NASCAR Cup Series: Bryce Harper named Grand Marshal for Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Philadelphia Phillies hitter and outfielder Bryce Harper has been selected as the Grand Marshal for this weekend's NASCAR Cup Series race in Sin City. The Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will see the Major League Baseball veteran command the drivers to start their engines on Sunday in his hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada.

The two-time National League Most Valuable Player elaborated on how he felt about being honored as the Grand Marshal for the 26th official NASCAR event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and how he has been a fan of the sport from afar, but not for long. He said:

“I’ve been a fan of NASCAR for quite some time now, so being asked to give the command, especially at my hometown track, just checks off another box on my to-do list as a fan. I’m looking forward to being a part of this awesome event.”

Bryce Harper has big shoes to fill come race day this Sunday, as Grand Marshal duties at the 1.5-mile-long track have previously seen luminaries such as Mark Wahlberg, Carroll Shelby, Tim Allen, Marcus Allen, Cole Hauser, Derek Carr and Kim Kardashian give the honorary command to the drivers before racing commences on the track.

With the DraftKings.com driver odds table favoring last week's winner at the Auto Club Speedway in the form of Kyle Busch, closely followed by Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson, the 400-mile-long race might turn out to be one of the more exciting events this year.

Usual frontrunners such as Ross Chastain and Denny Hamlin also have a decent probability of winning this weekend, given they don't come together on the track as seen previously!

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New NASCAR rules look to improve the quality of short-track and road-course racing this season

The governing body has come out with confirmation about a new set of rules to be followed by NASCAR Cup Series teams this season onwards whenever the sport is to visit road-courses and oval tracks shorter than 1.058 miles.

The change comes in the form of a new car aerodynamic package that looks to improve the quality of racing on aero-dependent tracks such as short ovals as well as road courses with the removal of three diffuser strakes as well as a smaller two-inch spoiler for the cars.

These changes are predicted to decrease the downforce levels on cars by up to 30%, with a significant reduction in dirty air for the following cars as well. All these changes are in-turn expected to promote closer, more exciting action on the track.