ESPN Sprint Cup

LAS VEGAS -- Whenever a rookie driver ascends to the pinnacle of stock car racing, one of the first things he's met with is skepticism from both Nextel Cup fans and fellow drivers alike.

Can he truly match fenders with the sport's best? Can he stay out of trouble? Does he have the intelligence to move over and let faster -- and more veteran -- drivers go by when they're barking at his tail? Does he know his place in the grand scheme of things?

But invariably, those questions boil down to just one simple query: Does he belong?

Judging from early returns this year -- and especially after Friday's qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway -- this year's touted crop of rookies do indeed belong.

Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway could be the biggest race for all rookie drivers thus far, and remember, Kasey Kahne finished second by a whisker to Matt Kenseth at Rockingham.

The breakout in Las Vegas has come in qualifying, with three of the top eight starters being first-year Cup drivers -- Kahne on the pole, 20-year-old Brian Vickers in third, and Brendan Gaughan eighth.

"I enjoyed this track when we raced here last year (in the Busch Series)," Kahne said. "It's similar to a few other tracks we go to. It's a good racetrack and there's a lot of racing room. You can carry a lot of speed around here. It's definitely a fun track.

"I thought my first year in Busch that this was one of the tougher tracks we went to. I felt it was one of my worst tracks. I think I've picked up some as a driver. The cars slide around a lot more. It's pretty cool when they slide around as long as they don't come out from under you."

Kahne proved his Rockingham performance was not a fluke. After struggling in his first qualifying lap, Kahne fired perhaps the biggest shot of the day, not only grabbing the pole but also setting a track record of 174.904 mph. Stunningly, the lap was more than 4 mph faster than his first lap (170.767 mph). And, had his No. 9 Dodge not wiggled coming off Turn 4 on the second and final qualifying lap, Kahne may have been able to crack 175 mph.

As for Vickers, the defending Busch Series champ and highly-touted Cup rookie has not had the kind of start that he or Hendrick Motorsports had in mind. After crashing a third of the way through the Daytona 500, Vickers came back to finish 16th at Rockingham, moving up 10 points in the standings to 29th.

Like many of this year's rookies, Vickers considers racing on 1½-mile tracks one of his biggest strengths, as evidenced by Friday's qualifying effort. If he is to get back into the Rookie of the Year chase in a big way, he needs to pull off a top-10 finish Sunday. In fact, given Vickers' penchant for success on mid-range tracks, don't be surprised if he goes out and wins the whole thing this weekend.

"These kind of racetracks are good for the youth, for the youthful enthusiasm and not knowing when to lift," Vickers joked Friday after his qualifying burst.

And then there was Gaughan's stout eighth-place run on Friday, which was something both he and the team needed. The Las Vegas native and outspoken rookie has not been happy with his performances in the first two races (19th at Daytona, 20th at Rockingham). Gaughan, currently 22nd in the standings, has quickly learned in his first two starts that speed isn't the only thing that's important in NASCAR racing. So, too, is patience.

"I love being at home," Gaughan said. "I actually got cheers. I feel like Dale Jr. It was a heck of a lap. We weren't that good in practice, so & we had a little meeting after practice, rolled the dice, and that's what Vegas is all about. Sometimes you just have to hold your breath and go. I did the best I could. It'll be awesome starting in the top-10 here Sunday."

Another impressive young qualifier was Kyle Busch, whose older brother Kurt took the second spot behind Kahne for Sunday's race.

Although not technically considered a rookie because he's not racing a full Cup season this year, the precocious 18-year-old Busch qualified 18th and was the object of a great deal of attention Friday, as many wondered if he'd live up his billing.

While Sunday's race will be one of only six regular-season events that Hendrick Motorsports has planned for Busch, who probably won't move full-time to Cup until next season or even 2006, a strong run on his home track Sunday could establish some kind of timeline for him and his future Cup career.

Count Kyle's older brother and young gun role model Kurt as not surprised at the rookie excellence at LVMS.

"It's great to see, all the young guys in general, plus the veterans are doing well," Kurt Busch said. "Whether it's luck, preparation or whether it's the young drivers having great opportunities from team owners and sponsors, where they want to see the young crowd win right away."

As for the other three rookies, Scott Riggs qualified 15th on Friday, Johnny Sauter was 30th and Scott Wimmer failed to qualify on time, but made the field on a provisional start.

If anybody needs a good showing Sunday, it's Riggs. Having replaced veteran driver Johnny Benson behind the wheel of the No. 10 Chevrolet, Riggs has had nothing but bad luck in his first two Nextel Cup races. He was knocked out by a crash halfway through the Daytona 500, and then struggled to a 31st-place finish at Rockingham, finishing 10 laps down to the winning Kenseth.

"It's easy to get discouraged, especially for someone like me," Riggs said. "We came out of the box in our first two Cup races and got caught up in bad luck, and then just absolutely missing (a good set-up on his car) at Rockingham and having two bad finishes in a row, it's easy to get down. But the weekend off was good for me, just to sit back and focus and reflect and remember that you've got to put that stuff behind you."

One rookie who doesn't need to forget the first two races is Wimmer. Of all the rookies, Wimmer has arguably been the biggest surprise thus far. After being arrested for DUI just a couple weeks before the start of season, Wimmer ran third at Daytona and currently sits fourth in the Cup standings.

While he didn't do himself any favors during Friday's qualifying, Wimmer seems to relish working his way back up through the field, as can be evidenced by his 26th-place start at Daytona and 31st at Rockingham.

If qualifying results carry over at all to Sunday's race, the newest crop of young guns could be making a big splash earlier than most imagined.

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Motorsportwriter@MSN.com.