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With no preseason testing this year at Fontana or Las Vegas, we need to pay attention to the words of Jeff Burton, who finished 32nd last week and said this, "If you don't run well at California, what do you do? You've put all your eggs in this basket based on information you have that has nothing to do with testing, so if you're off, what are you going to do? I think it's important to get off to a good start more so this year than ever because it's going to be hard to recover. It's going to be really hard to recover."

Add in the fact that drivers who've had good finishes at California the past three years usually are in pretty good shape for Las Vegas too. In 2006, of the drivers who finished top-10 in Fontana, seven were top-10 in Vegas. In 2007, that number was six. Last year that number dropped to three, but nine of the drivers who finished in the top 15 in Fontana were in the top 15 in the Nevada desert.

That means the boys from Roush Fenway Racing should be in pretty good shape again this week. The past two years, "Jack's attack" had three of five drivers finish top-10, including two of the first three last season when Carl Edwards won and Greg Biffle finished third. Overall, Roush has won six Sprint Cup races on the 1.5-mile track, winning not only with Edwards, but twice with Matt Kenseth, twice with Jeff Burton and once with Mark Martin. His Fords have also finished second twice and have been third on four occasions, with an average finish over 52 starts of 13.2, suffering only three DNFs.

So, like last week, Roush has five chances to hit "blackjack" again. Going in, all the Roush drivers have a chance to finish in the top 10, and I'd rank them in this order: Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray and David Ragan. I thought Biffle had the fastest car at the end in California, but he shot himself in the foot on the final pit stop. I think he'll be out to redeem himself in a big way. Odds keep building that Kenseth is going to finally get beat this year, but is this the place? In the past six Vegas races, he has two wins, four top-5s and five top-10s. Edwards is the race's defending winner. He was off the mark in Fontana but still managed to finish seventh.

Once again, Roush's toughest challengers might come from the Hendrick Motorsports camp. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon have won at Vegas. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the runner-up in 2008. Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin might also apply some pressure.

Big bucks

If you picked up Carl Edwards (23.6) last week and want to hold on to him, that's probably not a bad play, but I'm concerned "Cousin Carl" was never quite up to speed all weekend at Fontana. One guy with big growth potential, especially over the next two weeks, is Greg Biffle (23.1) and he saves you a few dollars over Edwards or Jimmie Johnson (23.2). I think "The Bif" is a little better play this week than a guy with the same value, Kyle Busch. I also think Denny Hamlin (21.9) offers good value and should be just as good as he was in California.

Serious coin

Down at the next value level, Matt Kenseth (21.0) is the man. Tony Stewart's new team was rock-solid again last week, so I'm sold on him as a potential top-10 car in Vegas, and he has a nice value of 21.7. Jamie McMurray (20.8) is a little iffy to me. He should be fast, but do you take him over Kenseth? Probably not. A little farther down the ladder, Kurt Busch (19.3) is going to be worth a thought or two after he paid off big at Fontana.

Budget boys

I think at least three drivers down here could really help your team. Brian Vickers (17.3) should be good this week and Juan Pablo Montoya (17.3) has a shot to back up his strong California performance. Finishing 14th at Fontana, David Reutimann (16.5) is going to be worth a look. And what about Michael Waltrip (15.2)? He's got a low price and has started off the season with finishes of seventh and 15th.

Debit … not credit

Other than Kurt Busch and maybe Kasey Kahne, you might want to steer clear of the Dodge Boys. I told you going into California they wouldn't look as good as they did at Daytona, and they didn't. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the 2008 Vegas runner-up, but it's been ugly for him the first two races and his value (21.7) is too high to take the gamble. Plus, all four of the RCR cars didn't show much at California. So let's see what Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer and Casey Mears do this week before we get back on their bandwagon.

Garrow's gang

If Mark Martin's engine hadn't blown up last week, I would have been in pretty shape with my other four drivers -- Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch and Juan Pablo Montoya -- in the top-11. Again, this is my "temp" team because race day usually has me adding and subtracting. For instance, last Sunday, after talking to the crew chiefs, my final recommendation for the "floor" pick was Juan Pablo Montoya. So I dropped A.J. Allmendinger to get JPM, and that paid off with JPM 11th and A.J. 28th. For Vegas, I'm going to keep Juan Pablo Montoya (16.8) and I'm also holding on to Denny Hamlin (21.7). I dropped Mark Martin, however, and picked up Brian Vickers again (17.3). That allowed me the money to let Kurt Busch go in favor of Matt Kenseth (21.0). I then took a calculated gamble, releasing Jimmie Johnson for Greg Biffle (23.1).

Mark Garrow covers fantasy racing for ESPN.com.