Welcome to our eighth 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!
Prediction Scoring
+5 – Win
+3 – Top 5
+1 – Top 10
0 – 11th-20th
-1 – 21st-30th
-2 – 31st-40th
-3 – 41st-43rd
This week’s predictions: SpongeBob SquarePants 400
Tom Bowles, Editor-In-Chief: Jimmie Johnson.
Amy Henderson, Senior Editor: I think I like Johnson this week. He’s got a solid track record at Kansas and has certainly been strong on the cookie cutters this year.
Jeff Wolfe, Senior Writer: After considering many options I’ll go with… Kevin Harvick.
Matt Stallknecht, Senior Editor: I’ll go with Martin Truex Jr.
Mark Howell, Senior Writer: My choice for Kansas is Jeff Gordon.
Joseph Wolkin, Senior Writer: I’m going with Joey Logano this weekend.
Jeff Meyer, Senior Writer: Carl Edwards on his favorite track!
Tony Lumbis, Financial Manager: Edwards.
Zach Catanzareti, Contributing Writer: Gordon.
Toni Montgomery, Senior Editor: Johnson.
Huston Ladner, Senior Editor: My Mom – isn’t the rain going to push the race to Sunday anyway? Fine, fine, her Mustang goes only so fast. Brad Keselowski.
Mike Neff, Short Track Coordinator: I’d like Johnson, please.
Matt McLaughlin, Senior Writer: Cue up the Keebler Elves. Harvick returns to form.
Brett Winningham, Contributing Writer: Kasey Kahne.
Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer: Francesco Dracone. Oh… Wrong series? Well… Gordon, then.
Greg Davis, Senior Writer: Edwards… all day.
Phil Allaway, Senior Editor: I’m going to go with Ryan Newman. I’ve liked his form recently despite the issues. He’ll want to stick it to the man after losing Luke Lambert for six races.
Danny Peters, Senior Writer: Logano.
Sean Fesko, Contributing Writer: Harvick. It would stupid to pick against him, wouldn’t it?
Clayton Caldwell, Contributing Writer: Johnson.
GEICO 500
| Writer | Pick | Finishing Position | Points |
| Matt Stallknecht | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 1st | 5 |
| Mike Neff | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 1st | 5 |
| Brett Winningham | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 1st | 5 |
| Aaron Bearden | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 1st | 5 |
| Tony Lumbis | Martin Truex Jr. | 5th | 3 |
| Jeff Wolfe | Kevin Harvick | 8th | 1 |
| Greg Davis | Kurt Busch | 12th | 0 |
| Zach Catanzareti | AJ Allmendinger | 17th | 0 |
| Phil Allaway | David Gilliland | 20th | 0 |
| Matt McLaughlin | Danica Patrick | 21st | -1 |
| Danny Peters | Danica Patrick | 21st | -1 |
| Amy Henderson | Casey Mears | 28th | -1 |
| Mark Howell | Clint Bowyer | 30th | -1 |
| Jeff Meyer | Carl Edwards | 32nd | -2 |
| Toni Montgomery | Joey Logano | 33rd | -2 |
| Huston Ladner | Greg Biffle | 37th | -2 |
| Joseph Wolkin | Landon Cassill | 39th | -2 |
Standings
| Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Matt Stallknecht | 26 | — | 10 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Mike Neff | 21 | -5 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 7 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 19 | -7 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Brett Winningham | 16 | -10 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Sean Fesko | 16 | -10 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Huston Ladner | 13 | -13 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Tom Bowles | 11 | -15 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Danny Peters | 10 | -16 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| Matt McLaughlin | 10 | -16 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Vito Pugliese | 6 | -20 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Jeff Meyer | 4 | -22 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Joseph Wolkin | 4 | -22 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| S.D. Grady | 4 | -22 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Zach Catanzareti | 4 | -22 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Aaron Bearden | 3 | -23 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| David Ifeguni | 3 | -23 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Amy Henderson | 2 | -24 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Phil Allaway | 2 | -24 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Tony Lumbis | 2 | -24 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Mark Howell | 0 | -26 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Toni Montgomery | -1 | -27 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Greg Davis | -2 | -28 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Clayton Caldwell | -3 | -29 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
About the author
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.
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