First, the best news of the week: Ryan Newman left the Halifax Medical Center Wednesday afternoon hand in hand with his two daughters.
Newman was involved in the horrific crash on the final lap of Monday’s Daytona 500 and had to be airlifted from the track to the hospital. Tuesday it was announced that his condition was serious, but not life threatening. By Wednesday morning he was joking with the medical staff and he was home later that day.
It has not been determined if, or when, Newman will return to the track. Ross Chastain will replace him in the #6 Ford Sunday in Las Vegas for the Pennzoil 400.
Chastain took to Twitter Wednesday with this post:
Sunday’s Odds: Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick have been listed as the early co-favorites for Las Vegas. Both drivers open at odds of 9-2. Busch finished third last year and second in 2018. Harvick finished fourth last year and won he 2018 race.
New Jersey native Martin Truex Jr. is the early third choice at odds of 5-1. Truex won the race in 2017. Three-time winner Brad Keselowski is listed at 6-1, while last year’s winner Joey Logano has odds of 7-1.
Denny Hamlin, winner of last week’s Daytona 500, opened at odds of 10-1.
This Week’s Schedule: Friday’s first practice will be at 4:05 p.m. (EST). The final practice will be at 7:30 p.m. And both can be seen live on Fox Sports 1. Saturday’s qualifying will be a 2:35 p.m. and can also be seen live on FS1.
Sunday’s race is at 3:30 and will be televised on Fox.
Vegas Notes: — Truex has won 12 races on 1.5-mile tracks since 2016, almost twice as many as the next closest driver. …The Stage 2 winner at Las Vegas has won all five races in the stage-racing era. …Four drivers have won 24 of the 33 races on 1.5 mile tracks since 2017: Truex (10), Harvick (six); Kyle Busch and Keselowski.