Drivers to watch for this weekend's Sam's Town 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

Mike Bliss
Rebounded from a poor showing in Daytona with a sixth-place finish in Monday's Rockingham 200 at North Carolina Speedway; was the Craftsman Truck series champion last year; won five races, four poles, had 13 top-fives and 17 top-10 finishes; hired to drive the No. 20 Rockwell Automation JGR Chevrolet for the 2003 Busch series season.

Todd Bodine
Moved up from sixth to second in the series standings with a third place finish in the Rockingham 200; has 315 points after two events and is the highest positioned driver in the standings of the Busch series regulars to this point; winner of this race in Las Vegas in 2001.

David Green
Could not fend off Jamie McMurray at the start of the Rockingham 200 after starting from the pole and settled for second place and a $38,000 runner-up purse; started in just 12 Busch series races last year, including the last six of the season when he posted a fourth place, two fifths and a ninth to finish strong.

Kerry Earnhardt
Led the Rockingham 200 briefly on Monday while pitting out of sequence late in the race, but failed to hold onto the position and finished 15th; not a factor in the Sam's Town 200 last year, finishing 19th as a rookie; placed 22nd in the standings in his first full season in the Busch series and looks to continue the momentum the team built last year; possibly on the verge of a win or top-five finish.

Jason Keller
The Busch series veteran ran well down the stretch at Rockingham and finished fifth; finished second in the final points standings in his ninth season on the circuit; won four times, the same number as champion Greg Biffle, collected 17 top-fives and 22 top-10 finishes in 34 starts; finished each of the past three seasons in the top three in points; has shown much improvement over the last two years and is among the favorites for the title in 2003; attended Clemson University and also works for his family's chemical business; was 1990 All-Pro Series Rookie of the Year and finished third and fourth in the series in 1990 and 1991.

Randy LaJoie
Two-time Busch series champion, finished seventh in this race last year; that was one of 14 top-10s; was running at the end of all but one Busch series race in 2002; only DNF came at Darlington in the spring when an accident took him out with 19 laps to go; also was 1985 Busch North Series champion with 14 wins in that series.

Mike McLaughlin
Despite going without a win in the 2002 Busch series season, the New York native managed to finish fourth in the series standings in what turned out to be his final season for Joe Gibbs Racing; scored 17 top-10 finishes, including runners-up at Bristol in March and Dover in September; driving for new team Angela's Motorsports this year; finished 12th in this race in 2002.

Scott Riggs
The Busch series Rookie of the Year finished just 16th at Rockingham after starting third; looking to improve results at Las Vegas; finished 10th in the series points standings last year, with wins at Nashville and California among 13 top-10 results; struggled over the final six races last year, posting three finishes of 35th or worse.

Johnny Sauter
Consistent start this season with a pair of ninth-place finishes at Daytona and Rockingham in Monday's race; 276 points accumulated puts him sixth in the series standings; also did very well in Las Vegas as a rookie last year coming home in third place; the youngest racing son of Wisconsin racing legend Jim Sauter was runner-up to Scott Riggs in the Rookie of the Year race; recorded six top-10 finishes in 33 starts; jumped to the Busch series following a championship season in the American Speed Association ACDelco Challenge Series, where he won 10 races.

Scott Wimmer
Missed a top 10 finish for the second straight race; was 12th at Daytona in the season opening event and 11th at Rockingham; was challenging for the win, but had to pit after a rear tire went flat during the final caution period; won four races in the season's final eight events and finished third in the standings with 17 top-10 results; broke through for first career win at Dover in September and went on to win three more times, including back-to-back checkered flags at Phoenix and Homestead to close the year; was 13th in this race in 2002.