Stevie Larson made up a little bit of ground last week at Indianapolis, as his pick of Jimmie Johnson was the only one to get any points, as his third-place finish got seven points to boost Larson up to 85 points, still in second place behind Mark Smith, who has been on a hot streak recently. Here are the predictions for this weekend's race at Pocono Raceway.


How it works

- Every week, the members of the VAVEL NASCAR team choose who they think will win that week's race, as well as why they chose that particular driver.

- After each race, points are tallied based on the following criteria:

- 10 points for a win, going down in descending order with a 10th place finish getting one point

- Every 10 laps led gets a bonus point added


Current Standings


This week's picks

Mark Smith

Driver: Brad Keselowski

Reason: "The driver of the Miller Lite Duece is the driver with the most wins, four, this season in the Sprint Cup Series and is on a hot streak of results currently. Keselowski might not dominate on the Tricky Triangle this week but will hopefully end up in Victory Lane on Sunday afternoon."

Stevie Larson

Driver: Chase Elliott

Reason: "The rookie from North Carolina has had a good season, but still is winless. He has come close on many occasions, but I believe that this weekend will finally be his first career win in the Cup Series."

Stephen Furst

Driver: Kyle Busch

Reason: "Busch dominated at Indy last week. When Busch gets high on momentum he is hard to stop. He will again lead the most laps and be the class of the field."

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About the author
Stevie Larson
NASCAR Editor, Minnesota sports fan. Contact: [email protected]