By George Eichorn of The Detroit Monitor

Who would have guessed that at this point in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon — arguably the two biggest NASCAR names the last decade-plus — would be winless. Yet they are zero of the year.

That won’t prevent Stewart in his No. 20 Toyota machine and Gordon in his No. 24 Chevrolet from making the second of two Sprint Cup Series stops in Michigan this weekend. The 3M Performance 400 presented by Bondo is 200 laps (400 miles) on Sunday, August 17, at 1 p.m. and ESPN has flag-to-flag coverage.

The Carfax 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race (125 laps-250 miles) is on Saturday, August 16, 3:30 p.m., also at Michigan International Speedway. ESPN2 has the live coverage.

Competing with Stewart and Gordon at MIS are points-leader Kyle Busch, in the No. 1 car, driving a Toyota. Yes, Toyota is number one in 2008 American car sales and tops in the Sprint Cup series also.

Busch made history August 10 as he became the first driver in NASCAR history to win three road course races in one season. He led 52 laps from the pole and won the Centurion Boats at The Glen at Watkins Glen International in New York State. He also clinched a spot in the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup title.

Busch has a remarkable season going for him and Toyota — he’s won 16 races in NASCAR’s top three series this season — eight in Sprint Cup, six in Nationwide and two in trucks.

Rounding out the Spring Cup series top five are: Carl Edwards, car no. 9 (Ford) 242 behind Busch; Jimmie Johnson, no. 7 (Chevy) 244 behind; Dale Earnhardt Jr., no. 22 (Chevy) 269 behind, and Jeff Burton, no. 17 (Chevy) 309 behind.

In positions six through 12 are Gordon, Stewart, Kasey Kahne (Dodge), Denny Hamlin (Toyota), Greg Biffle (Ford), Kevin Harvick (Chevy) and Matt Kenseth (Ford).

Earnhardt Jr. is looking to making it two consecutive Sprint Cup series wins at MIS. Junior won the LifeLock 400 Sprint Cup Series race on Father’s Day, snapping a 76-race winless streak. It was his first career Cup victory here.

Kurt Busch is the defending champion of the 3M Performance 400. His second career MIS victory helped thrust Busch into the 12-driver Chase for the Championship. Ten drivers led during the 2007 3M Performance 400. Gordon, Biffle, Robby Gordon, Johnson, Brian Vickers, Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Ward Burton and Ryan Newman all had the race lead at some point.

Kahne may be a favorite to win the 2008 3M Performance 400. He notched a second in June at MIS and now has five top-five finishes to his credit in Sprint Cup Michigan races which include a victory in the 3M Performance 400 in June 2006.

Seven seconds is the number of seconds by which winner of last year’s Carfax 250, Denny Hamlin, was in front of second place winner Kenseth. Hamlin got into the wall in his Chevrolet during a practice run only to turn around and crush the competition the next day. Hamlin managed to lead the final 40 laps and received his first career victory at MIS. His margin of victory set a Nationwide Series track record for the greatest margin of victory.

Mark Martin has led eight races in the Nationwide Series at MIS, the most of any driver. During those eight races Martin has led 304 laps, which coincidentally is also the most of any driver. The veteran has captured two Nationwide Series wins here and in his nine starts has finished in the top five every time except in 1997 and 1998 when he finished 11th and sixth, respectively.

Pit Notes: If you don’t win the pole, you may want to start fourth at MIS. Since NASCAR’s top series began racing in the Irish Hills in 1969, 12 drivers have won races starting from the fourth hole. The most recent winner from the fourth spot was Newman in June 2004. Fifteen drivers have won Cup races from the pole at MIS since 1969.

By grabbing the pole for last year’s 3M Performance 400 at MIS, Jeff Gordon now ranks third all-time in track history with five career pole awards. Besides his five poles, Gordon has won two Cup races at the two-mile oval, including in 2001 when he last won the Sprint Cup championship.

It’s an automotive fiesta this week in Michigan, with the Dream Cruise along Woodward Avenue and the two big races at MIS. Race fans won’t be getting much sleep…that much is for certain.

Tickets are available for both the 3M Performance 400 presented by Bondo NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday and Saturday’s Carfax 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race. Tickets range from $55-$110 for Sunday and are $50 for Saturday. Visit MISpeedway.com or call the MIS Ticket Hotline at (800) 354-1010.

Buy George Eichorn’s book, “Detroit Sports Broadcasters On the Air” for $19.99 or less at

www.amazon.com. Reach him at geichorn@yahoo.com.

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