Native Kyle Busch finished second to teammate Jimmie Johnson last year at Vegas. Credit: Autostock

Johnson, Kenseth look like sure bets at Vegas

Long shot Mears set to beat the odds and post elusive first victory

They're first and third in the point standings. They're the only race winners this season.

And chances are, in Las Vegas, one of them could find himself in a familiar place after Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 (4 p.m. ET, FOX).

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Driver Rating Pos. Driver High Average 1. J. Johnson 140.5 140.5 2. R. Newman 121.2 121.2 3. G. Biffle 120.6 120.6 4. Ku. Busch 120.0 120.0 5. Ky. Busch 113.4 113.4 6. J. Gordon 108.8 108.8 7. K. Harvick 100.6 100.6 8. J. Nemechek 95.1 95.1 9. T. Stewart 94.9 94.9 10. M. Kenseth 94.0 94.0 Average Running Position Pos. Driver Average 1. R. Newman 3.086 2. G. Biffle 3.794 3. J. Johnson 4.491 4. Ku. Busch 4.629 5. Ky. Busch 6.603 6. J. Gordon 8.846 7. J. Nemechek 9.007 8. T. Kvapil 10.307 9. T. Harvick 11.772 10. T. Stewart 12.277 Speed in Traffic Pos. Driver Speed 1. Ku. Busch 160.922 2. J. Johnson 160.814 3. G. Biffle 160.801 4. J. Gordon 160.797 5. R. Newman 160.306 6. J. Nemechek 160.006 7. B. Labonte 160.004 8. Ky. Busch 159.727 9. T. Stewart 159.581 10. M. Kenseth 159.534 Quality Passes Pos. Driver Average 1. J. Gordon 61.0 2. B. Hamilton Jr. 50.0   J. Johnson 50.0 4. J. Nemechek 49.0 5. Ky. Busch 46.0 6. T. Stewart 45.0 7. C. Mears 35.0 8. K. Harvick 33.0   J. Mayfield 33.0 10. R. Newman 27.0 Note: New stats based on last year's race at Las Vegas UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 •   Entry List •   Tune In

Jimmie Johnson hits Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend as the defending race winner, having broken Matt Kenseth's two-year reign in the desert.

Johnson, who won the season-opening Daytona 500, finished second to Kenseth two weeks ago at California. The early-season points leader has one other top-10 at Vegas, and an 8.5 average finish in four starts.

"It's an exciting place to visit and a great place to race and an even better place to win," Johnson said. "We did that last year and would certainly like to do it again this weekend."

Kenseth's run at California moved him up 12 spots in the standings to third. He finished eighth at Vegas last year and has a 9.2 average finish in six starts.

"I think you have a better chance of winning when you have some momentum and you're running good and leading laps and doing all that stuff," Kenseth said.

With a driver-high 221 laps led at Vegas, Kenseth knows what it takes to be successful.

"You know, to win at Vegas you just got to have a car that turns really good and you have to get good traction off the corners," Kenseth said. "Vegas, as the pavement ages, you've got to be able to turn really good, but then you've got to worry about the back tires at the same time because the track gets really slippery.

"You can get it too loose to where it wants to spin the tires off the corners. You've got to keep it turning good and keep the back end under you off the corners."

The Fusion Kenseth will drive at Vegas is the same car he tested in January and won with at California.

"We tested really well at Vegas ... so hopefully it will bring us the same results," said Robbie Reiser, crew chief for Kenseth's No. 17 Ford. "We've been fortunate enough to have really good race cars whenever we unload at Vegas over the years and I really don't expect this weekend to be any different."

The man in the middle of Johnson and Kenseth in points has never won a Cup race, anywhere. But Casey Mears heads to Vegas a threat to finally break through.

With consecutive seventh-place finishes, Mears is the only other driver to have an average finish inside the top 10 at Vegas, albeit his 9.7 has come in just three starts.

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More important, however, is the success Mears has found early this season in the No. 42 Dodge. Mears finished second at Daytona and seventh at California.

"Things are going well ... and we have to keep it going," Mears said. "The good thing about getting off to a good start is that we have been able to put any doubts to rest about how we would perform together.

"Las Vegas has always been a good track for me. I typically finish in the top 10 and that's what we need to do this weekend. We want to stay solidly inside the top 10 in the points and this is a good track to go back to and keep up the momentum we have."

Two other drivers looking to put on a good show are the hometown Busch brothers. Last year, Kyle finished second, just ahead of Kurt.

"I love going to Vegas for the race," Kyle said. "Last year I thought if we had about 10 more miles we would've been celebrating our first win. It's a special feeling to race in front of your hometown crowd. Winning there would be really, really big for me and the team."

A Vegas victory would also mark a significant first for Kurt.

"You could say that I have a race win scale that's based on what I feel is the level of prestige associated with a particular victory," Kurt said. "It's a given that the Daytona 500 is our biggest race -- it's NASCAR's Super Bowl, that's for sure. You'd have to put Indy and the Brickyard [400] as second on that list, just because of the incredible history the facility hosting the race has.

"In my mind and on my personal scale, I have to put a Vegas win as next -- as the third most prestigious on the list," Busch continued. "There are a lot of big races out there.

"I know that I'm pretty biased when it comes to racing in Vegas and I think most people can understand that. They may not agree with it or appreciate it that much, but they can understand how I feel."