BREAKTHROUGH: YOUNG DRIVERS READY FOR THEIR BIG BREAK INCOMING ROOKIES PREPARED TO TAKE NEXT STEP THIS SEASON.

Byline: Jeff Gluck Staff Writer

Two years ago, it was Kasey Kahne. Last year, it was Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle.

This season will be a breakout year for some driver, whether it be Hendrick Motorsports youngsters Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers, new Roush Racing driver Jamie McMurray or one of the talented rookies such as Denny Hamlin.

Few would have picked Roush teammates Edwards and Biffle to tie for second place in the Nextel Cup standings heading into 2005, but the pair was able to combine for 10 wins, an overplayed Subway sandwiches commercial (Biffle) and a handful of backflips (Edwards).

Busch is probably the surest bet to make the next big leap. He won two races last year - at California Speedway in September and Phoenix in November - and snatched the Fontana pole one year ago this week.

Busch finished the season 20th in points last year but was wildly inconsistent. He didn't finish eight races, but had nine top-five showings.

In the last three races of the year, for example, Busch finished 40th, first and 41st.

``He's done amazing things in the car,'' Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson said. ``I think we take for granted that he is, what, 20 (years old). He has a lot of great years ahead of him. He has a lot of speed, and I think he's definitely more than a dark horse.''

The same might be said for Vickers, who hasn't won a Cup race but showed promise last year during a mid-summer stretch in which he recorded five top 10s in an eight-race stretch, including third-place finishes at Fontana and Indianapolis.

But other than that, Vickers has yet to live up to the expectations placed on any driver who works for a powerhouse team like Hendrick Motorsports.

``If we can continue or slightly improve from where we were, we will be up where we want and need to be,'' Vickers said. ``There are races we should have won, but we didn't.''

McMurray is another example of unfulfilled promise. In 2002, McMurray won his second career start while filling in for Sterling Marlin.

He hasn't won again.

Of the drivers who currently race for an organization that fields three or more teams, McMurray's 113-race drought is the second longest, behind Daytona 500 polesitter Jeff Burton (149).

But this year, McMurray moves from Chip Ganassi to Roush Racing, which is considered by many to be the sport's strongest organization. And McMurray's team is the same one that went to Victory Lane three times last season with Kurt Busch.

Naturally, there's pressure that will accompany McMurray's arrival to Roush if he fails to win races. McMurray said it's no different than how he felt at Ganassi.

``The fact that all of my teammates have won last year and the team I'm with has won, I don't know that I view it as pressure, because for me everyone in the garage area has that,'' McMurray said. ``Whether they're in a car that's capable of winning or not, they all want to (win), and there's pressure to win.''

Other drivers to keep an eye on include Hamlin - who claimed a surprising victory in the exhibition Budweiser Shootout two weeks ago at Daytona - and the members of a talented rookie class that includes Clint Bowyer and two-time Busch Series champion Martin Truex Jr.