Be sure to visit Sportsbook.com for all of your Nascar action!

Editor's note: Looking for extra action? Take a look at Auto Racing!  Alf Musketa's matchups are 3-1 (75%) on the year and continue to bury the bookmaker. Get three solid winners for the Las Vegas 400!

The Dodge teams and cars ran very well in practice and qualified even better. Kasey Kahne who took the Pole, ran tops in practice and from this handicappers perspective is the real deal. Under the handling of Ray Evernham, Kahne nearly won last week as you know, but this rookie was hand picked by Evernham to take over the reigns from veteran Bill Elliot as the go to guy of the team and given the best car to prove it with. The combination seems to be coming together well with the rookie listening, learning and adapting. The Dodge cars in general want to show well for the title sponsor UAW Daimler Chrysler.

Advertisement

The highlight or perhaps the lowlight of the day's racing for some was Jeff Gordon slamming his #24 Dupont car into the wall on turn number four during his final lap of qualifying. Normally, teams of the high caliber have a back up car and switch in this situation with Saturday's practice still to go, but Gordon's crew is making many adjustments and has decided to replace the rear end as well as the transmission and a big push is being made to keep this car in the race. Not only to hold it's #20 position on the starting grid, but this is the same car that Gordon won with here in Las Vegas in 2001.

Having mentioned this, my handicapping research leads to continue to bet against Gordon in matchups. Thus far this season, we are 2-0 against Gordon.

My theory that there are only a handful of drivers that are capable of winning ANY given race, has fared well in the past two seasons. Most drivers are cautious, there are also older drivers, they win a smaller percentage of races and they are fazed out of certain teams or given the blocking role rather than the green light to win role. (Last week in the Subway 400 was a prime example, as veteran Mark Martin blocked Kahne during the last caution restart, enabling his teammate Matt Kenseth to gain a greater lead.)

I am convinced drivers such as Martin, Terry LaBonte, Rusty Wallace, Bill Elliot, Sterling Marlin, Jeff Burton and those that have not won in over two years, will not drive home to victory lane in the near future. The best part of following these drivers, is that they still are name recognition drivers with brand name sponsors and we as handicappers get to bet against them, particularly in head to head matchups.

The newer softer tires that wear out faster, grip the track better and are supposed to make passing attractive and exciting to drivers and the NASCAR fans, may be one the most important handicapping factors to bettors. Isn't it obvious that teams must pit more with the newer tires. Matt Kenseth won the Winston Cup Championship last season under the old format of Championship points scoring. He only one race, but led the points standings for most of the season. Why? Well yes, Kenseth is a solid driver, but his pit crew is considered the best in the business. Pit stops become more crucial now than before and teams with rapid times are picking up spots on the field as the race stretches out.

No question, we are at an advantage to bet here in Las Vegas when NASCAR or NHRA comes to town. (If we could bet NHRA weekly, that would be very profitable!) Several sports books post matchups and odds very early in the week for the influx of tourists and race fans that flock to this event. It is sold out with 140,000 fans expected.