After Martin Truex Jr. finally added a win to his impressive 2015 campaign last week at Pocono, the drivers will head to Michigan International Speedway for the Quicken Loans 400. The two-mile, D-shaped oval track features 18-degree turns and is typically the fastest running venue on the series as qualifying speeds come in greater than 200 MPH. The course also holds the record for the highest average speed when Dale Jarrett ran at an average speed of 173.997 MPH in his 1999 victory. Overall there has been 10 different men who have been able to come away victorious at this particular event more than once and it was Cale Yarborough who did so the most with six wins between 1969 and 1983. Three men (Greg Biffle, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin) will be looking to win for the third time here when they start their engines on Sunday afternoon and it will be Jimmie Johnson, who had previously struggled at this venue, who is defending his 2014 title here. His win helped Hendrick Motorsports tie with both Roush Fenway Racing and Wood Brothers Racing at six wins when going in this race. Let’s look over the entrants list for this week and find some racers who could be taking the checkered flag when it is all over with.
Kevin Harvick (7/2) - Harvick is once again taking care of business with ease this year and currently sits in second in the Sprint Cup standings with a top-nine finish in all but one of his races. He’s been the runner-up in five of the last seven races and has finished in second nine times this year with his two victories coming early in the season at Las Vegas and Phoenix. In the last 10 years, Harvick leads all other racers on this track with an average finish of 10.2 and has been amongst the top-five in each of his last four visits here. The 39-year-old has been at the top of the leaderboard each and every week and it should be no different in Michigan this weekend.
Joey Logano (12/1) - Logano is still looking for another win on the season since taking the Daytona 500 to kick it all off and has been close many times with at least 17 laps led in eight events since the victory. He has done better than 13th in all but two of his races this year and is coming off yet another strong performance last week when he came in fourth at Pocono. Logano also has four poles this year and is constantly putting himself in the position to win. He has not won this particular event before, but was the youngest victor on this track when he took the Pure Michigan 400 back in 2013 at the age of 23 and did so after taking the Coors Light Pole. Logano shows no signs of slowing down and the youngster should once again be on top with the best in the sport on Sunday.
Jamie McMurray (30/1) - This is somewhat of a contrarian choice as McMurray has never really run well at this track in the past, and in the last 10 years he has participated in 18 events with an average finish of 18.7 and just three top-10s. Despite that, he could put up a career-best showing this week as he is having his best year since 2004 and is running hot coming into this race with two straight seventh place finishes where he has improved on his pole position each time. The 39-year-old has seven career NASCAR victories to his name, but has not won since 2013 despite his solid performances since that time. He was able to claim the All-Star Race last year, though, and should be considered a top contender as he looks to conquer a course which has eluded him frequently in the past.
Greg Biffle (60/1) - This is clearly one of Biffle’s favorite places to race as evidenced by his four career wins on the track and a total of 15 top-10s in his 24 attempts. He won both Michigan events in back-to-back years between 2012 and 2013 as he has four top-fives in this particular race since 2005. His driver rating of 110.2 here is best in the series and he also leads all other drivers in average running position (8.3), average green flag speed (177.840 MPH) and laps spent in the top-15 (3,047, 86.1%). He’s done no worse than 17th over his last six times out in 2015 and that included a nice runner-up in Charlotte and five poles of seventh or better. Four of his 19 career wins came on this track, so it is clear that Biffle feels comfortable in Michigan and therefore should be a factor when all is said and done.
Austin Dillon (200/1) - Dillon has just one top-10 on the year, but is coming off a strong showing in Pocono where he led for the first time on the year, eventually finishing in 19th place. He was also solid in his other race on a wide two-mile speedway this year, getting 16th and improving on his pole position of 21st. Dillon seems comfortable with the top speeds expected in Michigan and in his two visits here has placed in the top-20 with a strong seventh coming back in 2013. Each time his qualifying speed exceeded 200 MPH and that will be expected once again for the 25-year-old to earn himself a solid start and a chance at another top-20 finish.
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