Insert Obligatory Betting On This Or That At Vegas Line Here

This weekend, while the truckers take a tap the Cupsters and claims jumpers will force themselves to visit Las Vegas.

Vegas used to be every driver and team’s delight right up to the moment the race started, at which point they were faced with two issues.  One, how to keep the ice bag under their helmet out of the team owner’s line of sight.  Two, how to stay awake during the race even if they weren’t attempting to use slumber as a means to thwart the hangover.  It was a big flat boring track.  To alleviate this, a few years ago track owner Bruton Smith reconfigured the place.  The racing’s a little better, but the vitamin B12 and aspirin consumption remains high.  In fact, Vegas has more legal drug usage than any track save Martinsville, where antacid tablets go for a king’s ransom after one too many Jesse Jones hot dogs.  That number would be exactly one.  But I digress.

Regardless of track configuration Vegas has been another resident of the House of Roush, with Jimmie Johnson making the occasional guest appearance.  One may safely assume this year extra care will be taken by all Roush affiliates to ensure the oil tank covers will be firmly affixed.  Inside information has it that Matt Kenseth has, in a tremendous display of team spirit, volunteered to personally make sure his teammates’ cars are in compliance by weighing down the aforementioned covers with both of his ‘as raced’ diecast cars from this season.  For some odd reason, this gesture has not been kindly received by his co-workers.  Jealousy is such a morale dampener in the workplace.

This aside, you’re more likely to find people who actually have seen Elvis this week than those who doubt Kenseth or another Roush driver are strong favorites to be hoisting the trophy at the end of Sunday’s main event.  And getting scalding looks from their spouse unless they put that showgirl down pronto.  But back to racing.  The Hendrick boys have no doubt diagnosed and corrected the source of their team’s California engine woes, and motivation is running rampant among the Fab Four to maintain momentum (Jeff Gordon), dismiss the less than stellar showing in the season’s first two races as a blip on the radar as opposed to any genuine distress signal (Jimmie Johnson), prove this isn’t a nostalgia show (Mark Martin), and as a change of pace get more air time than Digger for the right reasons (Dale Earnhardt Jr.).  Wouldn’t bet against them individually and collectively pulling it off.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone.