Sam's Town 300 News and Notes

Driver to win the Sams Town 300

Tony Stewart +400
Jeff Burton +450
Kyle Busch +450
Mark Martin +700
Carl Edwards +700
Kevin Harvick +800
Clint Bowyer +1000
Greg Biffle +1000
David Reutimann +1200
Bobby Labonte +1500
Jason Leffler +1800
Elliot Sadler +2500
Sam Hornish Jr +4000
Dario Ffranchitti +4000
Field +800

TheGreek

Vegas Headliners

Star Power

It's only two races into the season, but a pattern is developing. Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch have finished first and second in both of events and someone has to be whispering in their ear to run the entire schedule. While that is unlikely to happen, they are both in attendance again this week in the Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and another one-two finish is not entirely out of the question.

Roush Racing, Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing (RCR) were the class of the field last year, but Joe Gibbs is rapidly closing ground on the strength of Stewart's back-to-back victories, while Busch had to accomplish his runner-ups for two different owners. Stewart ran away and hid in Monday's Stater Bros. 300, but even in a slightly less powerful Braun Racing Toyota, Busch was best in class last week.

In glitzy city of Las Vegas, star power is more important than ever and Nationwide series car owners cycle through drivers with reckless abandon. Only one of this week's starters has been here for each of the last five races, and Kevin Harvick is the closest thing to a regular that fantasy owners will find. After finishing 13th in his inaugural attempt in 2000 and 12th in 2001, he can be forgiven for taking the next year off. Refreshed, he returned to the track in 2003 to finish second and he's been virtually unstoppable since. Harvick's last five races at Vegas have produced one victory, two second-place finishes, a third and a worst result of only seventh. Last week on another unrestricted, intermediate speedway, Harvick wheeled his self-owned Chevy into the third spot on the grid, so the switch from RCR to Kevin Harvick, Inc. (KHI) power is not slowing him down any.

Bobby Labonte moves into the seat of the car Stephen Leicht wheeled to an impressive top-10 finish last week. Amidst rumors that RCR will start a fourth Cup team next year with the Corpus Christi native as the driver, this is a great opportunity to start to gel with the team. Labonte has made 24 starts in the Busch series for KHI since September 2006 and earned five top-10s. Only one of those was a top-five, but he made the most of it by winning at Talladega last April. The rest of his results were disappointing for a Cup regular, however, and that—plus the fact that his first ride in an RCR car at Daytona two weeks ago produced only a 15th place result—is why he should be considered a dark horse.

Nationwide Regulars

David Stremme is another driver who enjoys this track. He's been perfect in regards to top-five finishes in three starts, with a pair of thirds in 2004/2005 and a fifth last year. More impressive still, he recorded those strong finishes without the benefit of a Cup team. His first race was completed in one of Todd Braun's cars while the last two were run for Armando Fitz. The Rusty Wallace Dodges that he currently calls home have not yet proven to be overly stout, but that might mean the difference between a top-10 instead of a top-five.

Jason Leffler continues to carry the torch for the Nationwide regulars. While finishing among the top 10 is a tall order for those drivers not blessed with all the resources of a Cup organization, he enters the weekend with a seven-race streak of top-20s. When the cards fell his way last year, he was able to sneak into the top five once and the top 10 twice and steal back some of the money and points that all too often have gone to the interlopers.

After Bryan Clauson wrecked the No. 41 Dodge last week, Kyle Krisiloff gets a chance to show what he can do. While the ultimate result was disappointing for this team at the Auto Club Speedway, the car looked strong at Daytona and made some noise on the West coast before the accident. Clauson and Krisiloff are both in the same boat, and these part time drivers need strong runs to land a full time ride with one of NASCAR's Big Three series. Fantasy owners can be assured they will be running with their foot on the firewall with one thing on their mind—out run as many Cup regulars as possible.

fanballnews.com

Nationwide Power: Week Two

It may have taken three days to get it in, but the Auto Club 500 weekend was great for Tony Stewart. Once again, he walked away with the checkered flag and, once again, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch was right behind him in second. Now those two are well ahead of third-place Jeff Burton in the Fantasy Power Rankings.

1. Tony Stewart
Fantasy Power Average: 2.56
Last week's rank: Second

Stewart loves the Nationwide Series at the moment. So far, he is two-for-two in the junior circuit, but more importantly he is having fun driving with the old body style. After taking the win at Auto Club Speedway, he commented that the Nationwide cars are much easier to drive and thus more enjoyable than the Sprint Cup "Car of Tomorrow." If he is having this much fun, he might consider expanding his Nationwide calendar.

