Race Weekend Central

2016 Frontstretch Cup: Staff Predictions for the Coca-Cola 600

Welcome to our ninth year of staff predictions! Each week, our experts attempt to tell you who the winner of each Cup race will be. Take a look to see who your favorite writers think will win it all (or at least score some points) this week!

Think you can out-prognosticate our staff?  Leave your picks in the comments and see how they stack up!

How we roll:

Each driver can be picked only twice each week.  We can’t pick the same driver two weeks in a row.  And if anyone is daring enough to pick from a pool of higher-risk drivers…well, he or she reaps some serious bonus points!

Prediction Scoring
+5 – Win
+3 – 2nd-5th
+1 – 6th-10th
0 – 11th-20th
-1 – 21st-30th
-2 – 31st-36th
-3 – 37th-40th
*High-risk bonus: Win: +3; 2nd-5th: +2; 6th-10th: +1

High-Risk Drivers—Charlotte I:
Michael McDowell
Michael Annett
Matt DiBenedetto
Josh Wise
Cole Whitt
Landon Cassill
Danica Patrick

This week’s predictions: Coca-Cola 600

Amy Henderson, Senior Editor: My pick this week is Joey Logano.  That’s probably the kiss of death, but he does have the best average finish among active drivers and has been fast this week, so if he survives being my pick, he should have a great run.
Huston Ladner, Senior Editor: That Johnson guy…
Dan Greene, Webmaster: Martin Truex, Jr. He has to win sometime, right?
Joseph Wolkin, Assistant Editor:
I’ll take Jimmie Johnson. It might be his house again.
Phil Allaway, Newsletter Editor:  
For this week, I’m going to go with Kevin Harvick.
Mike Neff, Short Track Coordinator:
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Vito Pugliese, Senior Writer: Chase Elliott.
Michael Finley, Contributor: Kyle Busch.
Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer: AJ Allmendinger, he seems to always do well on any Memorial Day weekend race
Tony Lumbis, Financial Manager:
Denny Hamlin
Danny Peters, Senior Writer: Martin Truex, Jr.
Clayton Caldwell, Contributor:
Charlotte’s always been good to first-time winners (Pearson, Gordon, Labonte, Kenseth, Mears, Reutimann). With that being the case I’ll take Kyle Larson, please.

Sprint Showdown and All-Star Race

Because the All-Star Race is a non-points paying event, we’ve got a little different system.  Our writers chose the drivers they thought would grab the three transfer spots from the Sprint Showdown into the All-Star Race, the fan votes and the All-Star trophy.  Pick limits do not apply.  Each correct pick is worth one point, and if anyone gets all six correct, it will be worth a total of 10 bonus points.  No points will be lost for low finishes, and the race does not count toward race count, wins, to 5s and top 10s.

Writer Showdown Transfer Picks (3) Fan Vote Winner Picks (2) All-Star Winner Bonus Points
Amy Henderson Chase Elliott

Ryan Blaney

Austin Dillon

Matt DiBenedetto

Danica Patrick

Kyle Busch 1
Clayton Caldwell Chase Elliott

Kyle Larson

Ryan Blaney

Danica Patrick

Matt DiBenedetto

Brad Keselowski 2
Tony Lumbis Ryan Blaney

Chase Elliott

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.

Danica Patrick

Matt DiBenedetto

Carl Edwards 2
Dan Greene Chase Elliott

Ryan Blaney

Austin Dillon

Matt DiBenedetto

Danica Patrick

Kevin Harvick 1
Joseph Wolkin Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.

Chase Elliott

Austin Dillon

Matt DiBenedetto

Danica Patrick

Jimmie Johnson 2
Jason Schultz Chase Elliott

Austin Dillon

Kyle Larson

Matt DiBenedetto

Danica Patrick

Carl Edwards 2
Dustin Albino Chase Elliott

Austin Dillon

Kyle Larson

Danica Patrick

Matt DiBenedetto

Kevin Harvick 2
Sean Fesko Chase Elliott

Austin Dillon

Kyle Larson

Matt DiBenedetto

Danica Patrick

Brad Keselowski 2
Vito Pugliese Ryan Blaney

Austin Dillon

AJ Allmendinger

Danica Patrick Jimmie Johnson 1
Mark Howell Ricky Stehouse, Jr.

Kyle Larson

AJ Allmendinger

Danica Patrick

Ryan Blaney

Matt Kenseth 3
Greg Davis Austin Dillon

AJ Allmendinger

Chase Elliott

Matt DiBenedetto Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 0
Aaron Bearden Kyle Larson

Chase Elliott

Ryan Blaney

Danica Patrick

Matt DiBendetto

Jimmie Johnson 2
Bryan Gable Chase Elliott

Kyle Larson

Austin Dillon

Matt DiBenedetto

Danica Patrick

Kurt Busch 2

 

Standings

 Writer Points Behind Starts Wins Top 5 Top 10
Bryan Gable 25 10 1 6 9
Jeff Wolfe 24 -1 12 3 6 8
Dustin Albino 19 -6 11 2 4 7
Jeff Meyer 17 -8 11 1 5 7
Danny Peters 11 -14 11 1 4 6
Clayton Caldwell 11 -14 11 0 2 5
Vito Pugliese 10 -15 12 2 2 6
Sean Fesko 10 -15 12 1 4 5
Jason Schultz 10 -15 11 0 3 6
Mark Howell 10 -15 10 1 3 5
Tony Lumbis 9 -16 12 0 3 4
Aaron Bearden 9 -16 8 0 2 4
Dan Greene 8 -17 12 0 2 7
Huston Ladner 7 -18 11 0 2 4
Amy Henderson 5 -20 12 3 4 5
Joseph Wolkin 4 -21 12 1 2 3
Jerry Jordan 4 -21 2 0 1 2
Mike Neff 3 -22 4 0 2 2
Tom Bowles 3 -22 2 0 1 1
Phil Allaway 2 -22 9 1 2 2
Summer Bedgood 1 -24 1 0 0 1
Zach Catanzareti 0 -25 11 0 1 3
Greg Davis -1 -26 1 0 0 0
Matt Stallknecht -1 -26 5 0 0 3
Kevin Rutherford -2 -27 3 0 0 0

 

About the author

The Frontstretch Staff is made up of a group of talented men and women spread out all over the United States and Canada. Residing in 15 states throughout the country, plus Ontario, and widely ranging in age, the staff showcases a wide variety of diverse opinions that will keep you coming back for more week in and week out.

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JohnDoe

My Pick is that #78 car

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