NASCAR rail: UAW-Dodge 400 at a glance

WHERE: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas

WHEN: TV start 3:30 p.m. ET

BROADCAST: FOX, live on Sirius satellite radio, channel 128

THE LOWDOWN: The race is 100 miles less, and the track is one mile shorter and narrower through the turns, but the racing will be no less intense at Las Vegas than it was last week in California. In 2003, no one knew how the progressive banking would change the racing at Homestead, but it transformed that race from a snoozer to one of the most exciting on the circuit and the new configuration at Vegas should do the same. One thing is certain - this isn't a "cookie-cutter" track any longer.

PREVIOUS 5 WINNERS:

2007: Jimmie Johnson

2006: Jimmie Johnson

2005: Jimmie Johnson

2004: Matt Kenseth

2003: Matt Kenseth

LAST WEEK'S WINNER: CARL EDWARDS

"Cousin Carl" is back in top form on the two-mile tracks. After getting progressively better in every single race, winning seemed inevitable until he was stranded down the grid by rain at Michigan in 2006 and suffered through an uncharacteristically bad race at California last February. Now in his past four attempts on these tracks, he's swept the top 10, won twice and finished second on another occasion. That's reason enough to do a back flip.

Here are the top 12 in the standings and how they've raced at Las Vegas.

1. Kyle Busch

Three-year average finish at Las Vegas: 4.7 in three starts

Busch had the opportunity to leave for Las Vegas as the points leader in all of NASCAR's top series. He narrowly missed the Nationwide pinnacle but has not finished worse than fourth all year.

2. Ryan Newman

Three-year average finish at Las Vegas: 20.0 in three starts

Newman's 10th at California may not have set the world on fire, but it was his first top-10 on a two-mile track since February 2005. He's been better at Vegas, scoring top-10s in four of his past six tries.

3. Tony Stewart

Three-year average finish at Las Vegas: 12.7 in three starts

Stewart struggled with his handling last week but came on strong at the end to score a top-10. The two-milers are not his bailiwick, however, so he should do much better at Vegas with seven top-12s in the past eight races.

4. Kurt Busch

Three-year average finish at Las Vegas: 15.0 in three starts

An unscheduled pit stop nearly derailed Busch's California effort, but he battled back to finish 13th. That is his sixth consecutive top-15 dating back to Atlanta last fall, giving him momentum at his hometown track.

5. Carl Edwards

Three-year average finish at Las Vegas: 15.3 in three starts

Edwards should savor his victory at California, because Vegas has not been so kind. In three career starts there, he has yet to crack the top five and is likely to finish outside the top 10.

6. Kasey Kahne

Three-year average finish at Las Vegas: 25.7 in three starts

Midway through 2007, Gillette-Evernham Motorsports found their gremlin. The nose geometry was way off, but the new tightly regulated template on NASCAR's car seems to have corrected those problems.

7. Kevin Harvick

Three-year average finish at Las Vegas: 14.3 in three starts

There was a common theme at California last week: Drivers who typically struggled there had strong runs, and Harvick snapped a five-race streak of finishes outside the top 10 with an eighth.

8. Jimmie Johnson

Three-year average finish at Las Vegas: 1.0 in three starts

Johnson can write his name in the record books by winning four consecutive races on a track hosting only one race per year. Last year, Greg Biffle failed to accomplish the feat at Homestead.

9. Greg Biffle

Three-year average finish at Las Vegas: 10.0 in three starts

Biffle has been slow and steady during the first two races of the year, finishing 10th at Daytona and 15th at California, which is pretty much how he finished last season as well.

10. Jeff Burton

Three-year average finish at Las Vegas: 13.0 in three starts

Last year, Burton got off to one of the strongest starts of his career with eight consecutive top-15s, but most of those were 10th or better. In 2008, he's finished 13th and 12th, which isn't quite as impressive.

11. Brian Vickers

Three-year average finish at Las Vegas: 32.5 in two starts

What a difference a year makes. Vickers failed to qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500 and languished in the points all season. He has to hold his breath this week, however, since he also failed to qualify at Vegas.

