Fantasy Nascar : The stakes are high in the city of lights : Fantasy Nascar

Our first season stop at the Rock has passed, and rather uneventfully, yet of course without controversy.
Race commentators and Nascar writers everywhere can be heard murmuring about the one-engine rule and its problems. In reality, it didn't make much of a difference in the race. Yes, Dale Jarrett blew his engine early in the race but he admitted that it had little to do with the engine rule. This is racing, and engines are going to blow. In the "real reality", Kurt Busch was the only person really screwed by the engine rule. His team had to switch engines before the race because of a water-leak that had been found after qualifying. Because of the rule, Busch had to start at the back of the 43-car line up, despite qualifying 7th for the race.
The other controversy for the race, was the officials decision to end the race under a yellow flag. At Daytona, the race had been red flagged to allow cleanup of the track and a run to the green finish. Then only a week later, debris on the track with five laps to go caused another caution. Yet, this time the officials didn't redflag the race, and Matt Kenseth, who had just passed Sterling Marlin, was given the win under the yellow flag, must to Marlins (obvious) displeasure. The late, quick decision has left drivers wondering just exactly why certain calls are made, and asking for a set system involving cautions near the end of the race.
And then finally, two days after the race winner Kennseth's crew chief was fined after finding that the car was a quarter inch too low. Most people write this off as oh, well it happened several times last year, and no points are taken away, but the bored Nascar drivers, who have little to write about between each race Sunday and qualifying on Friday, won't let it die. So the car settled down a little low. Its a rule, it was broken, they had to pay a fine (which doesn't really hurt considering the amount of money won) so let it be.
So now on to the city of gold and glitz. This will only be the fifth race at Las Vegas, and four people have held the past poles for the race. The track is a 1.5 mile tri-oval with only a 12 degree banking. Some complain that the low banking makes for dull racing, but to each his own.
There have only been three Bud Pole winners in the past four NASCAR Winston Cup races, with Dale Jarrett owning two of them. Jeff Burton, who qualified only on provisional owner points, has won two of the four races, ended up second in one, and car troubles dropped him to the back last year. Burton's awful starting position makes him a tough choice to win, but from the racing we have seen this year, anything is possible. He did win the Busch Grand National bud pole at the same track on Friday, which will give him extra track practice in Saturdays Busch race, before Sundays Cup race. Burton has lead 204 of the 949 total laps raced at Las Vegas.
Mark Martin, who has led 186 of those laps, while win-less at the infant of a track, is the only driver who has finished in the top 10 at all races at the track. His highest finish was third in 2000, and he is looking to break his win dry-spell in which he has unfortunately been in since his first victory in 1989. He has gone 64 races since his last victory, and he wants a win. Martin, who starts sixth Sunday, is comfortable at Las Vegas and is looking to break his streak of bad luck somewhere. For him, Vegas just might be that somewhere.
Johnny Benson has also racked up three, top 10 finishes during the first four Las Vegas races. Benson, who makes his 200th Winston Cup start at Vegas and starts the race in the seventh position, hopes to find his first win in Winston Cup. Paired with his 200th start, Benson just might find some glory in the city of glitter.
Jeff Gordon will once again (unfortunately) probably be one of the top contenders in this race. Gordo is the reigning champ of Vegas and he will hope lady luck is in his favor again. He starts the race 13th, which is no feat for him. He of course wants to keep his winners title at Vegas which will help him on his quest for another championship.
Others to watch at Las Vegas are Dale Jarett, who finished second to Gordo last year and seventh in the race in 2000. Although he starts 37th, granted the spot only by provisional points, he might be worth watching. Bill Elliott has finished in the top 10 in two of the four races, and has had a pretty secure start of the season thus far. Todd Bodine, the Bud-Pole winner for the race, broken the qualifying record at the track. While qualifying doesn't mean everything, it certainly doesn't hurt anything and Bodine might just an inside edge. Rookie Ryan Newman and youngin Kurt Busch will make up the other top three spots and both are fun to watch, if a bit wet behind the ears.
In Vegas, where the stakes are high and the luck is controlled by a lady, who knows what will happen on the track.
I will post this column each Friday afternoon. The ideas are strictly mine, with a little bit of help from the statistics and some of my racing enthusiast friends. AND I want to know what you think: If you agree, tell me. If you don't, tell me that as well. Drop me at a line at Theracingirl@yahoo.com