JGR qualifies top three spots at Michigan

Normally over the course of the last two months, I've offered mainly full-length posts discussing whatever's on my mind about NASCAR. Today, mainly because I didn't see anything published on this in my local paper this morning, it's time for a simpler tack.

Three of the four Joe Gibbs Racing cars ruled qualifying for Sunday's Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Matt Kenseth won the pole, Denny Hamlin will start second and Carl Edwards will go off from the No. 3 position.

As for the fourth car, Kyle Busch didn't fare too badly himself. He will start sixth.

And with Sunday's race, the comparison of speed with the high-drag rules package comes into play. Right now, the only marker we can go on is qualifying speed from when they last raced at Michigan two months ago.

Kasey Kahne was the pole winner on the 2-mile oval at MIS in June with a speed of nearly 202 mph (201.992). Kenseth's pole run came in at 197.488, so that's about 4.5 mph lost. The real test of understanding how the cars will behave when it counts doesn't come until all 43 are on the track Sunday afternoon. 

With more room to race at Michigan, the feeling I have is a bit more confident than what I saw from Indianapolis. Getting to a lead car is one thing, finishing off the pass will be something worth watching, especially if it works.

Here is the official race lineup for Sunday's Pure Michigan 400...

Stats to watch for: Toyota has four wins at Michigan, but none since Kyle Busch in the August race in 2011. More importantly, the race winner can come from just about anywhere in the field.

In the last 10 races in the Irish Hills, the average starting position of the one who's ended up in Victory Lane is 11.7. Kurt Busch qualified 24th when he won in the rain in June, too.