Comers:
This week's comers were a group of surprising individuals that actually did a good job to spoil the party in some way. They couldn't quite pick up the victory. Lord knows that 4 and 48 car were fast all day. But these guys still managed a great run that could help build momentum.
Paul Menard: It's amazing that Paul Menard can do anything he wants. He has a hardware store owned by his family. Yet, he stays true to his families equally as important racing heritage. That dedication may finally be coming to fruition for Menard. Paul started off the weekend by running in and winning the Nationwide Series race on Saturday. Then on Sunday, he started fifth in the Quicken Loans 400, and brought his car home for a very solid fourth place finish. Menard hasn't had much success in his career, just one victory to be exact. But he's had some strong runs over the course of the past two seasons. Don't be surprised to see the 27 car in victory lane some time this season.
Kasey Kahne: Kasey isn't exactly the guy you'd expect to see on a comers and goers article. But his luck has been very crumby the last couple of seasons. Luckily, he drives for Hendrick Motorsports, so even with bad luck, he can still win races. Kasey's awful luck this season has him pushed back in 19th in the overall points standings. But Kasey managed to bring the 5 car into fifth place on Sunday. Now coming into the wild card road course race at Sanoma, Kasey may be a dark horse to win.
Tony Stewart: It's been a wild 365 days for Smoke. After a dirt track crash caused an injury to Tony last year, ending his season, Tony hasn't been a contender so much in his return season. But Tony finally managed a good finish on Sunday, bringing his 14 car home in the eleventh position. He even managed to lead a lap. One thing is for sure though. Tony is great on any track you put him on really. A road course is no exception. Tony is going to be one of the stronger cars at Sanoma. Put your money on that.
Goers:
This week's goers were yet another surprising crop of usually consistant drivers, normally found up in the front of the pack in many races. Misfortune bit both of these drivers on Sunday.
Kyle Busch: Kyle just hasn't looked like Kyle since he won at Fontana. Many speculated that since Michigan is the sister track of Fontana, Kyle would run really well. And Kyle was running really well. But then a broken left rear hub sent Kyle into the garage just after a restart about halfway through the race. Luckily, Kyle does have a win to fall back on once it gets to Chase time. But it looks like that in order to beat the 48, 4,and 88, you're going to need more than one win and a ton of momentum. Both of those are things that Kyle Busch does not have in his favor at the moment.
Brian Vickers: You know when you crash on the first lap, it's going to be a really bad day. Going into turn three on the first lap, the track was very clean due to it being cleaned the night before. Many drivers got out of the groove and got loose. Brian was the only one who couldn't save the car and ended up spinning out. Wouldn't have been a real issue, but he ended up hitting Travis Kvapil on the way back down the race track. The car was in very bad shape, but the Aarons team managed to do some hard work on the 55 car and got it back out on the track. Alas, Vickers still finished 42nd on Sunday. Brian is typically a great driver at Michigan. Just got burned by a very casual racing mistake.