SI.com's experts weigh in with their predictions for Sunday's race in Brooklyn, Mich.
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LARS
ANDERSON |
MARK
BEECH |
TOM
BOWLES |
| The winner of the 3M Performance 400 will be... |
Matt Kenseth
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Tony Stewart
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Carl Edwards
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| Why? |
| Kenseth's 20-race winless streak will come to an end at what he considers his home track. He won at MIS in June 2006 and since '00 he has more top-five finishes on the two-mile ovals of Michigan and California Speedway than any other driver in NASCAR.
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There was probably some justice in Jeff Gordon spinning out last Sunday in that Stewart's car seemed to be the superior machine. I don't think anybody should bet against the No. 20 at this point, and especially not at Michigan, where he has one win and eight top-five finishes, including four in his last five starts.
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Michigan has been a Ford-dominated facility this decade, with Blue Ovals winning eight of the 15 Cup events held at the track. That puts Edwards in prime position to cash in on a season sweep of the Irish Hills; with three top-10 finishes in his last five races, he clearly has the most momentum of anyone in the Ford Racing stable.
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| Keep an eye on ... |
Jeff Gordon
Gordon has already qualified for the Chase, so this means he can gamble on Sunday with an aggressive setup and on fuel mileage.
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Carl Edwards
As Tom Bowles noted in the latest edition of Power Rankings, Edwards, and not Matt Kenseth, is the No. 1 driver at Roush right now. He won at Michigan last June and has four top-five finishes there in six starts.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
After last week's engine gone south at Watkins Glen, this becomes a critical weekend for the No. 8 team, in desperate need to right a suddenly sinking ship. Riding a streak of three consecutive top-6 finishes at Michigan, Junior's going to have to extend that to four to take his Chase chances off life support.
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| Don't expect much from ... |
Kasey Kahne
Kahne's woebegone season won't get much better on Sunday. Though he won this race a year ago, he finished 32nd at Michigan in June and he only has two top-10 finishes this year.
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Jeff Burton
He used to run well at Michigan, but not lately, having finished outside of the top-10 there in ever race the first run of 2002. Burton's going to make the Chase, but he needs to start showing he can win if he's going to contend for a championship.
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Juan Pablo Montoya
Montoya would like nothing more than to one-up new rival Kevin Harvick with a strong finish at Michigan ... but in June, he lasted just 67 laps before pancaking his Dodge against the Turn 3 three wall. Calling it his worst race of his rookie season, this track has shown it doesn't suit Montoya's driving style ... yet.
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| Mythical SI.com Cup |
TOTAL POINTS: 2,930
Last week: 190 (Tony Stewart) |
TOTAL POINTS: 2,934
Last week: 46 (Juan Pablo Montoya) |
TOTAL POINTS: 3,153
Last week: 148 (Jeff Gordon) |
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