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: FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks
Tom Bowles, Editor-In-Chief: Martin Truex Jr.
Amy Henderson, Senior Editor: Jimmie Johnson. Because I have not jinxed him enough this year. I’m almost sorry for everyone else who picked him this week. Almost. But not quite.
Jeff Wolfe, Senior Writer: Only pick here is Johnson.
Matt Stallknecht, Senior Editor: Johnson.
Mark Howell, Senior Writer: This the week when Truex Jr. finally visits Victory Lane. It’s time!
Joseph Wolkin, Senior Writer: Johnson.
Jeff Meyer, Senior Writer: Carl Edwards and Darian Grubb now that they have broken the ice.
Tony Lumbis, Financial Manager: Truex Jr.
Zach Catanzareti, Contributing Writer: Matt Kenseth.
Toni Montgomery, Senior Editor: Kenseth.
Huston Ladner, Senior Editor: Brad Keselowski.
Matt McLaughlin, Senior Writer: Statistically, the smart money would be on No. 48, but given the penalty and the fact Jimmie and Chad have decided to use the rest of the regular season as a science fair project for the Chase I’ll put my money down on Kevin Harvick.
Brett Winningham, Contributing Writer: Harvick.
Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer: Jeff Gordon, just to be different from all of the #BlameJJ people.
Greg Davis, Senior Writer: Truex Jr.
Sean Fesko, Contributing Writer: Gordon.
Vito Pugliese, Senior Writer: Johnson.
Mike Neff, Short Track Coordinator: Johnson.
Clayton Caldwell, Contributing Writer: Johnson.
Danny Peters, Senior Writer: Truex Jr.
Phil Allaway, Senior Editor: Pulling a Joker’s Wild move circa 1973. We’re going off the board and picking Greg Biffle. Past winner, but no one’s expecting him to swoop in right now.
Results: Coca-Cola 600
| Writer | Pick | Finishing Position | Points |
| Jeff Meyer | Carl Edwards | 1st | 5 |
| Mark Howell | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 3rd | 3 |
| Vito Pugliese | Brad Keselowski | 7th | 1 |
| Greg Davis | Denny Hamlin | 8th | 1 |
| Tony Lumbis | Denny Hamlin | 8th | 1 |
| Jeff Wolfe | Kevin Harvick | 9th | 1 |
| Matt McLaughlin | Kevin Harvick | 9th | 1 |
| Aaron Bearden | Kevin Harvick | 9th | 1 |
| Matt Stallknecht | Kurt Busch | 10th | 1 |
| Zach Catanzareti | Kurt Busch | 10th | 1 |
| Sean Fesko | Kurt Busch | 10th | 1 |
| Mike Neff | Kurt Busch | 10th | 1 |
| Brett Winningham | Kyle Busch | 11th | 0 |
| Tom Bowles | Kasey Kahne | 12th | 0 |
| Huston Ladner | Joey Logano | 13th | 0 |
| Toni Montgomery | Jeff Gordon | 15th | 0 |
| Joseph Wolkin | Jeff Gordon | 15th | 0 |
| Amy Henderson | Jimmie Johnson | 40th | -2 |
Standings
| Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Matt Stallknecht | 29 | — | 12 | 5 | 6 | 9 |
| Mike Neff | 27 | -2 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 9 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 24 | -5 | 12 | 2 | 7 | 10 |
| Sean Fesko | 20 | -9 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| Brett Winningham | 17 | -12 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Tom Bowles | 17 | -12 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Huston Ladner | 15 | -14 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| Matt McLaughlin | 15 | -14 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| Danny Peters | 13 | -16 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| Zach Catanzareti | 10 | -19 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Joseph Wolkin | 9 | -20 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Jeff Meyer | 9 | -20 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Mark Howell | 8 | -21 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Aaron Bearden | 8 | -21 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| Vito Pugliese | 7 | -22 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Amy Henderson | 6 | -23 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| Toni Montgomery | 5 | -24 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| S.D. Grady | 4 | -25 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Phil Allaway | 4 | -25 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| David Ifeguni | 3 | -26 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 3 | -26 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Tony Lumbis | 3 | -26 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Greg Davis | -1 | -30 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
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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