A NASCAR insider picks a 23XI Racing driver as the favorite to win the 2025 Cup Series playoff race at Las Vegas

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The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season will then head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the seventh race of the season, South Point 400. Prior to the event, noted NASCAR insider journalist Bob Pockrass provided his predictions, picking the winner, top-five finisher, and long-shot winner of the 2025 South Point 400.

Pockras has selected 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick to pull into victory lane at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, October 12. Reddick has posted good records at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas track, earning one top-five and five top-10 finishes with an average finish of 16.4 in 11 starts. The No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota will start from eighth in the 38-driver field on Sunday.

Rounding out Pokras’s top five predictions are William Byron, first-place winner Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and Kyle Larson. He also picked up Chris Buescher as a long-range possibility. Chastain will start from eleventh position.

Pockras wrote on X:

“My pick for today’s Cup in Vegas: Tyler Reddick… Top 5: Reddick Byron Hamlin Bill Larson… Long Shot: Boucher”

Tyler Reddick has had a good season so far, scoring six top-five finishes and 12 top-10 finishes in 32 races in the 2025 season, and will be looking to pick up his first win of the season. He has an average of 14.7 and currently sits ninth in the championship points table. However, he is no longer in contention for the title after failing in the round of 12.

Meanwhile, William Byron and Denny Hamlin are also top favorites to win the South Point 400 in the odds table.


JGR Driver Kevin Harvick Picks Winning 2025 NASCAR South Point 400 in Las Vegas

2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion turned commentator, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kevin Harvick selected Christopher Bell As a favorite to win the first race of the quarter-finals on the 1.5-mile track.

On the latest episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour Podcast, when his co-host Caitlin Vincey asked him to give his predictions for this weekend’s Las Vegas qualifying race, Harvick picked the No. 20 Toyota driver and said (51:32):

“I’m going to beat Bill. These guys have speed, and even in places where you think someone else is going to win, they can protect themselves from being in a disastrous situation. They’re going to have speed.”

Watch the NASCAR Cup Series drivers and teams in action at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. ET. Fans can watch the 267-lap Cup Series race on NBC Sports.