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| | Friday, March 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ESPN.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On the Track
Las Vegas. It's the only stop on the Winston Cup schedule where even the winner can leave town a loser. Then again, some of Sunday's biggest losers on the track could wind up ahead of the game if the tables are kind this weekend. Jack Roush knows all about winning in Las Vegas. His drivers have captured the first two Winston Cup races held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Mark Martin won the inaugural race in 1998, while Jeff Burton beat older brother Ward to the line to win last year's race. This season, the scenario seems to favor Roush once again. Not only have Martin and Burton been strong in the first two races, but their teams just seem to have the right set ups in "Sin City." Oh, then there is that whole Ford Taurus having an edge argument. But it's the Pontiacs of Joe Gibbs Racing that should be the betting favorite come race day. Why? Just look at the track. It's very flat. Perfect for the Pontiacs. The 1.5-mile oval has just 12-degrees of banking in the turns -- even less than last weekend in Rockingham, where Bobby Labonte ran away from everyone not named Earnhardt to win the Dura Lube/Kmart 400. His teammate Tony Stewart was fourth -- in the last car on the lead lap. Labonte swept Pocono races last year (a flat track) and was fifth in Vegas a year ago. Stewart may have crapped out, finishing 34th, but returns as hardly the same "rookie" that was driving in just his third Cup race. Another Pontiac to watch is the one driven by Ward Burton, who finished second to his brother last year. It was the first of his three runner-up finishes to Jeff in 1999. The manufacturers saga also continues this week after NASCAR officials took another day this week to confiscate a few cars and test each body style in the wind tunnel. Is there an advantage, or disadvantage, between makes? The jury is still out. A Chevy in Victory Lane on Sunday would go a long way toward quieting that discussion. Dale Earnhardt nearly put the No. 3 across the Rock's finish line first last week. But the scoreboard reads: Ford: 1Pontiac: 1 Chevy: 0 You can get pretty good odds on the strip against the Monte Carlo. Oh, but what better place for a longshot to come up a winner than Vegas? 10 Drivers to Watch Bobby Labonte: Las Vegas could be the place Labonte finally passes Dale Jarrett in the points standings. Labonte has been chasing D.J. since May 15 and enters Sunday just five points behind the defending champion. Labonte's win last week extended his streak of finishing in the top eight to 12 races. Won the pole in Vegas last year and finished fifth. Mark Martin: Martin has finished in the top 10 in both races this season. Won the inaugural Vegas event in 1998. After two races, Martin has led 91 laps. Bobby Labonte leads with 134 laps led. Jeff Burton: Defending champion is coming off a disappointing run at the Rock, where engine trouble relegated him to 32nd after running with the leaders for much of the afternoon. Ran second to Jarrett in Daytona 500. Ward Burton: If you're going to mention Jeff, you have to mention Ward. Was disappointed to come up short against his brother last year, but it was something he became accustomed to by year's end. Ward finished second three times to Jeff in 1999. Has enjoyed an excellent start to 2000 with an eighth-place finish in the Daytona 500 and third last week. Dale Earnhardt: Almost proved even himself wrong last week by running second to Labonte. Finished in the top 10 in both Las Vegas events so far. His No. 3 looks like the strongest Chevy after two races this season. Dale Jarrett: We've seen this routine before, haven't we? Jarrett backed up his Daytona win by finishing fifth in Rockingham. No let down for the 1999 Winston Cup champion. Vegas has been a good track for DJ, who sat on the pole in '98 and finished 11th last season. Tony Stewart: Stewart, like his teammate, has the set up for the flat track of Vegas. Scrambled for a top-five finish at the Rock last week after falling off the lead lap. Has experienced career highs and lows at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He won his IRL championship on the 1.5-mile oval back in 1997. Was 36th here as a rookie last year. Jeff Gordon: Not a promising start this season with a 34th at Daytona, although Gordon made a strong effort at Rockingham with a 10th. Those two races equal 22nd in the standings. Finished third to the Burton brothers in this race last year. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Why include "Little E" this week? Well he may be 15th in the Winston Cup points standings, but Vegas was a great track for him during his Busch days. His first top-three finish came in 1998 when he finished second here. The two-time Busch series champion averaged starts of 10.5 and finishes of fourth in two races. Johnny Benson: OK, so maybe it's a sentimental choice. But we're not going to forget Benson yet. And besides, his Pontiac looked so cool in that new black paint. Was 38th in Vegas last year. Call him our longshot of the week. Ron Buck is ESPN.com's auto racing editor. | ALSO SEE This week on the track Weber: Luck always helps, especially in Vegas Franchising a bad idea for NASCAR Furr: Putting the excitement back in NASCAR  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
