Sprint Cup at Kentucky: Carl Edwards and 9 Contenders to Win Quaker State 400

The moment Bruton Smith has been waiting for has arrived, this weekend the Sprint Cup series hits Kentucky Motor Speedway for the first time. While the Cup race is new, Nationwide and the Truck series have both raced multiple times at the track before and it has been a test track for others.

But who will be the ones to do the best in the Bluegrass State on Sunday? Let's take a look.

Carl Edwards

Carl Edwards is one of the guys that has had success on this track in the Nationwide series with a second last year.

He did only get 20th place finishes in 2008 and 2009 but his knowledge of the track will be an asset over those that have never run competitively here.

Joey Logano

Joey Logano loves Kentucky Motor Speedway and KMS loves Joey. "Sliced Bread" has won the Nationwide race here every year since his debut in 2008 and will probably be the one to watch this weekend as well.

Logano is undefeated at Kentucky and it will take a lot to throw the kid off his throne this weekend.

Brad Keselowski

Honestly, Brad Keselowski probably should be second and Carl Edwards third in this slideshow.

Keselowski doesn't have the flawless record here that Logano does but his record at Kentucky is pretty dang nice. Last year, he finished third behind the two above him in the slide show and had another third in the race the year before. In 2008, he broke that third curse but only to move down to fourth.

Keselowski is looking for a win and has a nice record at the track, albeit in Nationwide. But the competitive experience here should give him a leg up.

Kevin Harvick

While Harvick doesn't have the competitive experience here over the last few years that the top three have, he has tested here multiple times and did win here in 2007, the last Kentucky race won by a driver not named Joey Logano, in addition to winning the first Nationwide race at the track.

Another bonus is that he is doing pretty spectacular this season, even if he stays on the quiet and sneaky side and could sneak in for a win without anyone realizing it. The points leader has 10 top 10s in 17 starts this year in addition to three wins. There's no doubt he could throw in another top performance at Kentucky this weekend.

David Ragan

While it has been said that David Ragan got lucky at Daytona last weekend with his win, he also has experience at Kentucky that could keep his winning streak alive.

Ragan hasn't run here since 2008 but he did get a seventh place finish in that race. I really think competitive experience is the key here for most drivers and Smith has both that and a win last weekend.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr is on fire this year (except for the last two races). He has eight top 10s in 17 starts this year and only has two finishes out of the top 20.

While he has slipped down the points due to the last two weeks, a win at Kentucky could be in order for him as long as it doesn't turn into a fuel mileage race.

Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch has had on and off results at this track in the Nationwide races. He got in an accident in 2008 that placed him 30th, but placed second behind teammate Joey Logano in 2009. He didn't run Nationwide here in 2010 but finished seventh in Trucks.

Kyle Busch has two wins in the Sprint Cup series this year (although, both at shorter tracks) and has 10 top 10s in 17 starts. You really can't count Kyle out anywhere and he's make a run for the points lead which makes him even more deadly.

Kurt Busch

Kurt Busch's inclusion on here is about like Kevin Harvick's.

Busch doesn't have recent experience on the track (other than testing) but he is sitting in the Sprint Cup series with one points win (and two in the Daytona 500 pre-races) and nine top 10s.

His fourth place spot in the points makes him dangerous and one to watch at the end of the race.

Clint Bowyer

Clint hasn't raced here since 2008, but in that start he finished eighth.

The driver has limited experience here but has raced strong this season with eight top 10s and will be a threat at this mid-distance track where he has lots of experience from Cup racing as well.

Jimmie Johnson

While it hasn't been a normal Jimmie Johnson year, the driver seemed optimistic and almost excited about the track this weekend, when talking about it on Twitter.

Johnson has stats many drivers would kill for, with one win, five top- fives and 10 top-10s. And a scary thought for other drivers is that this is usually the time of year that Johnson and Chad Knaus really put their heads together and start to focus on preparing for the Chase.

While Johnson has only one win this year, he'll be looking to stock up on them in the coming weeks, in order to get a better points spot when the Chase is reset. And Kentucky is the perfect place to start his midseason run.