Marcos Ambrose, driver of the #47 Kingsford/Clorox/Little Debbie Toyota is currently 20th in NASCAR Sprint Cup Points. (Photo: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images)

3. Jeff Gordon Let’s see: Five Sonoma victories? Check. Hometown favorite from nearby Vallejo, Calif.? Check. Having a great season in his own right? Check. There’s no reason to think that Sunday won’t end up with Gordon in victory lane at Infineon again. Actually, the top three choices — Montoya, Stewart and Gordon — are about a dead heat in terms of being favored.

Gordon’s average finish of 9.313 in 16 Infineon starts is all the more impressive when you figure he finished 33rd once and 37th twice. Throw those three disasters out and his average in his other 13 Infineon starts is 3.23. He and his Hendrick Motorsports Chevy will figure in the outcome on Sunday.

4. Marcos Ambrose There are but two things to consider here: 1. Ambrose won a NASCAR Nationwide Series race on the Watkins Glen International road course last August, and the next day finished third in the Cup race. 2. At 20th in points, Ambrose is having a fine season driving the JTG-Daugherty Racing Toyota Camry.

Oh, wait, there’s also his history: As the two-time Australian V-8 Supercar Series champion, Ambrose has proven he can road race effectively in stock cars.

5. Kyle Busch This was by far the toughest pick of the bunch, because there are so many great options here, including Robby Gordon, Said, Fellows and Gilliland. But at the end of the day, Busch won both Sprint Cup road races last season, and that says to me he will be a factor this time around, too.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief 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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