Lucky number seven of the 10 races in Vegas’ history have been won by three drivers — Jimmie Johnson (’07, ’06 and ’05), Matt Kenseth (’04 and ’03) and Jeff Burton (’00 and ’99).

Johnson has had the hot hand in Sin City lately. Although the banking on the turns at the 1.5-mile tri-oval went from 12 degrees to 20 after the 2006 race, the 48 car remained the same. JJ won his third straight race in ’07, holding off Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon, who has three consecutive top-5 finishes (second, fifth and fourth) along with a 2001 victory on the strip.

Hendrick played with a stacked deck, with three top-10 drivers and a combined 204 laps led. Johnson finished first (leading 89 laps), Gordon was runner-up (111 laps) and hometown kid Kyle Busch took ninth (four laps).

Although his daddy had three top 10s in his only trips to Vegas from 1998–2000, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a runner-up finish in 2003, which was his highest finish to date. He ran 11th last season and is betting the new team might change his luck this year.

Tony Stewart has never won here but has completed every lap since 2000. Stewart’s track record — a second in 2000, third in ’04, fifth in ’02 and ’03, seventh in ’07 and 10th in ’05 — proves he is a whale poised to win big in Clark County.

Stewart’s Gibbs teammate Denny Hamlin has only been to Vegas twice, finishing third last year and 10th in ’06. Odds are good he’ll win here soon.

FANTASY STALL
Looking at Checkers
Johnson is gunning for his fourth win in a row.
Pretty Solid Pick
Kenseth won two straight before JJ started his run.

Good Sleeper Pick
Carl Edwards will step it up at some point.
Runs on Seven Cylinders
Don’t expect much out of the Ganassi stable.
Insider Tip
This place will have two races in ’09, which should

make JJ a happy man.

KEEP AN EYE ON...
Kasey Kahne We’re gambling on Evernham getting his engineering department up to snuff. If he does so, Kahne could come up aces, as he finished fourth here in 2006 and won the pole and led 13 laps before drastically fading to a woeful 35th in ’07.

Mark Martin The inaugural Vegas race winner, Martin continues to hit paydirt regardless of his affiliation. The Arkansas native has three runs of sixth or better in the last four Vegas events.

Martin Truex Jr. The young DEI driver has not yet been a frontrunner in Vegas, but he improved from a 20th-place finish in his rookie campaign to a 12th last season. Don’t expect a win, but he’s heading in the right direction.

Elliott Sadler Sadler has strung together consecutive top-15 runs in both Yates and Evernham equipment, with the common denominator being the driver.