“Let’s rev up those engines and make this race unforgettable.” Guess who uttered these words ahead of the Pennzoil 400 race? None other than the legendary Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman! Yes, the star of movies like Shawshank Redemption, Unforgiven, and Seven was here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But do you know which character came to mind? That would be ‘God’ from Bruce Almighty!

But wait! Do you think this was all that went down in Sin City over the weekend? Absolutely not! From quirky interviews about a special band to exemplary team dynamics on the track, drivers and fans were treated to a whole lot of fun.

Special moments before the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Before Cup Series drivers could kick off their action on the 1.5-mile oval racetrack, they went through a slew of entertainment. First of all, of course, was Morgan Freeman’s jaw-dropping entry at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He told the press that he has raced before “for my 60th birthday” at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Now that he is back in NASCAR, Freeman was the Grand Marshal for the event.

‘God’ picked out his favorite devotee as well – Bubba Wallace! Freeman donned a cap displaying the bold red colors of 23 and had a good talk with the 23XI Racing driver. Wallace and Freeman spoke about the latter’s days in the Air Force. Then Wallace proudly posted on Instagram: “Apparently God is a 23 fan.”

Along with this divine presence, we also witnessed the legendary Backstreet Boys. Legendary NASCAR veteran Michael Waltrip was reporting for FOX and did a fun jam session with the band and John Hunter Nemechek on pit road. That prompted Nemecheck’s team owner, another NASCAR legend and seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, to write: “This is the content I’m here for.”

Then Michael Waltrip headed to the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing pit stall. Shane van Gisbergen was there, and initially Waltrip mispronounced his name: “Shawn”. He asked the Kiwi racer if he was a fan of Backstreet Boys. Then SVG gave a hilarious response: “I have no idea who you just mentioned.” This sent a fan rolling on the floor as he wrote: “michael waltrip’s interview of SVG needs to be in the nascar hall of fame oh my god.”

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Another superstar in the midst of this was Chelsea Cardona, a Canadian professional wrestler, more popularly known as Chelsea Green! NASCAR posted a picture of the WWE star, writing: “The Champ is in the house.” She performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Chelsea Green. She is the reigning and inaugural WWE Women’s United States Champion in her first reign and is a former one-time WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion.

Lastly, the US Air Force put on a dazzling show among the clouds at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. For the first time since 2022, Thunderbirds delivered a spectacular flyover to kick off the Pennzoil 400. They also served as this year’s Grand Marshals for the Ecosave 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.

Now that was all for what happened before the race began. Now let us dive into the unique events during the Pennzoil 400.

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Special moments during the Las Vegas action

Well, after Morgan Freeman gave the call, the Cup Series drivers fired up their engines with the utmost zeal. Michael McDowell, Joey Logano, and a slew of Ford drivers were in the top ten. But only one would prevail over them at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Before that resilient driver could do so, several interesting things happened during the race.

For instance, Shane van Gisbergen brought out the third caution of the race. He spun and ended up with a blown right front tire on his No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. Right at that moment, PRN Live host Nick Yeoman had flipped out his phone – and could record the crash as it was right in front of him. He wrote, “So…I figured I’d pull out the phone and shoot a quick clip for the ole “social medias” while we were in a commercial break on @PRNLive and SVG brings out a yellow. 😳😳😳”

Then, a few laps after SVG’s debacle, an interesting thing happened on the Joe Gibbs Racing section of the pit road. No. 20 Toyota driver and three-peat winner Christopher Bell stopped at the wrong stall. However, this move was an intentional one, believe it or not. So, earlier in the race, his teammate Chase Briscoe was given a massive penalty for a loose tire on the track. When Bell went to pit, as he left pit road, the crew realized his front left was loose! In a moment of impromptu brilliance, Bell pitted once again at Briscoe’s stall and fixed the tire. While this was a sure shot penalty, it was much more lenient than what he would have received had his tire fallen off the car.

Then, early in the third stage of the race, Cody Ware encountered a crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford spun out and emitted plumes of smoke. During the caution period thereafter, Carson Hocevar bizarrely bumped into Ty Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota, which pitted the wrong way at his pit stall. These marked just a few of the slew of dustups in the race – it saw nine cautions for 53 laps!

So that was all for the dazzling events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Eventually, Josh Berry emerged as the winner, giving Ford their first win of the season. Who would have thought that out of all the Fords- like 3x Cup Champion Joey Logano, 2023 Cup Champion Ryan Blaney, and 2020 Xfinity Champion Austin Cindric- it would be sophomore Josh Berry to get them up and running in 2025!

As we head into the next week, we have a heavy bag of memories to look back upon! What was your favorite moment from the race? Let us know in the comments!