Fantasy Preview: Michigan

NASCAR's schedule is filled with little quirks like this, but with the Chase for the Nextel Cup looming, drivers can build some momentum with two races on the 2-mile tracks of Michigan International Speedway and California Speedway as well as a pair of short-track affairs at Bristol Motor Speedway and Richmond International Raceway in alternating weekends.

While the two short tracks are actually fairly dissimilar -- Bristol is a high-banked, half-mile bullring and Richmond is a three-quarter-mile short track with delusions of being a Superspeedway. The Michigan and California tracks are very much alike.

Michigan has a little more banking in the corners at 18 degrees compared to California's 14, but the drivers who excel on both courses are numerous enough to draw an obvious conclusion.

Better still, since California started hosting two races per year in 2004, fantasy owners have a deep pool of data from which to make a decision.

Roush Rules
Each time the series rolls onto either 2-mile track, Roush Fenway Racing needs to be taken seriously. In 70 combined starts since the beginning of 2004, a Roush racer has won seven times in 14 events, including both 2-mile races so far this year.

The organization has also logged 38 top-10s and 22 top-fives while recording an average finish of 12.6. A fantasy owner could fill his roster with Roushketeers and not worry about the outcome. In fact, the entire Roush stable can be had for only $141.47 in the Superstar Cap Challenge game, which should leave most players with plenty of money for their sixth and final pick. Even the rookie David Ragan has participated in the success on a limited basis with a 16th at California this spring and a 21st at Michigan in June.

The close juxtaposition of these two races should favor two Chase contenders who desperately need more bonus points. Matt Kenseth won his one and only race so far in 2007 at California way back in February, and while he's run consistently strong all year, he would enter the playoffs with a 30-point deficit to Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

Carl Edwards won the June Michigan race for his only victory this year, and last week at Watkins Glen International he showed how desperately he wanted more bonus points when he drove off course trying to pass the eventual winner of the Centurion Boats at the Glen, Tony Stewart.

Both Edwards and Kenseth have been close to perfect on the 2-mile tracks since the start of 2004. Edwards has 10 top-10s and eight top-fives in 12 starts. Kenseth also has 10 top-10s with only six top-fives, but three of those have been victories. Both drivers deserve a spot on your roster, and with some judicious dark-horse picks, they fit your budget.

Last year, in this race, the five Roushketeers posted a worst finish of 22nd when Edwards had a rare bad day, and yet they still averaged a result of 10.4 on the strength of Kenseth's victory. (Continued)