Johnny Benson

Since June of last year Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been knocking on the door to a win at Michigan International Speedway. It shouldn't surprise then that on Sunday Junior's my pick to get to Victory Lane in the Nextel Cup race at the two-mile oval in Brooklyn, Mich.  

Working in Junior's favor
Well for one thing he's due for some good luck and good fortune given what's gone against him of late. Last Sunday at Watkins Glen International a blown engine relegated him to a next-to-last finish. That dropped him to 14th in the standings, 100 points out of the 12th and final spot for qualifying for the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship with four races to go before the cutoff for making the playoff.

Three days after leaving Watkins Glen Junior found out he will not be taking his familiar No. 8 with him when he moves from Dale Earnhardt Inc. to Hendrick Motorsports next season. That number is special to Junior since his late grandfather, Ralph, used No. 8 in his racing days and Junior took it when he began competing in the Cup Series in 1999.

Teams don't own numbers. Instead they lease them through NASCAR, but DEI had the first right of refusal on the No. 8, and Hendrick officials couldn't work out a deal that would have made DEI pass on keeping the number for next year.

So at Michigan Junior will try and clear his mind of all things but winning the 400-mile race. A couple of months ago Junior crossed the checkers fifth in the first Cup race of the year at Michigan. That was his third straight solid result at this intermediate track, following finishes of third and sixth in 2006.  

At Michigan Junior and his team have hit on something and that's allowed him to put the hammer down and compete for wins. It's no surprise that the chassis to be used on Sunday will be the one that has brought so much success to the No. 8 Chevrolet at Michigan the last couple of years. 

Other drivers to watch
Tony Stewart is on another one of his red-hot summer streaks. He's won three of the last four races. The two-time Cup champion's lone finish outside of Victory Lane was a sixth-place result Aug. 5 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.

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Stewart has seven top-three finishes at Michigan, the most recent of those coming a couple of months ago when he came home third. Overall, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has 11 top-10s in his 17 career Cup starts at Michigan, with an average result of 13th. He has finished in the top-10 in eight of his last 10 races at Michigan.

Last Sunday at Watkins Glen International Jeff Gordon looked to have the race won until he spun from the lead with less than two laps remaining. He recovered well enough for a top-10 result (finishing ninth), but he has vowed to his team that he will make up for the mishap, and his aim is to do that by winning at Michigan, where in 29 starts the four-time Cup champion has two wins, four poles, 15 top-fives and 20 top-10s. Gordon has his crew chief  Steve Letarte back after a six-race suspension.

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Carl Edwards is very fond of Michigan, which he says is his second favorite track next to Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. And it's no wonder why the Roush Racing driver feels this way. Michigan is where Edwards made his first Cup start, where he made his 100th Cup start, and where last June he snapped a 52-race winless streak with a victory after leading a race-high 63 laps. Edwards is primed to go for the season sweep at Michigan.

Finishing second to Edwards at Michigan earlier this year was Martin Truex Jr., who should make a solid run at a top-five result on Sunday. The DEI driver is attempting to make the Chase for the first time, and being 11th in points the pressure will be on him over the next four weeks to run consistently well and record top-10 finishes.

Kevin Harvick really enjoys racing at Michigan, where in 13 Cup starts he has two top-fives and five top-10s. Harvick and Jeff Burton drive for Richard Childress Racing, which over the years at Michigan boasts 15 top-fives and 34 top-10s with seven different drivers.

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