Countdown To The Chase: Michigan

Frantic pack racing while Kevin Harvick leads the way at Michigan.

With 4 Races to go, the Race to the Chase is heating up and the next stop for the Sprint Cup drivers is Michigan International Speedway.

This 2-mile track will be the last time the Cup drivers will race here until next June.

Michigan, just like the remainder of the races in the regular season, won't have drivers necessarily race for points. At this stage, it's all about race wins for the Chase.

Basically, your drivers in the Chase are just going for higher seeding when the points reset after Richmond. The more wins a driver has, the higher the driver will be placed in the points. Example would be if one won three races before the chase ,and that's the most out of anyone, that driver will be seeded first.

If not that, drivers gunning for the wildcard will come out firing for the this race and the remainder three. Drivers such as Clint Bowyer (who is winless) needs a win to get one of the two coveted wildcard spots. Denny Hamlin has a win, but two assures himself a spot.

Onto the picks...


Favorites


Matt Kenseth

Roush Fenway Racing are always good here at Michigan and Matt is apart of why. He has the second best average finish (behind Carl Edwards) among active drivers here at 9.5 in 24 starts. Matt was fastest in practice one and seventh in practice two. He has two wins here as well as, two wins on the season. Look for Matt to attempt to advance on his seeding by going for win No. 3 here and on the season.

Greg Biffle

The Biff is one of those drivers vying for a spot in the Chase and he desperately needs a win to have a chance at this point. Like his Roush teammate, he has an impressive resume at Michigan as well with two wins and an average finish of 12.4. He's been one of the best cars in practice. Because of those circumstances, I'm picking the #16 to take home the checkered flag.

Darkhorses


Denny Hamiln

Hamiln is also on the outside looking in with one win on the season, but he needs two to guarantee himself a lock. Hamiln won the first Michigan race this season and is a strong candidate for another. With Biffle and Kenseth standing out before the race, Hamiln is under radar.

Mark Martin

The savvy veteran hasn't had the 2011 he expected, but this is one of those tracks where Mark can capitalize in a big way. In 51 starts, Mark has 5 wins and a average finish of 13.5. Pretty impressive. Mark was in the top 5 in practice one as well as being the fastest in practice two. Indications tell me Mark has something in store for the field come tomorrow.

Kevin Harvick

Quietly, he and Kyle Busch lead the circuit with three wins on the season. He won this event last year leading 60 of the 200 laps. He's been up and down and Michigan, but then again, that's what makes him the perfect darkhorse candidate.

Risktakers


Jimmie Johnson

Now Jimmie isn't terrible at Michigan. In fact, if it wasn't for fuel mileage, he could have won a couple of races here. Instead, he is winless at Michigan. I expect that to continue.  Michigan is a track that has Jimmie's number here - even if he has a race winning car.

David Ragan

He is the only Roush Driver that I wouldn't pick. He only has two top 10's in nine starts here. Not impressive. In fact, he should be much better considering how good his teammates are at this track.


Tune in the Pure Michigan 400 at 1:00 EST on ESPN. I'm betting it'll be another race of lackluster cautions and fuel strategy, but as usual; it's just one man's opinion.



NOTE: I do NOT take credit for this photo.