Two-mile tracks, top-10 laps

Despite the somewhat derisive description "cookie-cutter" tracks for the similarly-configured, 1.5-mile courses, no two tracks on the circuit are closer in terms of layout than Michigan International Speedway and Auto Club Speedway—but you won't hear too many people complaining about the competition this week. That is because the two-milers offer some of the best side-by-side racing on the schedule.

On these tracks, the conventional wisdom says to load up on Roush-Fenway drivers and they have the numbers to back that up. During the last five years at Michigan and Auto Club combined, the three top drivers for the Cat in the Hat dominate the top five among laps spent inside the top 10, but they are not without opposition.

Jimmie Johnson has actually spent the most time among the leaders on this track type during the last five years. With 1,273 laps among the top 10 at Michigan and another 1,970 in California, he has been spent 73 percent of his time at the head of the field. Unfortunately, bad luck and misfortune has caused him to finish outside the top 15 eight times in the last 24 races on these two tracks and nearly all of those disappointments came at Michigan.

Carl Edwards has spent considerably less time in the top 10, but he's made the most of his opportunities. With 1,260 top-10 laps at Michigan and 1,725 at California, he's competed with the leaders for 69 percent of his possible laps and all but two of his 19 races in that span have ended in top-10 finishes.

Matt Kenseth has actually spent more time among the top 10 during the last five years than Edwards, but that is because he has five more races to his credit. In 24 starts on the two-mile tracks since the beginning of 2003, Kenseth has spent 67 percent of his laps battling for a top-10 finish and he's sealed the deal 83 percent of the time with 20 top-10 finishes in 24 starts.

Another Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon and another Roushketeer Greg Biffle are locked in a virtual tie for fourth and fifth on the grid. Gordon has 2,534 laps in the top 10 out of a possible 4,440 during the last five years; Biffle has 2,509, which equates to 57 percent of the time. However, Biffle may be the better value this week because his top-10 laps at Michigan (1,267) are superior to Gordon's (1,081).

Top-10 laps on two-mile tracks

Driver	Michigan	California	Total	%
Jimmie Johnson	1,273	1,970	3,243	73%
Matt Kenseth	1,260	1,725	2,985	67%
Carl Edwards	1,261	1,475	2,736	69%
Jeff Gordon	1,081	1,453	2,534	57%
Greg Biffle	1,267	1,242	2,509	57%
Kyle Busch	844	1,532	2,376	59%
Kurt Busch	1,040	1,220	2,260	51%
Tony Stewart	986	1,204	2,190	49%
Kasey Kahne	604	1,452	2,056	46%
Mark Martin	630	1,234	1,864	47%
Brian Vickers	811	865	1,676	38%
Dale Earnhardt Jr	920	538	1,458	33%
Kevin Harvick	381	869	1,250	28%
Denny Hamlin	488	748	1,236	43%
Jeff Burton	289	883	1,172	26%
Jamie McMurray	368	770	1,138	26%
Ryan Newman	500	621	1,121	25%
Elliott Sadler	640	390	1,030	23%
Joe Nemechek	442	367	809	18%
Clint Bowyer	235	507	742	26%
Martin Truex Jr	256	469	725	25%
Casey Mears	485	235	720	16%
Michael Waltrip	406	152	558	13%
Sterling Marlin	254	221	475	17%
Bobby Labonte	255	137	392	9%
David Ragan	195	159	354	17%
David Reutimann	34	270	304	15%
Robby Gordon	99	130	229	5%
Reed Sorenson	131	67	198	7%
Juan Montoya	2	179	181	9%
A J Allmendinger	23	157	180	13%
Dave Blaney	105	72	177	4%
Paul Menard	28	27	55	2%
Bill Elliott	17	30	47	2%
Sam Hornish Jr	37	0	37	3%
David Gilliland	0	35	35	1%
Tony Raines	19	2	21	1%
David Stremme	5	10	15	1%
John Andretti	1	11	12	1%
Mike Skinner	3	0	3	0%
Joey Logano		0	0	0%
Marcos Ambrose	0	0	0	0%
Scott Speed		0	0	0%