Rusty Jarrett / Getty Images file

Kevin Harvick's long and successful history at Phoenix International Raceway should work in his favor in Saturday night's Nextel Cup race at the desert one-mile oval, writes Johnny Benson of MSNBC.com.

Johnny Benson

Harvick swept the Cup races at this venue a year ago, and he'll look to again make it to Victory Lane in the desert though this time it will be with the Car of Tomorrow, which after two short-track events makes its first run at a one-mile layout.

Working in Harvick's favor
He's shown impressive consistency at Phoenix where his two wins and three top-five finishes in eight Nextel Cup starts tell only part of the story. In his past four races at this one-mile oval he's turned the fastest lap 103 times. Only Greg Biffle has bettered that.

At this desert layout, Harvick leads in driver rating (114.7), average running position (6.043), and laps in the top 15 (1,140). In his two Phoenix wins last year, the 31-year-old native of Bakersfield, Calif. led for a combined 262 laps.

His average starting position is 14.4, and his average finishing position is 14.5, and he's completed all but 16 laps in his eight Phoenix Cup races. Harvick also won a Busch race and was second in another at Phoenix last year.

His Phoenix success has to do somewhat with his growing up racing a lot at this venue. He has a long history at Phoenix, and that makes him very comfortable racing in the desert. Harvick's coming off disappointing results at Martinsville and Texas so the timing is perfect for a run at Phoenix where he hopes his fortunes prove much better than they have in his last two races.

Other drivers to watch
One of Harvick's teammates at Richard Childress Racing, Jeff Burton, runs very well at Phoenix and he can contend for the win. The veteran will run a chassis that he tested at Richmond International Raceway earlier this month.

Burton has made 13 starts at Phoenix resulting in two wins, five top-fives, and eight top-10s. He also won a Busch Series race at this track in 2000. Phoenix is a track Burton loves racing at.

The two organizations that seem to have a leg up on adapting to the Car of Tomorrow are Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing.

Slideshow   The Week in Sports Pictures A kayaker flips out, a racehorse eyes the Triple Crown and more. more photos

From the Hendrick group Kyle Busch is a legitimate threat to win, and he should take a top-five car into the race. In 2005 Busch came home eighth in this event, and then won at Phoenix in the fall race. Last year, however, was a different story for the 21-year-old. Bad luck struck him twice in the desert.

Busch won the pole for the April race, but he got caught up in a wreck and wound up finishing 36th. Misfortune also found him in the fall race and he placed 38th.

Two of Busch's teammates, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, are also going to be shooting for Victory Lane. Gordon captured the Phoenix pole by turning a lap of 133.136.

Though never having won at Phoenix, the four-time Cup champion has captured two poles, and posted seven top-fives and 13 top-10s.

He has completed all but three laps at this oval since his rookie season of 1993. And Gordon's done quite well in his two starts in the COT, finishing third at Bristol and second at Martinsville.

Johnson drove his COT to a 16th at Bristol and a win at Martinsville, but last week he wrecked at Texas and wound up 38th. That ended a stretch where over five weeks he scored three wins and four top-fives. At Phoenix he'll run the same chassis that won at Martinsville.

In seven starts in the desert the defending Cup champion has completed all 2,187 laps. He has an average starting position of 15.1, and an average finishing position of 7.7. He has led 113 laps at Phoenix.

Tony Stewart, who drives for Gibbs, has to be figured into the group of top contenders. In 10 Phoenix starts, Stewart has one win, four top-fives, and six top-10s. That win came back in 1999 so Stewart is itching to get back to Victory Lane in the desert.

Denny Hamlin, who is a teammate of Stewart's, should be a factor in this 312-mile test and he should produce a good run, but he isn't the huge threat to win that Stewart is. Hamlin qualified third with a time of 132.567.