This week the Nextel Cup Series heads to Michigan for the Citizen's Bank 400.  Held in the scenic Irish Hills of Brooklyn, the Michigan International Speedway provides the drivers with three to four grooves of racing, which means plenty of side by side racing for 200 laps.  When it comes racing at Michigan, horsepower is the number one key.  A 2 mile track with 3 wide racing will test a drivers engine program, so keep an eye on that when making your picks for this weekend. 

Obviously Hendrick will be up towards the front but dont forget about the Roush cars, they actually have a better collective effort at this track, even though they've struggled this season as a group.  A good qualifying effort also seems critical to winning this race, as statistics show that out of the 75 races run in the track's history, only 6 times has a winner come from 20th or more.  In fact, most of the winners come from the top 5, 67% to be exact.  Pit strategy and the pit crews will be huge at this track as well, especially when it comes towards the end of the race.  We saw this last week when Jeff Gordon and company took a risk late that ultimately led to them winning the race.  The driver who has a great engine package, qualifies well and who has a pit crew that is consistently good on pit stops will have the best shot of winning this race.

Fantasy racing speaking, Matt Kenseth has the best overall finish in the past 10 races run at Michigan.  He has two wins, 6 top 10's and his worse finish is 13th.  He will no doubt be Roush's best chance for a win this weekend.  Greg Biffle has also has some success at this track with 2 wins and 5 straight top 10's.  He could be a darkhorse for this race if you feel like saving some of the bigger names in group A in the yahoo racing leagues.  Surprisingly, Hendrick Motorsports has struggled on this track, with Jeff Gordon having the best average finish at 14.8.  That said, they are hot right now and you cant go wrong at this point by taking any Hendrick driver.

Others to Watch

Denny Hamlin - For those looking for a Sophomore slump, Hamlin hasnt shown any.  If you have plenty of starts in group B with him, I suggest using him

Ryan Newman - the other "Hot" driver in group B, qualifies well and has two wins at this track

Martin Truex Jr. - back to back top 5's, definitely worth a look as a 3rd option for Group B

Kyle Busch - now that it's been announced that Busch will be replaced in 2008 by Dale Earnhardt Jr, all eyes will be on what Busch will do.  I think he'll go all out and try to prove that Rick Hendrick made a mistake, while winning some races along the way.

Tony Stewart - top 10's in 7 of the last 10 races at Michigan, including 5 top 5's. 

Reed Sorenson - as far as stats go, he's the best option in group C, has raced Michigan twice and finished 5th and 8th

What the experts think

My pick - Kenseth - Michigan has never really been a Chevy track, and Kenseth has the numbers to back up the theory that Fords dominate on this 2 mile oval.  With Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards, this is Roush's best track to try and turn things around this year

Sleeper - Kasey Kahne - won this race last year, has 4 top 5's in 6 trips to Michigan.  With 5 straight top 20 performances overall, Kahne can now be taken as a serious contender, especially on a track like this.

(Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)