Nascar This week Viva! Las Vegas

[cc11]

Some info on this weeks race, I am a huge Nascar fan so will maintain this info here weekly,

My picks to win the race, Biffle, Burton, Kurt Busch


Every track is unique in terms of banking, transition into the corners and age of the track surface, but Las Vegas Motor Speedway may be the most unique of all since it added progressive banking that gets steeper as a driver gets closer to the outside retaining wall.

The Favorites

Three drivers have earned four top-10s in their past five Vegas attempts and they are your favorites this week.

Jeff Gordon has two stats in his favor entering the Shelby American. Not only has he earned four top-10s in the past five years at Vegas, all of those results are sixth or better. The only time he failed to finish that well was in 2008, when he was swept into an accident only a handful of laps from the end. He's also one of the defending winners at this track with a victory in '01. The second reason to recommend him, however, is his overall record on cookie-cutter tracks; last year, his single victory came at Texas before he swept the top 15 on this track type. In fact, seven of his nine races on the cookie-cutters were top-10s.

Kyle Busch was a little hit-and-miss on all of the 1.5-mile tracks last year, but in 2008 he finished 11th or better in eight of nine events. While he's stumbled on other courses that rarely has been the case on his home track of Vegas where he won after sitting on the pole last year. In six total starts on this track, he's finished worse than 11th only once and that came as the result of a Lap 11 accident in his inaugural attempt in '04

The third favorite this week comes from Roush Fenway Racing. Ever since it won five of the first six events on this track with Mark Martin, Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth behind the wheel, this has been a good course for the organization. Recently, Greg Biffle has been its strongest runner with four top-10s and a worst result of only 16th in his past five Vegas attempts. He hasn't won on this track yet, but he came close in 2008 with a third behind his teammate Carl Edwards and Hendrick's Dale Earnhardt Jr. This could be his year.

Dark Horses

At first glance, it may seem strange to call Jimmie Johnson a dark horse. His victory last week at Auto Club Speedway proved that the team is still the one to beat on a weekly basis. Moreover, he earned three consecutive victories in Vegas from 2005 through '07. However, those are his only top-fives there and his past two efforts have been disappointing 20-something results. There will be plenty of opportunities to place him on your roster later in the year, so you may want to rest the No. 48 for a week. At the very least, make him a race-day decision based on how he runs in practice.

Burton is a modestly priced driver this week who could provide a lot of bang for his salary-cap buck. He finished second to then-teammate Martin in the inaugural race of 1998 and then won the next two events. After that, it took seven more years to get back into the top five, but he was never far away with six results ranging from sixth through 17th. His past two attempts on this track were a fifth in 2008 and a third last year, which couples with his strong run last week at Fontana to make him a driver to watch.

Underdogs

Carl Edwards is probably more than a little distracted these days since he and wife, Kate, are imminently expecting their first child. There really is no other way to explain his 13th-place finish at Auto Club Speedway -- a track on which he has been all but perfect. If the birth announcement comes early in the week, however, Edwards -- who won at Vegas in 2008 -- could be back in top form.

Last week's 500-mile affair was rough on engines and Kasey Kahne was not immune. This week, he only has to go 400 miles and that should make the difference. The driver of the No. 9 has been consistently inconsistent on this track, but if his pattern holds, he is due for another strong finish. His first effort in 2004 was rewarded with a second-place finish, followed by a 38th. In '06, he finished fourth, which was followed by a 35th. In '08, he nearly cracked the top five once more with a sixth and last year narrowly missed the top 10 in 11th. Another top-five seems to be in the cards.

Race No. 3: Shelby American from Las Vegas Motor Speedway

1 -- Drivers to win from the pole: Kyle Busch in last year's race. However, Busch actually started from the rear of the field after an engine change in practice. It's the only time Busch has won the pole and the race in the same Cup weekend.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Other Numbers


1 -- Drivers with an average finish at Vegas in the top 10: Jeff Burton (9.8). He has been has been running at the finish in all 12 of his races there and finished on the lead lap in the past eight races.

1 -- Teams which have had a car finish in the top 10 in every race at Las Vegas: Roush Fenway Racing. Roush drivers have led the most laps in seven of the 12 LVMS races.

1 -- Drivers to post a top-five finish in the past two races: Greg Biffle. He is one of only three drivers -- Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- to score a top-10 in the past two races.

3 -- Drivers with multiple victories at Las Vegas. Each of those driver's victories came in back-to-back races: Jeff Burton (1999 and 2000), Matt Kenseth (2003 and '04) and Jimmie Johnson (2005, '06 and '07).

4 -- Drivers who have competed in all 12 races at Las Vegas: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin. Labonte is the only one without a win; however, he's also one of four drivers -- Kyle Busch, Dale Jarrett and Kasey Kahne are the others -- with multiple poles at LVMS, each with two. Both Labonte and Busch have raced to their poles in Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 18 car.

5 -- Most top-fives at Las Vegas, shared by three drivers: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin. Gordon has three top-fives in the past five years and a sixth-place finish last year. Martin leads all drivers with nine top-10s.

5.7 -- Average starting position at Vegas for Kurt Busch, best of any driver with more than one start. He has never started outside the top 10. However, he has only two top-10s in his nine starts and hasn't finished better than 16th in the past four races. His average finish: 20.4.

6 -- Races won from a starting position of 17th or higher, not including pole winner Kyle Busch's charge from the rear of the field last year. However, three of four races before last year were won from the top 10, including two in the top three.

11 -- Drivers who broke the old track record in time trials during last year's qualifying. Kyle Busch set the track record at 185.995 mph (29.033 sec.), breaking the old record of 184.856 mph. (29.2212 sec.) set by Kasey Kahne in 2007.

11 -- Kyle Busch has finished 11th or better in five of his six career start at Vegas. He finished 41st in his first start in 2004, crashing out after 11 laps. It was the first career start for the then-18-year-old Busch.

11 -- Times the driver leading with 10 laps to go has won the race. However, the leader at the halfway point of the race has won three just times.

14 -- Cautions in last year's race, a track record, for a total of 66 laps. It was just the third time a race at Vegas has had 10 or more cautions, all in the past five years including the past two in a row.

17 -- Laps led by Jeff Gordon in last year's race, surpassing 20,000 career laps led. He is one of only seven drivers with 20,000 or more laps led. Richard Petty leads all drivers with more than 50,000.

438 -- Laps led by Matt Kenseth, most of any driver. Kenseth completed all but one lap in his first nine starts at Las Vegas, 2286 of 2287, but completed only six laps last year (engine).

[Movie Nut]

How can you enjoy watchin cars drive around in a circle for 3-4 hours?? Has to be one of the most boring things in the world other than Golf.

[Linza]

I agree, it is so boring to sit there and watch the race. Every once in a while it gets exciting when they tell you turn up your tv to hear the car engines...haha. I only enjoy the last 20 laps or so, those are the laps that matter.