Take it from someone who has learned the hard way, there is no such thing as a sure bet in Las Vegas.

However, as NASCAR heads to Sin City this weekend, Roush Racing carries pretty good odds. With a combined three wins in five events, the tandem of Mark Martin and Jeff Burton have performed more Vegas magic than Penn & Teller.

In five starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Martin has been as been as consistent and smooth as the Fountains of Bellagio. He has never finished outside the top-10 and is the only driver to have completed every lap (1,216) run there.

"I like the track and we have a good record there," said Martin, who finished third a year ago. "It suits my driving style. It's a race that is oriented towards handling and in the past we have excelled in that area. It's one of the places where you can pass and a lot of the outcome is in the driver's hands."

Martin hit the jackpot last May when he won Winston's "No Bull 5" million-dollar bonus in Charlotte, N.C. But he places his triumph in the 1998 inaugural Las Vegas 400 on the same level with that victory.

"The win there in '98 is one of the most memorable I have," Martin said. "It was a lot like last season's win in the Coca-Cola 600, in the fact that we had a new team. It was a brand new track and a brand new team, and were looking to see what we could do."

En route to his 1998 win, Martin edged out Burton by just 1.065 seconds. Burton redeemed himself the next two seasons by recording back-to-back victories on the 1½-mile track.

"I immediately liked the race track the first time I ran there and that means a lot," said Burton, who is looking to snap a 42-race winless streak. "There are several different grooves to run on and I'm a driver that likes to run where the car works best, it doesn't matter to me whether I'm running high, low or in the middle. I think this versatility is one key to my success at this track."

	Jeff Burton has a pair of Las Vegas wins on his resume.

Native Las Vegan Kurt Busch will fortify Roush Racing's chances. After opening the season with consecutive second-place finishes (Daytona and Rockingham, N.C.), he carries the points lead -- and momentum -- into his hometown. Dating back to last season he has finished third or better, including three wins, in six of his last seven starts.

"For me, winning (in Las Vegas) probably would be the biggest thing for me in terms of winning a single race," Busch said. "The Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis are right up there, but I can't imagine anything being any bigger than winning in Vegas."

In 2002, Matt Kenseth led the Roush stables with five wins, but he hasn't found much luck in Vegas. In three starts there he has never finished higher than 14th.

Of Roush's five drivers, only rookie Greg Biffle ranks outside the top-10 in the standings. This bodes well heading to Vegas.

With similar characteristics to several other tracks on the schedule, Las Vegas has become a barometer of sorts. Teams that excel there typically are strong the rest of the year. Only once in five seasons has the winner of the Las Vegas event finished outside the top-five in the standings. The exception was last year's winner, Sterling Marlin, who held the points lead through the next 23 events and was fifth in the standings before his season was ended by injury.

One driver who used Las Vegas as a springboard was 2001 winner Jeff Gordon, who claims that win was the "catalyst" for his championship season. Though the statistics might point to Roush Racing as this week's favorite, at least one published line lists Gordon's No. 24 Chevrolet as the car to beat with 4-to-1 odds.

Like the fluctuating desert temperatures surrounding the track, Gordon has been hot and cold in Las Vegas. He has two top-three finishes, but has also finished outside the top-15 three times. Making the odds even more unexplainable is the Rainbow Warrior's slow start. He has managed just a 12th- and 13th-place finish, is 13th in the standings and has yet to lead a lap this season. Nonetheless Gordon isn't worried.

"We had a strong run at Daytona but the red flag caught us just as we had been shuffled back," Gordon said. "We worked hard all day at Rockingham to gain track position. Unfortunately, we lost all the track position towards the end of the race with a spin in Turn 4.

"I like the attitude of this team right now. We've been communicating well and the pit stops have been great. It's only a matter of time before it all comes together and we make the trip to Victory Lane."