It's a beautiful day in the Irish Hills of Michigan.  The forecast is for a sunny afternoon near Detroit and a high of 75 degrees, perfect weather for 400 miles at Michigan International Speedway.  Situated just outside of Detroit in Brooklyn, Michigan, MIS is the track where every manufacturer wants to go to victory lane if for nothing more than bragging rights until the next visit to the track.  The Motor City may be struggling, and they may still be busy booing Pittsburgh (had to get that little jab in), but the race must go on.

This year, MIS celebrates 40 years.  The first race was run 40 years ago tomorrow, and was won by Cale Yarborough.  A fact I find quite surprising for this track is that there has NEVER been a first-time winner here before!  Michigan is a wide and fast track, not quite as wide as Pocono, but wide enough that 3 a-breast on the straightaways is no problem whatsoever.  Because of how wide this track is and how easily you can race side-by-side, MIS has seen caution free races before, and it's not hard to do at this place.  Fuel mileage often comes into play at the end of the race here, as was the case last year when Dale Jr. crossed the finish line running on fumes.

One of the best bets for a winner here is to pick a Roushketeer.  This has been a "House of Roush" for a long time.  Mark Martin is a 4-time Michigan winner, winning all those for Jack Roush in the '90s, and a Roush driver has won one of the two Michigan races for the last 7 years.

A great victory came in this race back in 1997, when Ernie Irvan won his final Winston Cup race.  It was a bittersweet victory for Irvan because it was at Michigan in August of 1994 where he suffered a life-threatening crash in practice, and came back to conquer the track that nearly killed him.

So with all that in mind, who's the pick to win?

My Pick: Carl Edwards - Edwards hasn't exactly lit the world on fire last year, but he won the last time NASCAR was in Michigan last August.  He'll have to start 29th, but don't expect him to stay there for long.  As I mentioned, the streak for a Roushketeer winning at Michigan is at 7.

Dark Horse: A.J. Allmendinger - Allmendinger starts in the top 10.  The last time I picked him as a dark horse was the Daytona 500, and he damn near won the thing, finishing 3rd.  He starts 6th for this race, and I don't think that's a fluke.

Brian Vickers is on the pole, Mark Martin is way back in 32nd for the start, last week's winner and series points leader Tony Stewart just missed a top 10 starting spot and will roll off 11th, and let's all try not to fall asleep listening to Bill Webber.

This is your official open race thread to discuss the happenings before, during, and after the race