If you're in the Las Vegas area this weekend, be on the lookout for Matt Kenseth putting down a wager on the number 3 somewhere around town.
The way the season has started, I sure wouldn't bet against Kenseth winning for the third straight time.
The Roush Fenway Racing driver has a chance to put his name in the record books with a victory in Sunday's Shelby 427 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He would be the first in NASCAR history to win the season's first three races.
Given Kenseth's past record at the mile-and-a-half desert oval, the odds of setting the record are pretty good. Kenseth scored back-to-back Vegas wins in 2003 and '04 and has five top 10s in nine career starts.
In a city built on numbers, Kenseth's are solid, and after last week's win in Fontana, he voiced his confidence heading into race No. 3.
"I've thought ahead. I feel real good about Vegas," Kenseth said. "It feels pretty unbelievable to win the first two races, especially Daytona, to be able to come out of the box and run competitively here. I just feel great about the group we have assembled. Everybody's having fun, everybody's loose and everybody's performing at the same time."
That includes crew chief Drew Blickensderfer, who has started his Sprint Cup career with a 2-0 record.
But Blickensderfer isn't getting caught up in the numbers game and knows how difficult winning three consecutive Sprint Cup races are at any time of the season.
"We really are trying to not get too wrapped up in three in a row," Blickensderfer said. "It's a long season and this is the next race on the schedule. We'll go there and put in the same type of effort that we have been, and see where it goes from there. We know we have a driver and a team that is capable of winning at this style of tracks, it's just up to us to put it all together and hopefully we'll be there at the end with a chance."
One of Kenseth's main challenges Sunday will no doubt come from his teammate Carl Edwards, the defending race winner who has a pretty nifty Las Vegas career of his own.
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| Matt Kenseth can become the first in NASCAR history to win the first three races of a season. (AP) |
"We only get to go to Vegas once a year," said Edwards, who did win last year's race despite being penalized 100 points for an oil cover that was dislodged from its reservoir. "Last year was a blast. We won the race and I want to go back and win another one there. It's a fun race to win. The Victory Lane is in the Neon Garage Fan Zone. That's cool. It's an 'event' when you win that race."
Jimmie Johnson knows what Edwards is talking about -– times three. The three-time series champion is also a three-time Las Vegas winner, having taken three consecutive checkered flags from 2005-07.
Johnson is off to a slow start in 2009 and knows a win Sunday would be just the thing to help jump-start the No. 48 team.
But Johnson also understands that being successful at intermediate-sized tracks like LVMS will go a long way in winning a fourth consecutive championship.
"I think this is going to be a good measure of our 1.5-mile program," said Johnson. "I think everyone knows where we need a little bit of work and help and that's on the high-banked 1.5-mile tracks and Vegas is kind of in that middle stage."
"If I look at Chicago last year, we got beat there on the last lap but it was on a restart and I went up and took the lead from the No. 18 so I feel really good about the Vegas, Kansas, Chicago-style tracks. It's just the ones with more banking that we need a little bit more work."
Who's hot
Denny Hamlin: While Kenseth and Johnson are second and third on the active driver average-finishing list at Vegas, Hamlin has never finished outside the top 10 in three career starts. He has a 7.3 average run in the desert.
Tony Stewart: Off to a solid start in his first year as an owner/driver, Stewart has two consecutive eighth-place finishes to begin the year and has five top 10s in 10 career Sprint Cup Series starts at LVMS.
Kurt Busch: The Las Vegas native comes to his home track tied with Stewart for third in the Sprint Cup Series point standings. He is also coming off a fifth-place finish at Fontana.
Who's not
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: He comes to Las Vegas sitting on the Top 35 cutoff spot after two disappointing outings in Daytona and Fontana. The good news for Junior Nation is the driver of the No. 88 finished second in Las Vegas a year ago.
Ryan Newman: While teammate Stewart is off to a hot start, Newman is ice cold and comes to Vegas mired in 33rd place in the standings. The upside for Newman? He has four top 10 finishes in eight career Vegas starts.
Jeff Burton: With 28th- and 32nd-place finishes in the year's first two races, Burton has slipped to 30th in the standings and will have to hope his 10.5 average finish at Vegas boosts him to a good run Sunday.
Make a note
• No driver has won at Las Vegas from the pole position.
• Kasey Kahne turned a lap speed of 184.856 mph for a time of 29.212 seconds on March 9, 2007, to set the track qualifying record.
• Kenseth's 438 laps led at Vegas are the most in track history.
• Kurt Busch has started in the top 10 in all eight of his previous appearances at Vegas.
• Johnson is the track's all-time winner with three victories. Other former winners at Las Vegas include Kenseth, Burton, Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Sterling Marlin.
• There are 51 cars on the Shelby 427 entry list.
