Chevrolet looking to solve winless string at Michigan (cont'd)

"Manufacturers, unfortunately, have their hands tied and can't do a lot," Johnson said. "It really revolves around the teams. And this has been a Roush track, for whatever reason. I know Jeff [Gordon] has won here ... but it kind of falls into being a Roush track. They carry the Ford logo, so thus it's been considered a Ford track, too.

"I think that the Chevy teams have been close here. I know from my own experience, we were running up front in the fall here and had a flat tire. I've personally had a lot of crazy things happened to me late in races here, whether it's strategy, running out of fuel, tire failures. We just haven't had the finishes we thought we would. But if you look at the statistics probably up to the two-thirds mark, Chevy teams are in contention -- but when the checkered falls, weird things happen. I don't know why, but the statistics certainly show that Ford camp seems to rule here."

Well, not necessarily just the Ford camp. Although Roush's cars have won three of the last five events at MIS, owner Ray Evernham racked up two wins in his Dodges in between, and Roger Penske gained two wins in his Dodges on the other end of Roush's streak.

"Everybody looks at it differently," said Elliott Sadler, driver of the No. 19 Dodge owned by Evernham that qualified terribly Friday and will start in the 39th position Sunday. "You guys [in the media] are looking at past history. Coming to Michigan, I look at who ran well at Charlotte and who ran well at Texas. Chevrolets ran good at both of those racetracks. I think you're going to have to outrun a Chevrolet this weekend. I don't know which one, but I'd say [the] Hendrick [teams] will be close. They've won 10 out of 14 races this year."

Kenseth struggled in qualifying Friday as well, and will start on Row 13 in the 26th position. But he said he always looks forward to running at MIS -- as do most drivers, he added.

"We've had good racecars here in the past," Kenseth said. "It's a really fun track for the drivers. I think it's a fun track for the fans, as well. Thre are three or four grooves on this racetrack. You can get down in the corner -- and depending on how your car is handling, you can choose different grooves, choose different pieces of asphalt to try to make your car handle and look for grip. So it's a lot of fun as a driver."

It just hasn't been as much fun in recent years for those driving Chevrolets on it.