Creature Vs. Creature: NASCAR Picks (Coca-Cola 600)

Welcome to the new and improved Creature vs. Creature NASCAR Picks here on Bleacher Report.

This week we added seven additional writers to the weekly picks. These seven writers will battle for wins between now and Richmond.

Following the Richmond race, points will be reset and writers will receive 10 bonus points for each time their weekly pick visited Victory Lane.

From there, writers will be seeded based on their wins and all that will matter is points for the final 10 weeks of the season.

Check back each Friday as some of your favorite writers choose who they think will take home the checkered flag.

Ben Bomberger—Kyle Busch

I wanted to go with Tony Stewart for this weekend's race, but we had plenty of Stewart's on the board by the time I decided my pick.

Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, and Kyle Busch were my final three, but in the end I went with the younger Shrub.

Rowdy Busch has three top-fives, four top-10s, one pole, and an average finish of 21.4 at Lowes Motor Speedway.

He showed promise to win the All-Star race last Saturday night, but fell short in the end.

Busch's Average Running Position is third-best (12.2), his Driver Rating is second-best (100.4), he has 183 Fastest Laps Run (third-most), 496 Green Flag Passes (eighth-most), an Average Green Flag Speed of 176.233 MPH (second-fastest), 2,210 Laps in the Top 15 (75.1 percent, third-most) and 400 Quality Passes (second-most).

In the end, it's hard to bet against the youngster in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

James Broomhead—Ryan Newman

You can pretty much pick anyone who did well in the All Star races to do well in the 600, and Newman is due a break as much as him boss.

M.J. Buchanan—Jeff Gordon

For the marathon race of NASCAR, beginning in the day and going into the night, I am going to go with my driver Gordon. 

He looked stout in the All Star Race and seems to have a pretty good car at least so far for the weekend. 

Here's hoping that Gordon's back will go the distance and we can see him and his family in Victory Lane this Memorial Day weekend.

Kelly Crandall—Jimmie Johnson

For this weekend's Coca-Cola 600 at the Lowe's Motor Speedway, my pick is Johnson.

NASCAR's longest race, and the Lowe's Motor Speedway are a combination that Johnson just eats up. There's a reason that Johnson calls the track his house, even if he hasn't been home lately.

In 15 races, Johnson has 12 top 10s, eight top fives, five wins and he's also led 1236 laps—which is second-most, only behind Bill Elliott.

His average finish at the track is 8.9, which is the best in the series, and this weekend Johnson heads to the track coming off a second-place at Darlington and a strong performance in the first stages of the All-Star race last weekend.

Plus, he shaved his head!

As if he needed anymore help with being fast at the Lowe's Motor Speedway. This weekend, Johnson will be hunting for the keys back to his house.

Mason Dunn—Ryan Newman

I'm going to go with Newman this week. While six out of 24 times the winner of the All-Star race has gone on to win the Coca-Cola 600, that is not going to happen this year.

Rather Stewart will get his first points win as an owner through his teammate Newman.

Newman had a strong car in segment four and under a points race will not make crazy three-wide passes like he did last Saturday.

Adam Heasley—Jeff Gordon

This week I was debating between three drivers, and I have finally come up with my guy: Gordon.

He probably had the best car in the All-Star Race last week until he and Kyle Busch met each other—we all know what happened after that.

I noticed in the All Star Race that Gordon's car got better on the longer green runs, as well as the further they got into the race.

Expect him to make up for a poor finish that maybe would have been an All Star win and take home the checkered flag this memorial weekend in the Coca-Cola 600.

Danielle Henderson—Tony Stewart

He's got all the momentum everyone talks about, and I think he has a shot at becoming the seventh driver to win the All Star race and the Coca-Cola 600 in one year.

Kara Martin—Tony Stewart

Coming off of his first win of the season and as an owner with last week's All Star Race, I believe that Stewart is primed to win his first points race.

No matter that Stewart has never won the 600, we know that he can go the grueling distance and then some.

He played double double duty in 1999 and 2001 by racing in both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, finishing in the top 10 in all four races.

After the excitement of winning last weekend, 600 laps ain't got nothing on Stewart!

S.M. Napier—Tony Stewart

This week going to pick Tony Stewart to win the Coca-Cola 600, he'll run in striking distance to the leader and in the late stages of the race he'll be their for the win

Kyle Ocker—Jimmie Johnson

If you have anything to do with Hendrick, you have a chance to win every race.

The defending race winner, Kasey Kahne, is still struggling performance wise, and Johnson is determined to take back his throne as "'King of Charlotte" this weekend, and will do so with his third career win at Lowe's.

David Phillips—Jimmie Johnson

My pick for this week will be none other than Johnson, the man owns the track. We will see him in Victory lane after the dust has settled and 600 miles are complete.

Jen Preston—Kevin Harvick

I'm picking Harvick. Not only does Chevrolet have the most wins at Charlotte with 36, Richard Childress really needs to step it up, with an average finish of 21.65 since Texas.

Rob Tiongson—Jeff Gordon

For this week's race, the longest and most grueling event in the 36-race season, I'm going to have to go with Gordon.

Yea, he had his back treatment on Monday, and he crashed in the All-Star Race's last segment, but if you look at his intermediate track program thus far in 2009, the No. 24 team has been right up there among the usual suspects like the Roush-Fenway contingency.

As long as they stay out of trouble, avoid the pit stop mistakes that have been rampant this season, and that Gordon's car remains adjustable throughout the 600, watch for the DuPont car to pull into Victory Lane.

SUMMARY OF PICKS:

Tony Stewart — (3)
Jeff Gordon — (3)
Jimmie Johnson — (3)
Ryan Newman — (2)
Kevin Harvick — (1)
Kyle Busch — (1)

Points

This is where things are going to get confusing. We have six writers (L.J. Burgess gracefully bowed out) who have been doing this since Daytona, and will keep their points from those races.

The seven new writers will begin with zero points, but don't worry—the points are for bragging rights only until the Chase starts after Richmond.

Right now, it's all about adding up wins.

Here are the points after Darlington (with wins in parenthesis):

M.J. Buchanan, 1668, Jeff Gordon finished fifth. (0)

Adam Heasley, 1636, Greg Biffle finished eighth. (2)

Kelly Crandall, 1580, Jimmie Johnson finished second. (1)

Ben Bomberger, 1492, Jeff Gordon finished fifth. (0)

S.M. Napier, 1478, Kyle Busch finished 34th. (2)

David Phillips, 1388, Greg Biffle finished eighth. (1)

James Broomhead (0)

Mason Dunn (0)

Danielle Henderson (0)

Kara Martin (0)

Kyle Ocker (0)

Jen Preston (0)

Rob Tiongson (0)

Charlotte, here we come!