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Tony Stewart's hot start to the season could get even hotter on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where he is a top threat to win the Sprint Cup race, writes Johnny Benson of MSNBC.com.

I look for dominant runs by the Richard Childress Racing cars of Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer. With the exception of Atlanta, the RCR cars for the most part have performed well at the mile-and-a-half tracks.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. should contend for a top-10 finish or better. Junior and his team at Hendrick Motorsports are anxious to get back on the track and run well after an early wreck at California dealt them a 40th-place result.

My darkhorse is Kasey Kahne, who likes the changes made to this layout and who does well at the mile-and-a-half tracks. Kahne always runs the top groove, which works very well at Las Vegas. He’ll be one of the first drivers to go up top and that should benefit him later in the race.

Keys to success at Las Vegas
Las Vegas is nowhere near the track it used to be after the whole place underwent a facelift two years ago. Since the Cup drivers have a race under their belts since the changes were made their experience from last year should pay off in an interesting race on Sunday.

The banking on the frontstretch and backstretch is nine degrees, and the banking in the corners is 20 degrees. Expect speeds to climb and the track to be faster as the banking should help the cars carry extra speed entering the corners. The racing should improve significantly, and look for side-by-side racing to increase.

I ran a Craftsman Truck Series race at Las Vegas in the fall of 2006 -- the first event held at the track after the banking was added and the resurfacing completed -- and there was more side-by-side racing. Look for that trend to continue.

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With the length of the Cup race (400 miles) even though the surface is less than two years old there will develop multiple grooves to run in. There certainly will be at least two-groove racing.

Last year fans attending this race got a treat which those on hand on Sunday will also experience as pit road has been moved much closer to the stands. This is unique not only for the fans -- who really get a good look at all the excitement and pressure that comes with pitting -- but for the drivers as well.

What they didn't change about pit road is how tough it is to enter under a green flag. It's quite challenging as a sharp turn is needed to get off the track and into the pits. And with the banking that's been added, the speed of the cars will be faster and so that only increases the difficulty of pitting under green.