Defending Cup series champion Kyle Busch is at 9-2 for Sunday's race, while Kevin Harvick is 4-1, Martin Truex Jr. is 5-1, Brad Keselowski is 6-1 and Joey Logano is 13-2. Every one of those drivers won more than once last season, which makes them logical 2020 Pennzoil 400 picks. Before you make any NASCAR at Las Vegas predictions, be sure to see the 2020 Pennzoil 400 picks from SportsLine's proven projection model.
Developed by daily Fantasy pro and SportsLine predictive data engineer Mike McClure, this proprietary NASCAR prediction computer model simulates every race 10,000 times, taking into account factors such as track history and recent results.
The model began its season paying out big by picking Denny Hamlin to win his second consecutive Daytona 500 at 10-1. It also crushed its NASCAR picks last year, nailing eight of the top 10 drivers at the Pennzoil 400, which included putting winner Joey Logano in its projected top five. Then it hit nine of the top 10 drivers at the Go Bowling at The Glen and called Martin Truex Jr. winning the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma. Anybody who has followed it has seen huge returns.
Now, his model simulated Sunday's NASCAR at Las Vegas 2020 action 10,000 times. Head to SportsLine to see the complete projected leaderboard for Sunday's action.
Top 2020 Pennzoil 400 predictions
For NASCAR at Las Vegas 2020, the model is high on Jimmie Johnson, who is going off as a 30-1 long shot in the latest NASCAR odds. The seven-time Cup series champion may be on his season-long farewell tour, but one of the best drivers in stock car history isn't letting up. Johnson hasn't seen Victory Lane since 2017, when he won three times, but he won his most recent season points title in 2016.
An 83-time winner, Johnson won three straight times in Las Vegas - 2005, 2006 and 2007 - and also captured the 2010 Vegas race. Johnson finished 11th in the Vegas fall race last year as well. Don't let Johnson's 35th-place finish at the Daytona 500 fool you; he is a strong value bet for Sunday's 2020 Pennzoil 400.
And a massive shocker: Kevin Harvick, the Vegas favorite at 4-1, comes up short of a title. The 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion has 49 career wins on the top circuit, two of which have come at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
However, he's finished outside the top 10 in 11 of his 21 career starts in Las Vegas, including 38th-place finish in 2017 and a 39th-place finish after a crash in the fall race in 2018. Harvick ran well last season at Las Vegas with a fourth- and second-place finishes, but it is telling that he was unable to capture a victory in either race after leading at least 47 laps both times.
