Las Vegas Pennzoil 400 Live Updates: Joey Logano takes checkered flag

After a crash-heavy Daytona 500, drivers return to the track for their first of three races out west and their second race of the season with Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Coverage begins on FOX at 3:30 p.m. EST.

The Charlotte Observer has you covered here with updates from our NASCAR reporter, Alex Andrejev.

Updates will be posted regularly on this page, with the most recent up top (refresh this page for the latest). You can also follow Alex on Twitter, @AndrejevAlex.

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PRE-RACE READING

• We like one of these 2 NASCAR drivers to win the Las Vegas Pennzoil 400
• DiBenedetto thought he was done with NASCAR. Then he got the opportunity of a lifetime.
• NASCAR driver Ryan Newman has been released from the hospital after Daytona 500 crash
• Ryan Newman somehow survived Daytona 500 crash. For that, we should all be thankful.
• NASCAR enters Daytona 500 as a sport without a face. Can Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott be it?

PENNZOIL 400 LIVE UPDATES

Stage 3 (Laps 161-267)

6:47 p.m., Lap 266: Caution on final lap ends race. Joey Logano wins the race, followed by DiBenedetto, Stenhouse, Dillon and Johnson.

6:40 p.m., Lap 261: Caution with 6 laps to go. 23 drivers on the lead lap. Blaney, Bowman, Logano top 3.

6:38 p.m., Lap 257: Bowman in the top 3, battling for second with Logano. Blaney up front.

6:36 p.m., Lap 252: 15 laps to go: Logano, Blaney, Harvick. Blaney looks strong.

6:32 p.m., Lap 245: Jimmie Johnson moves into 10th place.

6:26 p.m., Lap 233: Logano in the lead, followed by Harvick, Blaney and Stenhouse. Truex, who finished second in the first and second stages, is down to 15th.

6:21 p.m., Lap 225: 25 cars on the lead lap at the restart. The top two (Stenhouse and Nemechek) have fresh tires.

6:15 p.m., Lap 221: Caution with 46 laps to go. Stenhouse still in the lead.

6:12 p.m., Lap 215: Those three drivers pit and Stenhouse, Preece and Truex Jr. move into the top 3. Blaney comes out in 5th, Elliott 6th and Logano 7th.

6:09 p.m., Lap 210: Elliott, Blaney and Logano hold the top three spots. But each might need to pit again before the end of the race.

6:04 p.m., Lap 202: Blaney moves to the lead, but Elliott quickly surpasses him for first place. Elliott was running in fourth place. Hendrick Motorsports drivers are in P1 (Elliott), P5 (Johnson), P7 (Bowman) and P8 (Byron).

5:58 p.m., Lap 190: Harvick, Blaney and Logano lead while Timmy Hill makes his way to the garage. Harvick is running fastest at 175.64 mph.

5:55 p.m., Lap 185: After the caution, order starts Logano, Blaney, Harvick, Johnson, Elliott, Bowman. But Blaney moves into first, then is passed by Harvick, who settles into the lead. Kyle Busch pushes to seventh place.

5:49 p.m., Lap 182: Truex hits the wall and the caution is out. “Tired of the f—king blocking on the straightaways,” said Truex as he finally gets his car on pit road.

5:38 p.m., Lap 167: Field running five-wide and Nemechek (No. 38) slides down to the apron. The fifth caution of the race is out.

Stage 2 (Laps 81-160)

5:28 p.m., Lap 160 END OF STAGE 2: Elliott wins the second stage. This is his third stage win of the four he has completed this season. He is followed by Blaney, Truex, Byron, Logano, Harvick, Johnson, Larson, Bowman, and Kyle Busch.

5:26 p.m., Lap 158: Caution is out for Christopher Bell, who has damage on the right side of his No. 95 Toyota. “Yeah, I killed it,” said Bell. “Sorry.”

5:23 p.m., Lap 156: Hamlin, running in 24th, nearly gets lapped by Elliott, but is able to hold him off from passing late in stage two.

5:15 p.m., Lap 142: Strategy change put Ricky Stenhouse Jr., John Hunter Nemecheck and Truex in the top three. Chase Elliott then passes Truex on the inside to move into third.

5:00 p.m., Lap 108: Elliott runs up from third again, pass Truex and Harvick for first place. He has led 24 of 107 laps.

4:54 p.m., Lap 97: Johnson passed his Hendrick teammates Byron and Bowman earlier. He now settles into sixth place.

4:45, Lap 90: Byron loses spots again on the pit stop. He temporarily falls to ninth after the restart, then regains his place battling Blaney for sixth. Harvick shakes out to be the leader. He is followed by Elliott, Truex, Logano, and Johnson.

Stage 1 (Laps 1-80)

4:38 p.m., Lap 80 END OF STAGE ONE: Elliott, Truex, Harvick, Blaney, Logano, Byron, Larson, Bowman, Johnson, and Chastain. Elliott won Stage 1 at the Daytona 500.

4:37 p.m., Lap 77: Elliott up to first. Jimmie Johnson pushes to ninth place from 11th in attempt to gain stage points.

4:26 p.m., Lap 60: Chase Elliott passes Martin Truex Jr. for second place.

4:25 p.m., Lap 55: Byron passes Aric Almirola for P9. Hendrick cars now running P3-P8-P9-P13 (Elliott, Bowman, Byron, Johnson).

4:21 p.m., Lap 51: Harvick still out front ahead of Truex. Team Penske drivers Blaney, Logano and Keselowski have also found a rhythm running P4-P6, respectively.

4:10 p.m., Lap 31: Byron was seventh entering pit road and is running 12th after the stop. “I think I just wore the front tires off to start the run,” said William Byron before the caution.

4:05 p.m., Lap 25: Byron challenged Truex Jr. for P3, but slid back to P7. Elliott jumped up to P4, while Truex pushed past Logano for P2 just before the competition caution. Running order is now Harvick, Truex, Logano, Elliott, Blaney.

3:54 p.m., Lap 4: Green flag given for the restart. The order was Harvick, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex, Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch. Logano quickly jumps to the front.

3:48 p.m.: Green flag is waived and Kevin Harvick gets out to an early start, but a caution is immediately given when Daniel Suarez’s car stalls. Suarez rolls to the pit stall and his team tries to address the issue.

Pre-race

3:44 p.m.: Cars are rolling off pit road.

3:40 p.m.: National Anthem is sung and engines are fired. The 1980 U.S.A. Olympic Hockey team gave the call. Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell (all inspection infractions), Garrett Smithley (multiple inspection failures) and Brennan Poole (engine change) will move to the back at the start.

3:27 p.m.: The track is dry for today’s race and the forecast is free of rain, according to the National Weather Service. Yesterday, however, rain delayed the Xfinity race until after the end of the Cup Series race this evening. The Xfinity Series will be broadcast on FS2.

3:02 p.m.: Kyle Busch will be on the pole in a field of 38 racers. Here’s the starting order:

This story was originally published February 23, 2020 at 3:03 PM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription