Check out a short list of favorites for Saturday's Sam's Town 250 at Memphis Motorsports Park:

David Green: A sixth-place finish at Lowe's Motor Speedway last Saturday improved his cushion to 36 points over Brian Vickers in the championship standings with five races to go; topped the $1 million mark for the season; finished ninth here last year; the 1994 series champion won three races this year and eight in his career; one of three regular series drivers with 11 top five finishes; his triumph on April 12 at Nashville was first win since 1996; started from the pole twice this year.

Bobby Hamilton Jr.: Finished seventh at Lowe's last week for his 17th top-10 of the year, just one behind David Green and Brian Vickers; scored impressive victories at Chicagoland and Kentucky Speedway this year; also captured the pole at Pikes Peak; in Chicago, led all but 14 of 200 laps to win a lopsided race by more than four seconds over Winston Cup regular Matt Kenseth; sixth in the points standings.

Ron Hornaday: Two-time Truck series champion remained in contention for the championship even though he finished 12th at Lowe's; 76 points behind Green in fourth place; recorded 15 top-10 finishes this season; led 148 of 200 laps to win at Nazareth Speedway in Pennsylvania this year; another fine run was at Pikes Peak, where he led three different times for the most laps (80) before finishing seventh; finished among the first five in six races; was seventh in this race last year.

Kasey Kahne: Solid run of eighth at Lowe's was 12th top-10 effort of the year; winless in second year on Busch Series, but won pole at Michigan Speedway in August; one of two drivers in top 10 standings without a victory, joining Stacy Compton; seventh in points; won 2000 USAC Midget championship and was named Driver of the Year.

Jason Keller: One of five drivers competing for the Busch Series title with five races remaining; 10th-place finish at Lowe's was third straight top-10 result; is 80 points out of first place; victory this year came at The Milwaukee Mile to give him 10 in career; started from the pole twice and posted 16 top-10s; one of five drivers with over 300 Busch Series starts, joining Tommy Houston, Elton Sawyer, Randy LaJoie and Dale Jarrett; tops the all-time money list with over $7 million; finished in the top three in the standings in each of the past three seasons.

Randy LaJoie: After not competing in the past 12 races, the two-time Busch Series champion reached an agreement with Innovative Motorsports, Inc. (IMI) to drive the No. 48 Chevrolet Monte Carlo this week; finished fourth in 2000 at Memphis and won the event in 2001; qualified third here last year before being knocked out in a crash. "This is a great opportunity for me," LaJoie said. "Memphis is one of my favorite tracks, and I plan on going there and hauling the mail." In 17 starts this year, LaJoie has won two poles and his best finishes have come at Rockingham and Nashville, where he was fourth.

Scott Riggs: Lost a position to third place after finishing 13th at Lowe's last Saturday; 47 points behind leader David Green and 11 less than second-place Brian Vickers; scored 11 top-five finishes; two victories this year came at Gateway and Nashville, giving him four career titles.

Johnny Sauter: Finished no better than 21st in last three races and has fallen to ninth in the standings; winner of the Richmond race this year in controversial fashion as he bumped Winston Cup points leader Matt Kenseth into the wall on the final lap; four other top-five finishes came in Bristol, Nashville, Daytona and Pikes Peak; drives the No. 21 Chevrolet owned by Richard Childress.

Brian Vickers: The 19-year-old moved from third to second in the standings, 36 points behind leader David Green; finished fourth in the Little Trees 300 at Lowe's for his 11th result in the top five; also tied with Green for most top 10s with 18 each; won races at Indianapolis, Darlington and Dover; also was runner-up at Nazareth and Milwaukee; World Karting Association national champion from 1994-97.

Scott Wimmer: This is the site of his first Busch Series start on October 29, 2000 and also will mark race 100 for him on the circuit; led the most laps in winning this race last year; averaged a ninth-place finish n three starts at Memphis; not among contenders for the championship, some 534 points out of first place in eighth; victory at Pikes Peak is one of four top five finishes this year; placed no lower than 20th in 18 of last 19 starts, including six top-10s.