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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Five To Watch - Vegas
The NASCAR boys are in Sin City this weekend, with Matt Kenseth looking to become the first Cup driver ever to win the opening three races of a season...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted February 27, 2009   Las Vegas, NV
Kurt Busch is enjoying a strong season for Penske Racing. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Time to find out if Lady Luck will smile on Matt Kenseth for a third consecutive weekend, and in the process, make history.

The NASCAR boys are in Sin City this weekend, with Kenseth looking to become the first Cup driver ever to win the opening three races of a season. Kenseth will be one of the pre-race favorites, but he’ll have his hands full, as there are a number of strong competitors.

Sunday’s Shelby 427 is race No. 3 of 36 on the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule, and it will be contested at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a fast 1.5-mile quad oval track. LVMS was configured prior to the 2007 race and now has 20 degrees of banking in the corners, making it considerably faster than it used to be.

As always at intermediate tracks, passing is an issue, which makes track position of paramount importance. That, in turn, places a premium on both qualifying and efficiency in the pits. One other factor to consider: Even though the asphalt surface at LVMS is less than three years old, drivers who participated in off-season tire testing said the track is wearing in nicely and actually has quite a few bumps in it. That should make for improved racing on Sunday

Here are the five favorites for this Sunday’s Shelby 427:

1. MATT KENSETH — The 2003 Cup champion and his crew have been energized by the leadership of new crew chief Drew Blickensderfer, who has led the charge to get the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion back into victory lane twice in two races so far.

While the odds of a third consecutive Kenseth victory may seem remote — after all, no one’s done it so far — Kenseth has the track record at Vegas to make him the legitimate favorite. He has led more laps (438) here than anyone else, has the best finishing average (9.000) and has won here twice already. Yes, he was lucky in Daytona, but Kenseth was rock solid at Auto Club Speedway last week and will be again in Vegas.

2. KYLE BUSCH — The Shrub would like nothing better than to win on his home track, and he has an excellent chance of doing just that. He had the fastest car in the Daytona 500 two weeks ago and finished a strong third in California in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry.

Busch has come close here before. In last year’s race, he led 56 laps before fading to 11th place and has finishes of second and third in prior LVMS races. The only concern is that Busch was faster last week than his car was — he took what should have been a 10th-place car and drove the wheels off it to finish third. He needs to hope that this week, his crew has a setup to equal the Roush and Hendrick boys.

3. GREG BIFFLE — Biffle’s Roush Fenway Racing Ford was actually faster than Kenseth’s last weekend in California, but the Biff made a critical pit-road blunder on his final stop, running over his air house. Still, he raced his way back to fourth and clearly was hooked up. He’ll have something to prove this weekend, for sure.

At LVMS, Biffle has finished eighth or better three times in the last four races, including a third last year. He might just be the guy to knock his teammate out of victory lane.

4. JIMMIE JOHNSON — Yes, Johnson’s gotten off to an uncharacteristically slow start in 2009. But he’s a driver who people have underestimated time and again, only to have him prove the doubters wrong. Another victory at Las Vegas would be no surprise whatsoever.

Last year, Johnson was awful here, finishing 29th. He won the three prior Vegas races, though, and after fading to ninth last week in California, Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus will have the team pumped for another return to victory lane.

5. KURT BUSCH — Like his little brother, Kurt Busch would love to win on his home turf for the first time. Unlike his little brother, Kurt hasn’t had a whole lot of success at LVMS, finishing 38th, 26th and 16th in his last three races here.

That said, after two disappointing seasons, Busch’s Penske Championship Racing squad seems to have finally figured out how to get the new-generation car to go fast at intermediate tracks. The elder Busch could be on the verge of a breakout season.

Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

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