Fantasy NASCAR Preview: Michigan

Johnson looked great in June, leading 65 laps before finishing 6th. He has led in all but one event since then and also won in Indianapolis. He was 3rd in Pocono and 2nd in Chicago. With tons of positive momentum on his side and his rich history on the 2 mile ovals (win in California in '07, 2nd place this year, 3rd last spring, 2nd in 2006) he may pull off a Hendrick sweep of Michigan.

Edwards won in Fontana and was 7th in Michigan in June. He was also 2nd in Fontana in the fall 2007 event. He won the June 2007 race at Michigan after leading 63 laps and was 7th in the second event there. You can't go wrong with a guy that strong on the 2 mile ovals (a Roush trademark). He won in Pocono a few weeks ago, so it isn't like the team has fallen off its game recently.

Kenseth is due for a win and needs one badly to stay in Chase contention. The former Cup Champ has a solid history on the 2 mile ovals. He was 3rd after leading 41 laps here in June and was 5th at Fontana in February. He won the first race at California last year after leading 133 laps. In 2006, he had victories at both Michigan and Fontana.

Stewart has 9 top 5's in 19 starts at Michigan after his 5th place run in June. He was 7th at Fontana in February and after barely missing at Watkins Glen, he is still searching for win number one. He's definitely a notch below Johnson and the Roush group this weekend though.

Earnhardt won via fuel mileage in June and had finishes of 5th and 12th last season. There are stronger drivers, but he's definitely one of the tops classified in the B group.

Busch was 4th at Fontana and 13th in Michigan. If he has any type of kryptonite it would have to be the long speedways without restrictor plates. While he's perfectly capable of winning, if you can only use him 9 times (like with Yahoo) I'd try and save him up for some of his better tracks.

Kahne has won at both Michigan and Fontana in the past and he scored a 2nd place finish in June at Michigan. He is riding a couple of top 10's at Fontana as well and should be a solid class B option for your roster this weekend.

Vickers was 4th and led 44 laps in June, a truly sensational run for Team Red Bull. He was also 2nd in Pocono and 11th in Fontana. He is most definitely the top class C choice this weekend. He may be the first non-Gibbs Toyota driver to win.

Gordon was 3rd at Fontana but just 18th in Michigan in June. While he's always a threat to win, there are better class A choices this weekend.

Harvick was 8th at Fontana and 12th in Michigan. Because he is in the class A group, there is no reason to consider him this weekend.

Truex did not perform that well in Michigan in June, finishing 17th. However, he was highly competitive last week in Watkins Glen and has made a renewed commitment to DEI. He was 6th in Fontana and was 2nd in both races at Michigan last season. He may be a sleeper pick in the class B group.

Biffle has had a solid history at Michigan with 2 wins and 6 top 10's in 11 starts. Unlike his other teammates, he hasn't proven to be capable of dominating these tracks this season (20th in Michigan, 15th in Fontana). However, I still think the odds are he should be a pretty good class B pick.