Week 3 -- Las Vegas
Following a bye week, the Cup teams return to action Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That should be good news for Roush Racing fans, as their teams basically have owned this place the past couple of years. Matt Kenseth looks to make it three in a row on this track. Is there any reason to suspect he won't?...
GLENN'S TEN:
* Kurt Busch (winner) -- KB has been the runner-up in the first two races this season. The defending champion will finally make it to Victory Lane at his home track.
THE REST OF THE TOP 10 (in no particular order):
* Matt Kenseth -- Can't count him out here. He had the fastest time in final practice, and starts an un-Kenseth-like 8th. But it's hard to win three in a row anywhere.
* Mark Martin -- Winner of Saturday's Busch race. Gotta believe he's riding the crest of a retirement wave.
* Greg Biffle -- (Are Roush fans sensing a trend here?) Coming off a dominant win at California. He seems to suddenly be living up to the unrealized potential of his initial Cup season.
* Carl Edwards -- Could Roush make it 5-for-5 in this race? Quite possibly. Carl starts 20th and went for a wild ride in Saturday's race, but I still believe in this kid, and he's got a great franchise behind him.
* Jimmie Johnson -- Another top 5? Maybe, if he can avoid spinning through the grass this year.
* Jeff Gordon -- This used to be a great track for Super G. He's 11th on the grid, which gives him room to improve gradually over the course of 400 miles.
* Kasey Kahne -- I feel like I'm taking my chances here, but he did chase Kenseth across the line a year ago.
* Kevin Harvick -- Trouble just seems to find this guy. He qualified 4th, but then was relegated to the end of the starting grid because his fuel tank wasn't full for his qualifying run -- a gNA$hCAR no-no. To make matters worse, it was determined the tank had been tampered with to make it appear full. I hope the hanky-panky police penalize this team big time. That aside, don't count Harvick out. He'll march into the top 10 if he doesn't get wrecked along the way by the likes of Hermie Sadler or Eric McClure.
* Jamie McMurray -- One of the Gnassi drivers has to make the cut, but it could be Sterling Marlin. I'm going with Jamie all the same.
MISSING IN ACTION: Ryan Newman (Starting on the pole is usually a curse)... Tony Stewart (What's with starting 23rd? Another mediocre day in the making?)... Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Can't wait to leave the West Coast behind)... Michael Waltrip (See comments for Jr.)
