Welcome to our eighth year of staff predictions! Each week, our experts attempt to foresee the future and 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:
Tom Bowles, Editor-In-Chief: Jeff Gordon.
Amy Henderson, Senior Editor: I think I’ll go with Kevin Harvick this week.
Jeff Wolfe, Senior Writer: I say Martin Truex Jr. finally gets one.
Matt Stallknecht, Senior Editor: A Hendrick engine will go to victory lane this weekend. That’s pretty much a near certainty. It’s just a question of who. I’ll go with Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Mark Howell, Senior Writer: I’m going out on a shaky limb and giving the nod this week to Kasey Kahne.
Joseph Wolkin, Senior Writer: Brad Keselowski.
Jeff Meyer, Senior Writer: Carl Edwards, for the first leg of a Pocono sweep!
Tony Lumbis, Financial Manager: Jeff Gordon.
Zach Catanzareti, Contributing Writer: Picking someone a bit different: Pocono winner Joey Logano.
Toni Montgomery, Senior Editor: I will take Dale Jr.
Huston Ladner, Senior Editor: Jimmie Johnson.
Matt McLaughlin, Senior Writer: Earnhardt Jr. won them both last year, so we’ll see if you can pull off a three-peat.
Brett Winningham, Contributing Writer: Gordon!
Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer: I’m going with Kurt Busch. Chevrolet has had a bit of a stronghold on Pocono recently outside of Brad Keselowski’s debris miss last summer, and Kurt’s been strong at the Tricky Triangle in the past.
Greg Davis, Senior Writer: I’m going with Edwards again this week!
Sean Fesko, Contributing Writer: Gordon punches his ticket to the Chase.
Vito Pugliese, Senior Writer: Gordon.
Mike Neff, Short Track Coordinator: JUNIOR!!!!
Clayton Caldwell, Contributing Writer: As Larry Mac would say Ryyyyyaann Neeewwwman.
Danny Peters, Senior Writer: Mark Martin! Just kidding… Gordon.
Results: FedEx 400
| Writer | Pick | Finishing Position | Points |
| Amy Henderson | Jimmie Johnson | 1st | 5 |
| Jeff Wolfe | Jimmie Johnson | 1st | 5 |
| Matt Stallknecht | Jimmie Johnson | 1st | 5 |
| Joseph Wolkin | Jimmie Johnson | 1st | 5 |
| Vito Pugliese | Jimmie Johnson | 1st | 5 |
| Mike Neff | Jimmie Johnson | 1st | 5 |
| Clayton Caldwell | Jimmie Johnson | 1st | 5 |
| Matt McLaughlin | Kevin Harvick | 2nd | 3 |
| Brett Winningham | Kevin Harvick | 2nd | 1 |
| Tom Bowles | Martin Truex Jr. | 6th | 1 |
| Mark Howell | Martin Truex Jr. | 6th | 1 |
| Tony Lumbis | Martin Truex Jr. | 6th | 1 |
| Greg Davis | Martin Truex Jr. | 6th | 1 |
| Danny Peters | Martin Truex Jr. | 6th | 1 |
| Aaron Bearden | Jeff Gordon | 10th | 1 |
| Sean Fesko | Jeff Gordon | 10th | 1 |
| Huston Ladner | Brad Keselowski | 12th | 0 |
| Phil Allaway | Greg Biffle | 17th | 0 |
| Jeff Meyer | Carl Edwards | 19th | 0 |
| Zach Catanzareti | Matt Kenseth | 39th | -2 |
| Toni Montgomery | Matt Kenseth | 39th | -2 |
Standings
| Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Matt Stallknecht | 34 | — | 13 | 6 | 7 | 10 |
| Mike Neff | 32 | -2 | 13 | 4 | 8 | 10 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 29 | -5 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 11 |
| Sean Fesko | 21 | -13 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 9 |
| Brett Winningham | 20 | -14 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Tom Bowles | 18 | -16 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Matt McLaughlin | 18 | -16 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Huston Ladner | 15 | -19 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| Danny Peters | 14 | -20 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Joseph Wolkin | 14 | -20 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| Vito Pugliese | 12 | -20 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| Amy Henderson | 11 | -21 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Jeff Meyer | 9 | -25 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Mark Howell | 9 | -25 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Aaron Bearden | 9 | -25 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 8 | -26 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Zach Catanzareti | 8 | -26 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Tony Lumbis | 4 | -30 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| S.D. Grady | 4 | -30 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Phil Allaway | 4 | -30 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| David Ifeguni | 3 | -31 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Toni Montgomery | 3 | -31 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Greg Davis | 0 | -34 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 5 |