NASCAR Sprint Cup at Las Vegas: Carl Edwards and 10 Drivers in the Mix to Win

"Sin City" is the next stop for the elite drivers of NASCAR who will gamble for a win in a high-stakes game at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  Fast cars and driver skill may be secondary to the strategy that will win the race.

The track, just north of the epicenter of glitz and glamor, is a fast 1.5-mile, multigroove racing oval with 20-degree banking in the turns.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series made the trek from the Valley of the Sun, Phoenix to its next stop in the desert for the third race of the season at the Kobalt Tools 400.

Some drivers adapt well to the intermediate tracks, sometimes called cookie-cutter tracks, while others struggle to get a handle on contending for wins at this style track.

Usually, failure to be in the lead pack is because of the long green runs that can easily foul up tire and fuel strategy, unless you just don't have a fast car.

Carl Edwards won for the second time at this track last year, but it may well be the driver who has the sponsor of the race on his No. 48 car that adds a marker to his win column.

 Let's see the drivers, in no particular order, who will be in the mix when the checkered flag flies.

1. Carl Edwards

Carl Edwards won the 2011 edition of this race after Tony Stewart had a costly encounter with an air wrench that left the pits with him. He won over Stewart by 1.246 seconds.

Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Ford, has another win at LVMS and an average finish of 11.0.

This is one of the three Roush Fenway Racing drivers who should benefit from the horsepower of the Roush-Yates engines on the 1.5-mile track.

Of Edward's 19 career Cup wins, 17 have been on intermediate tracks.

2. Jimmie Johnson

Jimmie Johnson is on a mission to claw his way out of a points hole, and the Kobalt Tools 400 may be just the place.

Johnson has taken his Lowe's No. 48 to victory at Las Vegas four times—2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010. His average finish is 10.6.

3. Matt Kenseth

Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Best Buy Ford, is the winner of the 2012 Daytona 500. Though he finished 13th at Phoenix, he remains fourth in points.

Kenseth is good at Las Vegas with an average finish of 11.7, two wins and five top-five finishes. Of his 22 career wins in the Cup series, 17 have come on intermediate tracks.

No doubt, the Roush-Yates horsepower will come in handy for this driver at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

4. Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch may be starting to make some noise with his No. 18 M&M's Toyota out of Joe Gibbs Racing.

At Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Busch has a 2009 win, three top-fives and an average race finish of 15.0. An engine failure cost him last season, and he finished in 38th place.

5. Jeff Gordon

Jeff Gordon should be confident heading to Las Vegas with his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet.  He has one win, three top-fives and an average finish of 14.9.

He has led 1,708 laps at this track, and more than half of his 85 career wins have come on intermediate-size tracks.

6. Denny Hamlin

Denny Hamlin looks to have his mojo back this season under the guidance of his new crew chief, Darian Grubb. Grubb was the guiding force behind Tony Stewart's 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup title win.

Hamlin has never won at Las Vegas, but he has four top-10 finishes and an average finish of 11.7. Of his 18 Cup wins, 12 have been on intermediate tracks.

Grubb obviously knows how to set up a car on an intermediate track, so look for the No. 11 FedEx Toyota to make a showing in the Kobalt Tools 400.

7. Greg Biffle

This may be the year that the tide turns for the driver of the No. 16 3M Ford out of Roush Fenway Racing. He finished third in the Daytona 500 and the Subway Fresh Fit 500.

Greg Biffle has never won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but he has five top-10 finishes and an average finish of 14.8. Of his 16 career wins in the Cup series, 15 have been on intermediate tracks.

Biffle is second in the points, and it looks as though this season could be a strong one for this driver. The Roush-Yates horsepower should help him finish well in the Kobalt Tools 400.

8. Tony Stewart

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil1 Chevrolet, may be a three-time Sprint Cup champion, but he has yet to win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Stewart led more than half the laps in the 2011 edition of the Kobalt Tools 400, but a pit miscue cost him a possible win. He finished second to Carl Edwards.

The average finish for Stewart at LVMS is 13.8, and he has eight top-10 finishes.

The 2012 season has hardly started off the way this driver hoped. He was foiled by an EFI mystery, when he shut off his car to conserve fuel at Phoenix and the car would not restart.

If Stewart and his new crew chief, Steve Addington, get a handle on the EFI problem, look for him to run well, since more than half of his career wins have been on intermediate tracks.

9. Jeff Burton

Jeff Burton drives the No. 31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.

The 2012 season is looking to be a much better one for this driver than the past few years under the guidance of crew chief, Drew Blickensderfer.

Burton has two wins, eight top-10 finishes and an average finish of  10.7 at LVMS. Of his 21 Cup victories, 17 have been on intermediate tracks.

10. Kevin Harvick

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet for RCR, has reason to smile with his first child expected in July and the pressures of operating Kevin Harvick Inc. behind him.

He has finished in the top seven for the first two races of the season. Harvick has not won at Las Vegas, but he has three top-five finishes and an average of 13.2.

Harvick is seriously focused on winning the Cup title this year after finishing third in points the last two years. He could well be a contender to win the Kobalt Tools 400.

11. Mark Martin

The 53-year-old Mark Martin is living the dream as driver of the No. 55 Aaron's Dream Machine for Michael Waltrip Racing.

After leaving Hendrick Motorsports, he seems to be running even stronger with his new ride. He finished in the top 10 for the first two races of the season and captured a pole.

At Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Martin has one win, six top-five and 10 top-10 finishes, with an average of 13.1.