Beat The Experts: Bank Of America 500 At Charlotte
By Cole Mentzel
The Sprint Cup Series heads to Charlotte this weekend for the first race of the Contender 12 round. Last week at Dover, Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard and Jimmie Johnson were all eliminated from the Chase. All 12 of the active Chase drivers have had their point totals set to 3000 and if a Chase driver wins this weekend, they will be able to punch their ticket to the next round.
Last week in our Beat The Experts Chase game, BTF editor Christopher Olmstead and staff writer Mike Hutton scored 48 points for correctly picking Kevin Harvick to win the race. Staff writer Cole Mentzel scored 43 points and he was followed by staff writer Michael Finley (32 points) and staff writer Joseph Shelton (3 points). Christopher Olmstead has a narrow two point lead heading into Charlotte.
As for the BTF fans, Chris Losurdo and Rita Stout both picked Kevin Harvick for 48 points. They were followed by Linda Lopez Gearst Gerhardt (33 points), Tammy Hemminger (30 points) and Mary Jo Korp (3 points). Right now, Chris Losurdo has opened up a 30 point lead over everyone else in the competition.
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Here are the BTF staff picks for Charlotte:
Mike Hutton – Kyle Busch – I’m going back to the JGR domination theory this week. Since Hamlin won the All-Star race in May and Edwards won the Coca-Cola 600, it’s Kyle’s turn this weekend.
Joseph Shelton – Kurt Busch – He’s been strong on the 1.5 – 2.0 mile tracks this season. Plus, he’ll be ready to back up his teammate Kevin Harvick, who won last weekend, considering he now knows he needs to get in gear if he wants to be a formidable presence in the Chase.
Cole Mentzel – Ryan Newman – Back in May, he placed 6th in the Coca-Cola 600. In the first round of the Chase, he finished 4th, 10th and 19th. This is exactly what his gameplay was last year as he snuck into the final four with no wins. However, he could break through this weekend. Don’t be surprised if he makes it to Victory Lane at Charlotte.
Michael Finley – Carl Edwards – He won there in the spring and the Gibbs cars have been much better than everyone else. Look for him to sweep Charlotte this season.
This is one race where we could potentially see a non-chaser get a win. It is the only race of the Chase that is at night, and we know what happens in NASCAR during a race when it’s sunny for the first half and dark for the second half. Some drivers who look good in the beginning could give up spots to the drivers with better cars at night.
One thing to watch for during the race is all of the JGR cars, who made it to the next round. They have continued their dominance and we will most likely see at least one of them in the final four. Another thing to look for is younger drivers that could look to shake up the Chase standings. Last week, we saw Kyle Larson running in the top 10 for most of the race. The last thing to look for is Jimmie Johnson. He is already out of the Chase and will compete to win but he could be important for his teammates, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., if they are in a good position late in the race.
Who do you think will win at Charlotte? Let us know in the comments below!