Kobalt Tools 400
Who Will Win?
Harvick
Kevin Harvick: We're going to begin to find out who the Chase players are in Las Vegas – the first 1.5-mile track of the season. Las Vegas has been an up-and-down track for Harvick – he has as many top 5s there as he does sub-20th-place finishes. Just two races in, we're still throwing darts. Mine lands on The Closer. – Jay Hart
Greg Biffle: The Biff has already predicted a win on Twitter and was arguably the fastest car at Las Vegas last year until his run was derailed by a fueling problem. There was much talk about the Ford engine prowess at Daytona, and intermediate tracks like Las Vegas are a perfect opportunity to back up claims about Roush's engine superiority. Biffle's off to a great start with third-place finishes in each of the first two races, and he'll get to victory lane at Las Vegas. – Nick Bromberg
Kyle Busch: Rowdy started out the preseason strong, but the first two races of the regular season have been less than spectacular. Still, he hasn't done anything to torpedo his standing or his reputation, so that's good news. And he's on home turf in Vegas, so expect a good weekend out of him. – Jay Busbee
Three things to watch for at Las Vegas
Busch
1. Engine trouble: There's growing concern within the Cup garage that the new Electronic Fuel Injection systems may be creating engines issues. Several drivers had circuit-breaker issues at Phoenix, and while not everyone experienced trouble, many are worried, especially with Sunday's race being the first long, nonrestricted event.
2. Saving fuel: There's always potential for a fuel-mileage race at a 1.5-mile track. In the past, that's benefited the likes of Tony Stewart, who was able to save gas better than anyone. But fuel injection has thrown a wrench into that scenario, as we saw at Phoenix when Stewart stalled his car trying to save fuel. If it comes down to gas mileage at Las Vegas, who will figure out the new way to preserve gas?
3. Kurt Busch's radio: Is Busch still having fun after 39th- and 15th-place finishes in the season's first two races? Will he be fine with running in the middle of the pack at Las Vegas? Tuning into driver No. 51 will be must-listen radio on Sunday.
Top storyline
Truex Jr.
• Fuel injection. I don't understand it, and while the teams do, they're having a difficult time figuring out exactly how the new system will react under race conditions. Essentially what that means is each race is a test session, and that's leaving a lot of drivers, crew chiefs and team owners crossing their fingers in the hope that nothing will go wrong. – Jay Hart
• Vegas will be a great barometer for the Earnhardt-Ganassi duo of Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya, who both are outside the top 20 through two races thanks to Montoya's spectacular mechanical fireball of failure at Daytona and McMurray's crash and blown engine at Phoenix. Neither had a top 10 at a 1.5-mile track in 2011 and weren't much better inside the intermediate spectrum. McMurray's best finish was seventh at Darlington, and Montoya's top finish was 10th at California. – Nick Bromberg
• You've got several guys playing way above their pay grade right now: Martin Truex Jr., Bobby Labonte and Joey Logano. Daytona's a crapshoot and anybody can have one good race, so now's where we start to learn how legit these guys are. And considering all three are, we presume, at the end of their current contracts, this is a good time to start building up credibility for a new deal. – Jay Busbee
From The Source
Jeff Gordon: "I don't think the participants should be [betting on races], but if the fans want to bet on it then I think they should. It's part of pulling for your favorite driver or pulling against another guy. It's all about the experience of being in Las Vegas."
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