Jimmie Johnson has everything clicking and even though he has never won at Michigan International Speedway, he's my favorite to win Sunday's Nextel Cup race at the two-mile track, which lends itself to high-speed, side-by-side racing. 

WORKING IN
JOHNSON'S FAVOR
Johnson is on such a roll that even a mistake by a pit-road official could not keep him from Victory Lane at Pocono Raceway last Sunday.

The human error nearly robbed Johnson of the win, but his dominant No. 48 Chevrolet made up the ground unfairly lost due to the mistake -- which was not corrected.

Johnson led a race-high 126 laps, staving off a challenge by runner-up Jeremy Mayfield.

It was the ninth win of Johnson's brief Cup career and his third victory of the season -- the others coming at Darlington and Charlotte.

Johnson has finished fourth or better in six of his last seven races, the exception being at Dover International Speedway on June 6, when he got caught up in a big wreck.

He has missed the top 10 in just four races this season.

He's in second place in the championship standings, having closed to within 58 points of leader Dale Earnhardt Jr.

On May 2 at California Speedway, a track similar to MIS, Johnson ran strong, finishing second to Jeff Gordon.

He'll be looking to build off that as he had a pair of disappointing results last year at MIS, placing 16th and 27th.

DRIVERS TO WATCH
Jeff Gordon took third in this race a year ago and he runs extremely well at MIS, with finishes of seventh or better in 16 of his 22 races at the D-shaped oval.

Gordon has two wins at MIS (1998 and 2001) and he's had the lead in 15 races at the track.

He's won three poles at MIS, all of them coming in this event.

Kurt Busch is the defending champion in this race.

Busch led 43 laps on the way to that win a year ago.

In each of his last four MIS races, Busch has led for 23 laps or more.

Earlier in his career, Busch struggled at this track, posting three DNFs in his first four Cup starts at MIS.

He has turned that around and I feel he can't be counted out of any MIS race.

Ryan Newman, who grew up in South Bend, Ind., will have strong fan support at MIS, where he's had two top-five finishes in four career Cup starts.

Newman won the race last August at MIS, where he has also shown himself to be a strong qualifier.

Tony Stewart is one of four drivers to be ranked all season and he won in 2000 at MIS, where he has six top-10 finishes in 10 Cup starts.

Stewart has come home in the top 10 in his last three races at MIS.

Kevin Harvick led 46 laps in last summer's race at MIS, finishing second to Ryan Newman.

In six career starts at MIS, Harvick has three top-10 results and has placed in the top five in two of his last three races at the two-mile track.

Among active drivers, Rusty Wallace is second in wins at MIS with five, trailing only Bill Elliott with seven.

Mark Martin won at Dover International Speedway earlier this month and that has been a boost to the veteran, who has 24 top-10 finishes in his last 29 MIS races.

My darkhorse pick is Greg Biffle , who ran real well at California Speedway -- a sister track to MIS -- earlier this season before his transmission failed.
  
KEYS TO SUCCESS AT MICHIGAN
This is a track where drivers can run two and even three distinct grooves.

If a driver can't get his car to grip on the bottom of the track, he can try to run in the middle or run high up on the top.

And drivers who have reputations for going to the top of tracks -- guys like Michael Waltrip and Ricky Craven -- will certainly look to run high at MIS.

But I think the real key is which driver will have the car that can run well at the bottom of the track because I think that car will be the one to beat.

With a wide track offering a lot of room to run and to pass, races at MIS are usually pretty clean.

Managing fuel is always a major challenge at MIS and engine tuning is the most critical factor in getting maximum fuel mileage.

Also, some drivers will run a different gear to economize on fuel while others will run a gear that gets them off the corners a little stronger, but by doing that they give up a bit of fuel mileage.

Also, drivers who brake with their right foot find that their cars do great when it comes to fuel mileage at MIS.

Bobby Labonte is one of those, but there aren't too many others as most drivers brake with their left foot since they became accustomed to doing that while growing up racing on short tracks.

But by braking with the left foot, there are times, especially when going into the corners of a track, that a driver has one foot set on the brake and the other on the accelerator -- and there is nothing that causes poor fuel mileage as much as that does.