Pick 'em: Chicagoland

Stewart, Johnson each get two nods from the staffers

By NASCAR.COM
July 12, 2008
12:03 AM EDT

type size: + -

Each week the staff at NASCAR.COM will pick a race winner, a dark horse for the checkers and the ain't-got-a-chance driver (no scrubs; someone with a Q score).

Our scoring system: Experts receive as many points as the "winner" pick gets in the race.

LifeLock.com 400

Writer	Winner	Here's why	Dark Horse	No Chance	Points

Duane Cross	Matt Kenseth	Typical of his late-race coverage: "Where'd he come from?!" ... Ditto that reaction when perusing the point standings; he's now ninth -- after being 20th leaving Darlington. He'll get plenty of on-camera action Saturday night, concluding with a grin in Victory Lane.	Juan Montoya	Jeff Burton	2,657
Bill Kimm	Jeff Gordon	Gordon has won at Chicago before and has four top-fours in the past six races at the track. He was so close at Daytona and what better way for the second half of the season to start than to bring this mini-slump to an end.	David Ragan	Kasey Kahne	2,656
Joe Menzer	Tony Stewart	This is his weekend, his track. He won the Chicagoland event last season and is long overdue to win. He's the defending champion, having earned his first victory of 2007 here to embark on a three-wins-in-four-races streak.	Martin Truex Jr.	Kurt Busch	2,583
Josh Pate	Jimmie Johnson	He's winless in his six starts at Chicago, yet other than his crash a year ago he has five finishes of sixth or better and he's led laps in all but one of those races. Nobody's sure of what to expect under the lights. Chad Knaus will figure it out.	Brian Vickers	Kasey Kahne	2,544
Raygan Swan	Carl Edwards	Carl loves the cookie-cutter tracks and after last weekend's second place in Daytona, he's going to be hungry in Chicago.	David Ragan	Tony Stewart	2,491
David Caraviello	Tony Stewart	The pressure is off. He can sleep again. And Chicagoland is where he recorded his first victory of last year, followed by another in the next event at Indianapolis. Book him for that one, too. It is summertime, after all.	Reed Sorenson	David Ragan	2,436
Dave Rodman	Jimmie Johnson	He's in the midst of a mid-summer charitable push, but a victory at Chicagoland won't be a gimme -- he'll earn it.	Mark Martin	Clint Bowyer	2,329
Mark Aumann	Jeff Burton	He's finished second and seventh in his past two visits to Chicagoland and has been the most consistent driver on the circuit this season.	Brian Vickers	Kasey Kahne	2,270
Jarrod Breeze	Kevin Harvick	He has the best average finish (8.0) of any driver at Chicagoland with more than one start (seven). He's teetering on the Chase line, currently two points below it. This would be a big pick-me-up.	Ryan Newman	Elliott Sadler	2,224