Congratulations to Kurt Busch who played the fuel game and won the rain delayed race at Pocono this past Monday. He beat Dale Earnhardt Jr. by just over a second on the 2.5-mile triangular shaped speedway to pick up his first win of the season and qualify himself for the Chase. We now have nine drivers who have wins on the seasons and there are twelve more races before the Chase begins to settle the final seven spots.
FIREKEEPERS CASINO 400
This week the series heads to the Michigan International Speedway for the running of the FireKeepers Casino 400. Michigan is a two-mile moderately banked D-shaped oval that is very similar to California Speedway. This race will go to the driver who can carry their speed out of the corners and pick up even more as they head down the long straightaways. This race is often won by fuel mileage just like the race last weekend, so don’t be sure the best car and driver are going to win this weekend.
Matt Kenseth: I am picking Matt to win his second race of the season this weekend in Michigan. Matt has three career wins at this track with the last of those wins coming last fall. He has also finished in the top five fourteen times, and the top ten twenty times in his thirty-three starts here. The way the JGR cars have been running this season, I think Matt will be the class of the field by the end of the race.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: After almost winning the race at Pocono last week, this team is feeling better about how they are running on the track now. Michigan is another of those tracks where Dale will run the high line and carry his speed out of the corners like I said you need to do to win here and he is one of the best at doing that. This is one of those tracks where if this team stays out of trouble in the pits and on the track early in the race they will have a good shot at picking up their first win of the season.
Kurt Busch: Kurt has also won three races at this track and carries the momentum from last Monday’s win into this weekend. However, Kurt is a feast or famine driver at this track and has only two top ten finishes in his last eleven starts which includes one of his wins. I think there are better tracks to use Kurt at than Michigan and he will win more races before the end of the season.
Carl Edwards: Carl has two win, nine top five, and sixteen top ten finishes in only twenty-three starts here. This team has two wins on the season and might be one of the teams to take a chance on fuel to win their third race of the season. If they have a fast car that can compete for the win they will play it safe, but if they have a car that they don’t think is good enough to win straight up they will take some chances with their decisions.
Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie won his first race here in June of 2014. He has lead more laps at this track than any other active driver, yet he hasn’t come away with the finishes one would think they should have. With only five top five finishes and eleven top ten finishes in twenty-eight starts there are much better tracks to take your chance with Jimmie on. I will hold off on using his starts until he goes somewhere he drives consistently better.
Joey Logano: Joey won his first and only race at this track in August of 2013. He has nine top ten finishes in fourteen career starts at this track and this team always seems to run well on this type of track. I think this team will be fast during qualifying and will be a contender all day long with a chance to pull out a win at the end of the race and get themselves qualified for the Chase.
Martin Truex Jr.: This is the type of track where Martin really excels and he could come away with his second win of the season after the way he dominated the race at Charlotte a couple of weeks ago. Michigan is known for its long green-flag runs and if you have a dominant car you can put three-quarters of the field a lap down and reduce your competition. It makes for a boring race, but that is what all drivers are trying to do.
Brad Keselowski: Brad is still looking for his first win at this track, but the Penske drivers are second only to the Joe Gibbs drivers in having consistently fast, great handling cars on a consistent basis this year. Brad has three top five and six top ten finishes in his thirteen starts at this track and he has finished in the top fifteen in his last nine starts at Michigan.
Kevin Harvick: Let’s not forget about Kevin. The way Kevin has run at this track the past three seasons he is going to be the driver that will give Matt the most competition for this week’s win. Kevin has finished second five times in the last six races he has run here. While he only led laps in two of those races, this team knows how to get the most out of their car and knows when its time to go at the end of a race.
Greg Biffle: Greg leads all active drivers with four wins at this track with the last two not coming that long ago with one win in 2012 and one in 2013. If the Roush/Fenway drivers are getting better we will be able to tell this weekend by the way Greg practices and qualifies even before the green flag waves. If he has any type of speed at all I look for him to run in the top ten most of the day. If they still can’t find any speed, they are in for another long remainder of the season.
YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
Yahoo Driver Group A
- Matt Kenseth
- Kevin Harvick
Yahoo Driver Group B
- Carl Edwards
- Kasey Kahne
- Paul Menard
- Greg Biffle
Yahoo Driver Group C
- Chase Elliott
- Ryan Blaney
MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
- Matt Kenseth
- Kevin Harvick
- Joey Logano
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Carl Edwards
Dark Horse: Paul Menard
Stay Away From: Jamie McMurray
Big 18: Matt Kenseth