Fans in Kansas City will see a lot of "I" formation this weekend. And I'm not talking about the Chiefs' offensive attack.

In its only two previous events, Kansas Speedway has produced mostly single-file racing. This can largely be attributed to the track surface, which -- while smooth and fast -- had not been broken in to the point of developing a second groove.

"Since this is a fairly new track, there is only one groove and right now it's around the bottom," said Jeff Gordon. "As more races are held here, that groove will eventually widen. It's like a fine wine. It just gets better with age.

"Until then, there's not going to be a whole lot of passing, unless you're a whole lot faster than the driver in front of you or if they make a mistake or get loose. This will probably be a race that's won on pit road. We're going to rely a lot on our pit crews."

	Ryan Newman (12) could be battling two-time Kansas champion Jeff Gordon (24) again this weekend.

Gordon's not complaining. The 1.5-mile narrow-grooved track appears to suit him just fine. Gordon has led 169 of the 534 laps and won both Winston Cup races held at Kansas Speedway.

With a win this weekend he would become the first driver ever to win the first three events at a new track.

"Winning the first two races was not easy," continued Gordon, whose last win occurred April 13 at Martinsville. "Our team would love to get our second win of the season and our third win here. First, we have to focus on the challenges for this weekend's race.

"This is a great track, but it's difficult to pass here. With such a competitive field, you never know who your biggest challenge will be."

The challengers will be many, and Ryan Newman will certainly be among them. In only his fifth career start Newman finished second to Gordon in 2001. He duplicated the feat last year.

"I've never had a bad race car at Kansas," said Newman "Two runner-up finishes is impressive, but there's room for improvement."

With five wins since the beginning of July, Newman's Alltel squad has become the team to beat during the season's second half.

While the car has been extraordinarily fast, their game plan has separated them from the competition. Crew chief Matt Borland has consistently found ways to stretch fuel mileage and get Newman near the front. This strategy will again play a role this week.

"Track position at Kansas is important it always is," stressed Newman.

"We had a fast race car last year. We just weren't in the right spot at the end and Jeff (Gordon) got us again. If I had gotten in front of him, we might have been able to hold him off. Clean air makes a huge difference, too, so qualifying at the front will ensure getting that clean air."

With many common characteristics, Kansas Speedway has drawn direct comparisons to Chicagoland Speedway. That would seem to bode well for Kevin Harvick, who won the first two races there. However, for Harvick things just haven't fallen into place in the Sunflower State.

"I've had terrible luck in Kansas," says Harvick, who, while leading the race last year, got caught in the pits under yellow, lost a lap and finished 11th. The year before a flat tire contributed to a 16th place finish.

"The last two years in the (Winston) Cup car, I couldn't seem to catch a break," he said.

Harvick enters this weekend second in the standings behind Matt Kenseth, who is trying to pick up the pieces after blowing an engine and finishing 33rd at Talladega. It was his worst finish and first DNF this season.

"I'm kind of relieved to get back to an intermediate track where more of the outcome is in the driver's hands this week," said Kenseth. "We're not down on ourselves at all over what happened last week. We just need to regroup and go out and get the kind of finishes we've had all year long by doing the same things week in and week out that have gotten us where we are."

Kenseth's disappointing finish was the first sign of vulnerability he's shown all year. It has given hope to Dale Earnhardt Jr. By finishing second at Talladega, he shaved 106 points off his deficit and jumped to third in the standings.

Kenseth still holds a commanding 354-point lead. But with just seven races to go, Harvick and Junior must start applying pressure, beginning this week with an all out Kansas City blitz.

Mike Massaro covers NASCAR for ESPN and ESPN.com.