2. Kyle Busch
Fantasy Power Average: 2.83
Last week's rank: First

Busch took a slight dip in the power rankings, but it is not a problem. His two runner-up finishes to start the season has him just 0.27 points behind his Gibbs teammate. The bigger picture is that he has been stellar in all three NASCAR series to this point. From the Sprint Cup Series to the Craftsman Truck Series, he has yet to finish outside the top-five. Of course, there are only two weekends in the books, but it shows how well he has adapted to the Toyota program.

3. Jeff Burton
Fantasy Power Average: 9.14
Last week's rank: Third

Burton has a long way to go to catch up to Stewart and Busch. That might not be the case if he had not skipped the Camping World 300 at Daytona International Speedway. Still, the veteran had a solid run at California and finished eighth. That gives him three wins and two eighth-place finishes in his last five appearances in the Nationwide Series dating back to last fall.

4. Carl Edwards
Fantasy Power Average: 9.75
Last week's rank: 10th

"Concrete Carl" is picking up steam. While he is not at the top of the power rankings, he has four consecutive top-10s, including two top-fives, extending back to the last race at Phoenix International Raceway. More importantly, he was fifth at Fontana last week just after winning in the Sprint Cup race. He has never finished outside the top-10 in a Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, so there is room for optimism in the No. 60 Ford camp this week.

5. David Reutimann
Fantasy Power Average: 10.42
Last week's rank: Seventh

Monday was a great day for Reutimann. The Toyota driver earned a fourth at Fontana, which was his ninth straight top-20 and his best finish since he won at Memphis Motorsports Park in the fall. Now he is fourth in the Nationwide points' standings, just 104 points behind leader Stewart. Reutimann did not have much success in his first Nationwide venture to Las Vegas last year, but with the No. 99 Toyota team's improvement, things will be different this time around.

6. Kevin Harvick
Fantasy Power Average: 10.45
Last week's rank: 11th

"Happy" may not be in his famed No. 21 Chevrolet, but he is still a force in the Nationwide Series. On Monday, he scored his first top-10 as driver/owner of the No. 33 Chevrolet (although he won at Bristol in 2005 in a self-owned car, numbered 29). That helped him jump five positions to get back into the top-10 in the Fantasy Power Rankings. Things are in his favor for another top-10 this week; in five starts at Nationwide starts in Vegas, he has a win, two seconds, a third and a seventh.

7. Clint Bowyer
Fantasy Power Average: 11.00
Last week's rank: Ninth

The quest for a series championship took a turn for the better in Fontana. After finishing a disappointing 25th at Daytona, which snapped a three-race top-10 streak, he charged back for a ninth in California. He is one of the few drivers in the top-10 in the Fantasy Power Rankings running the full schedule this year, and while that will not help him in on this grid, he will soon overtake them in the championship standings.

8. Jason Leffler
Fantasy Power Average: 11.30
Last week's rank: Eighth

Leffler kept the status quo with another top-20 finish. That gives him six consecutive results of 19th or better in that span. With Vegas on the horizon, there is no certainty that he will keep the streak alive. After all, he has just one top-20 in four starts at the 1.5-mile oval. However, now is always a good time to earn a top-10.

9. Stephen Leicht
Fantasy Power Average: 11.43
Last week's rank: Sixth

Leicht is quickly proving himself in the Richard Childress Racing camp. In the last 18 races, he has 12 top-20s. He skipped the Camping World 300, making room for the veteran Bobby Labonte, but he still has a fifth and two more top-10s in his last four starts. Labonte will take over this week in Nevada, which will make him a solid pick behind the wheel of the No. 21, but Leicht will soon have the keys back in his hand and it will not hurt his Fantasy Power Rankings to do so.

10. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Fantasy Power Average: 12.00
Last week's rank: Fourth

After a third at Daytona and a seventh in California, Earnhardt will take a break and focus solely on the Sprint Cup Series this weekend. Fans of the No. 5 Chevrolet will be in for a treat this week as Mark Martin, the Nationwide/Busch Series legend, gets behind the wheel. In the power rankings game, however, Earnhardt's average will stay put and he likely will remain inside the top-10 for another week because of it.

fanballnews.com

Vickers On Pole in Las Vegas: #32-Brian Vickers, driving for Braun racing captured the Coors Light Pole for the Sam's Town 300 with a speed of 181.708mph. #29-Jeff Burton will start second, #18-Kyle Busch third (but will drop to the back), #20-Tony Stewart fourth, and #99-David Stremme fifth. The rest of the top 10: #40-Dario Francitti, #59-Marcos Ambrose, #2-Clint Bowyer, #60-Carl Edwards, and #33-Kevin Harvick. #9-Patrick Carpentier is driving for Kasey Kahne, who has been sick this weekend. There were 2 incidents during the session: #12-Sam Hornish wrecked coming to the finish line on his second lap. #18-Kyle Busch did the same. Busch will go to a backup. Hornish did not make the race. The other driver not qualifying was #84 Mike Harmon.

Jayski.com