Debris Caution: Pure Michigan 400

Debris Caution is a regular feature that puts you in the driver's seat for upcoming NASCAR events. It previews upcoming races and looks in depth at everything from point battles to the offseason.


You know how I said I love road courses? Yeah, Monday definitely did not disappoint. With that said, this week the NASCAR schedule pulls into Bryan's home state of Michigan for the Pure Michigan 400. It seems like every time you turn around NASCAR is at an oval but I digress. What you can expect this week is for the usual suspects but I am going to choose to start with someone who is on a roll right now.

Last week, Brad Keselowski was my opener and this week he will bat leadoff once again. Kes is white hot right now and it seems like the more beat up the guy is, the better he races. I'm not going to suggest throwing him in the ring with Georges St- Pierre, but maybe a jammed finger from a game of pickup basketball can do the trick. At any rate, Kes finished 25th when the Sprint Cup invaded Michigan earlier this year and his average finish of 27.5 in four races inspires little confidence. On the flip side, in the Nationwide Series he has two wins and three top-10s in five starts at MIS. Just like last week, expect Kes to buck the trend and post a top-10 this week at Michigan. If you hear about any sort of injury between now and Sunday, bump that up to a top-5.

There is absolutely no one better at Michigan than Carl Edwards. Edwards has 14 starts and 12 top-10s. Think about that for a moment. Nine of those were top-5s and two of those were wins. His average finish is 6.2 and he has finished every race. Both of his wins have come in the last five years and when looking only at that time period he is even more dominant (nine starts, eight top-10s, 6 top-5s, 2 wins, and an average finish of 4.9). After having sole possession of the points lead taken away by Kyle Busch last week, expect Edwards to come out at his best and make a statement by winning on Sunday.