- In recent history, Michigan is the House that Jack Roush built. Roush drivers have dominated this track in recent years. Here is a list of Roush drivers that have won at Michigan: Mark Martin (twice), Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth(twice), Greg Biffle(twice), Carl Edwards (twice). (Busch won in 2003 while driving the #97 Ford for Roush. Martin has won three times total.)
- The tide is slowly starting to change on that. Hendrick Motorsports drivers have won two of the last three Michigan races (Mark Martin earlier in the season, and Dale Earnhardt Jr last season).
- Michigan is near the home of the Big Three, and there is extra incentive for the manufacturers to win the race. Bragging rights, perhaps?
- This race is key for drivers that are eighth through 14th in the points standings: Kasey Kahne (8th), Ryan Newman (9th), Greg Biffle (10th), Mark Martin (11th), Matt Kenseth (12th), Kyle Busch (13th), and Brian Vickers (14th). All these drivers must have very solid runs tomorrow. Any slip-ups or bad runs, particularly by Busch and Vickers, and their Chase chances just got a lot more remote.
- Look for the usual suspects to have good runs tomorrow: Edwards, Martin, Biffle, Jimmie Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart.
- By taking the green flag, Stewart becomes the first driver this season to clinch a Chase spot.
- Also, look for someone surprising to have a solid run, someone you don't usually think of.
- Unlike last year, the race for the top 35 is pretty well set. Scott Speed currently is in 35th, and John Andretti is 47 points back in 36th. You have to go just over 300 points down to see David Gilliland in 37th. Even then, the battle between Speed and Andretti could be more interesting than the race to the championship. I say Speed holds on to the 35th spot, guaranteeing him a spot in the field for the first five races of the 2010 season.
Predicted Race Winner: Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya wins on an oval for the first time in his career, and greatly solidifies his position to make his first Chase. Michigan is somewhat similar to Indy, and Montoya ran very well at Indy until the gaffe.
6 comments:
Nice post as always Jon.
I am feeling an Edwards victory for the first time in 2009. The third place finish last week will give him a confidence boost...
Busch won't make too much progress in the standings this weekend; that will be next week at Bristol...
Nice G-n-G Jon. I dunno about Montoya's team being able to do the fuel mileage like some of the other usual suspects. He should be in it though.
Hopefully we race on SUNDAY!! I would be thrilled just to SEE someone win...LOL
Gonger, thanks. You can't go wrong by picking Edwards to win. He won this race last year. I thought about that as well, but in the end I went with JPM. My dark horse is Bill Elliott.
Kristen, thanks. If it doesn't come down to fuel mileage, I'd go with JPM. But if it does come down to fuel mileage, I'd go with HMS or maybe Denny Hamlin. I'm HOPING we'll see a race on Sunday! I'm SICK of these rainouts already!
Now wait a minute.. Let us not forget MWR ( MikeY W. Racing).
Ok Mikey doesn't stand a chance of winning him self but you got Reuterman and Ambrose that could be the upset of the season. They have been comming on strong in many of the races. We just got to be sure J.J has another bad week. Wonder if robbie G. is up to another assinine showing of his temper.
I like the JPM pick...but like Gonger, I think Edwards will break out this weekend.
Photogr, Ambrose has been turning it around. Unfortunately it's too late for him to make the Chase, but he can lay a strong foundation for next year and beyond. Ditto with Reutimann.
Gene, thanks. Edwards is due, and this is a track that he runs very well at. It wouldn't surprise me if he does win tomorrow.
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