- Pennzoil 400 Set to Feature Smallest NASCAR Field in Over Three Decades
The official entry list for the upcoming Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway has been released, showing only one change from last week’s Phoenix Raceway event—the removal of the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet.
With that car absent, no non-chartered (open) entries are included, leaving only the 36 chartered cars, all driven by full-time drivers, to compete in the 267-lap race at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas oval.
This marks the first time since the August 2024 race at Michigan International Speedway that only chartered cars will run, ending a 16-race streak of at least 37-car fields. In the Next Gen era (since 2022), there had never been more than five straight races with an open car until now.
Since NASCAR introduced the 36-charter system in 2016, races with only 36 cars have become more common, particularly in the Next Gen era. In 2016 and 2017, every race included at least one open entry. However, from 2018 onward, races without open cars have gradually increased, peaking at 23 in 2023.
Before 2018, no Cup Series race featured just 36 cars since the September 1996 event at Martinsville Speedway. The last race with fewer than 36 cars was in October 1993 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, where only 34 cars competed.
With 1,098 races since that 1993 event, Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 will become only the 72nd to feature just 36 cars, equaling the lowest entry count in 32 years.
