened significantly in the last eight races (four years). Only one of the last eight race winners started inside the top five, and only six began inside the top 10. This is information that can be exploited both when building a DFS lineup or wagering on the race, particularly if qualifying negatively moves the odds of a contender.
We'll also see a loaded field of drivers, featuring Kyle Larson, Connor Zilisch, Chase Briscoe and Cole Custer from the Cup Series.
NASCAR O'Reilly Series DFS Tools
DraftKings Value Picks for The LiUNA!
Based on a Standard $50K Salary Cap
Tier 1 DraftKings Values
Kyle Larson - $15,000
Connor Zilisch-$11,500
Justin Allgaier - $11,200
Chase Briscoe - $11,000
Tier 2 DraftKings Values
Brandon Jones - $9,200
Austin Hill - $8,500
Carson Kvapil - $8,300
Cole Custer - $8,000
Tier 3 DraftKings Values
Sheldon Creed - $7,800
Corey Day - $7,700
Ryan Sieg - $7,500
Rajah Caruth - $7,200
Tier 4 DraftKings Values
Harrison Burton-$7,000
Nick Sanchez - $6,700
Chandler Smith - $6,500
Optimal DraftKings Lineup for The LiUNA!
Justin Allgaier - $11,200
Austin Hill - $8,500
Carson Kvapil - $8,300
Cole Custer - $8,000
Ryan Sieg - $7,500
Chandler Smith - $6,500
Much like the first three races of the season, there is a heavy favorite to win the race. Larson fills that role in Las Vegas, and his price reflects that status. That price, paired with a lack of quality punt options, makes the decision of whether to roster him the key factor in dictating the rest of the lineup build. Rostering Larson leaves an average of $7,000 to fill the remaining five roster spots. Paying down to Zilisch, the second-highest priced driver, brings that average remaining salary to $7,700.
The strength of the player pool arguably lies in the middle, which is why Larson isn't included in the optimal lineup. There are a number of strong options in Tiers 2 and 3, which is the primary focus of the example build. Kvapil and Caruth are both strong options based on their current form. Caruth has finished eighth or better in three of the first four races of the season, while Kvapil has had more of a boom-or-bust start to the season. That introduces risk, particularly because he has a poor history in Las Vegas.
There are also some values to consider based on track history. Smith is at the top of this list. He ran four races in the series between 2023 and 2024 and never finished worse than fourth. Smith will admittedly have a different, and inferior, team supporting him this time around (Hettinger Racing), but he still stands out at only $6,500. That's particularly true given the lack of interesting options in that price range and below. Sanchez has a shorter history at the track, but he is similar to Smith in that he has banked some good results at the track in the past but is now racing for a different team.
Sieg has had a tough start to the season but could start to see things turn around this weekend. He has an average finish of 10.5 in his last six races at Las Vegas and has finished inside the top 10 on four occasions.
Best Bets for The LiUNA!
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook as of 10:00 AM ET Saturday
Outright winner – Kyle Larson (+105), Chase Briscoe (+600), Justin Allgaier (+600)
Top-Five finish – Austin Hill (+330), Carson Kvapil (+350), Cole Custer (+330)
Larson is the runaway favorite to win the race (+105) and rightfully so, given both his skill advantage and history at the track in Las Vegas. He, along with the rest of the Cup Series drivers in the field, significantly narrows the number of realistic potential winners, but it's surprising to see such a significant gap between Larson and Briscoe and Allgaier. That could be an area for some value to be had.
Hill isn't the first name to come to mind at this track, but he won here as recently as 2023 and has since finished in the top five on two occasions. Cole Custer ranks seventh with 93 laps led in the last six races at Vegas despite participating in only four of them. He's another Cup driver participating this weekend, but he has the advantage of having a more favorable price tag in both DFS contests and at the sportsbook.
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