With the NASCAR Sprint Cup teams heading to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s Shelby American, here are some early season story lines, with 2 of 36 races in the books for 2010.

With great start to the season by Kevin Harvick and the rest of Richard Childress Racing, they are trying to make the 2009 a thing of the past, and is wasting no time doing so. After two races this season, Kevin Harvick is the series points leader, Clint Bowyer is second and Jeff Burton is fifth.

This follows Sunday’s race at Auto Club Speedway where Harvick and Burton finished 2-3, with Bowyer eighth. Now all RCR needs is a victory. Harvick’s winless streak is up to 109 races. Burton has gone 43 races without a win, while Bowyer has gone 64.

  

Kurt and Kyle Busch head to their home town, Kyle Busch is the defending champion of Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Shelby American. Kurt comes into this week’s race 11th in the series standings while Kyle is 13th.

It’s early in the season. But it’s just doesn’t seem right to see Jeff Gordon outside the top 20 at any point in the season.

After starting the season with two finishes outside the top 15, Gordon is in 21st in points. Just like a race at Auto Club Speedway came at the perfect time for Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson, an event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway should lift Gordon.

Scott Speed is 15th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver points standings, while Paul Menard is 18th.

Both of those drivers are positioning their teams to be in the top 35 of car owner standings after the fifth week of the season. After Week 5, automatic starting spots are given to the top 35 teams. For the first five weeks, the final 2009 owner points are used.

Speed is being forced to qualify for races on time to start this year, since his team finished 36th in the 2009 owner standings.

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