12. Martin Truex Jr.

Three-year average finish at Las Vegas: 16.0 in two starts

If not for a 100-point penalty, this position would belong to Robby Gordon, but that doesn't take away from the fact that Truex jumped up seven spots in the standings on the strength of a sixth at California.

THREE-PEATS

Three consecutive wins on tracks hosting one race per season:

Streak Track Driver

2005 - 2007 Las Vegas Motor Speedway Jimmie Johnson

2004 - 2006 Homestead-Miami Speedway Greg Biffle

1998 - 2000 Infineon Raceway Jeff Gordon

1997 - 1999 Watkins Glen International Jeff Gordon

1993 - 1995 Watkins Glen International Mark Martin

1964 - 1966 Riverside International Raceway Dan Gurney

1961 - 1963 Nashville International Raceway Jim Paschal

VEGAS FINISHES

Five-year average finish at Las Vegas

Driver 5 Yr Avg Fin Attempts

Matt Kenseth 3.20 5

Jimmie Johnson 6.00 5

Denny Hamlin 6.50 2

Tony Stewart 9.20 5

Jeff Burton 11.60 5

Jeff Gordon 12.60 5

Kyle Busch 13.75 4

Carl Edwards 15.33 3

Kevin Harvick 15.40 5

Casey Mears 15.60 5

Martin Truex Jr 16.00 2

Jamie McMurray 16.80 5

Bill Elliott 17.00 2

J J Yeley 17.50 2

Mark Martin 17.80 5

Kurt Busch 18.40 5

Ryan Newman 18.80 5

Bobby Labonte 19.20 5

Joe Nemechek 19.60 5

Kasey Kahne 19.75 4

Elliott Sadler 21.00 5

Greg Biffle 22.80 5

Dale Earnhardt Jr 23.40 5

Robby Gordon 24.20 5

Dale Jarrett 24.40 5

Kyle Petty 25.00 5

Clint Bowyer 25.50 2

Jeremy Mayfield 25.80 5

Scott Riggs 27.75 4

Michael Waltrip 29.60 5

Dave Blaney 30.00 4

John Andretti 30.67 3

Kenny Wallace 30.67 3

Travis Kvapil 32.50 2

Brian Vickers 33.75 4

Reed Sorenson 35.50 2

Ken Schrader 37.60 5

Kevin Lepage 42.25 4

Mike Skinner 43.00 2

VEGAS TOP 10

Laps in the top 10 at Vegas since 2004

Driver Top 10 laps Possible Laps

Jimmie Johnson 776 1,071

Kasey Kahne 681 1,071

Kurt Busch 648 1,071

Tony Stewart 637 1,071

Mark Martin 545 1,071

Jeff Gordon 528 1,071

Matt Kenseth 515 1,071

Kevin Harvick 485 1,071

Kyle Busch 482 1,071

Elliott Sadler 463 1,071

Greg Biffle 460 1,071

Jeff Burton 405 1,071

Ryan Newman 293 1,071

Bobby Labonte 271 1,071

Carl Edwards 200 804

J J Yeley 195 537

Denny Hamlin 183 537

Jamie McMurray 177 1,071

Dale Earnhardt Jr 170 1,071

Casey Mears 167 1,071

Scott Riggs 137 1,071

Brian Vickers 114 804

Travis Kvapil 88 537

Joe Nemechek 83 1,071

Bill Elliott 56 267

Jeremy Mayfield 53 804

Dale Jarrett 45 1,071

Clint Bowyer 42 537

Reed Sorenson 29 537

Martin Truex Jr 24 537

Dave Blaney 23 804

Juan Montoya 17 267

Kyle Petty 6 1,071

Kenny Wallace 6 537

Michael Waltrip 4 804

Robby Gordon 3 1,071

Ken Schrader 0 804

Kevin Lepage 0 537

David Ragan 0 267

John Andretti 0 267

David Gilliland 0 267

Paul Menard 0 267