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: Southern 500
Amy Henderson, Senior Editor: I’m probably crazy, but Paul Menard was fast in both practice sessions and is coming off an Xfinity win, so why not?
Matt Stallknecht, Senior Editor: Denny Hamlin.
Mark Howell, Senior Writer: Kyle Busch.
Tony Lumbis, Financial Manager: Kyle Busch.
Toni Montgomery, Senior Editor: Hmm. Jeff Gordon.
Matt McLaughlin, Senior Writer: Seem to recall Brad Keselowski was dominant in low-downforce race at Kentucky before self-inflicted problems, so we’ll go with him.
Vito Pugliese, Senior Writer: Kevin Harvick.
Sean Fesko, Contributing Writer: Kyle Busch.
Joseph Wolkin, Assistant Editor: Jimmie Johnson.
Jeff Wolfe, Senior Writer: All right. Time for Harvick to get a win for once, and not another second.
Zach Catanzareti, Contributing Writer: Matt Kenseth.
Aaron Bearden, Assistant Editor: Happy Harvick.
Huston Ladner, Senior Editor: Gordon.
Results: Irwin Tools Night Race
| Writer | Pick | Finishing Position | Points |
| Danny Peters | Denny Hamlin | 3rd | 3 |
| Joseph Wolkin | Clint Bowyer | 5th | 3 |
| Jerry Jordan | Clint Bowyer | 5th | 3 |
| Matt Stallknecht | Brad Keselowski | 6th | 1 |
| Zach Catanzareti | Carl Edwards | 7th | 1 |
| Amy Henderson | Kyle Busch | 8th | 1 |
| Matt McLaughlin | Kyle Busch | 8th | 1 |
| Sean Fesko | Kyle Busch | 8th | 1 |
| Mike Neff | Kyle Busch | 8th | 1 |
| Jeff Wolfe | Kyle Busch | 8th | 1 |
| Aaron Bearden | Kyle Busch | 8th | 1 |
| Mark Howell | Kurt Busch | 14th | 0 |
| Tony Lumbis | Kurt Busch | 14th | 0 |
| Toni Montgomery | Jeff Gordon | 20th | 0 |
| Greg Davis | Jeff Gordon | 20th | 0 |
| Phil Allaway | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 21st | -1 |
| Vito Pugliese | Kyle Larson | 41st | -3 |
| Clayton Caldwell | Matt Kenseth | 42nd | -3 |
Standings
| Â Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Matt Stallknecht | 48 | — | 24 | 7 | 12 | 17 |
| Mike Neff | 45 | -3 | 22 | 6 | 12 | 15 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 45 | -3 | 22 | 5 | 13 | 18 |
| Huston Ladner | 33 | -15 | 22 | 2 | 9 | 15 |
| Aaron Bearden | 33 | -15 | 23 | 3 | 10 | 16 |
| Matt McLaughlin | 28 | -20 | 23 | 3 | 8 | 13 |
| Mark Howell | 25 | -23 | 24 | 1 | 8 | 12 |
| Amy Henderson | 23 | -25 | 24 | 4 | 7 | 13 |
| Vito Pugliese | 20 | -28 | 20 | 2 | 8 | 12 |
| Danny Peters | 20 | -28 | 21 | 2 | 8 | 11 |
| Brett Winningham | 19 | -29 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Sean Fesko | 18 | -30 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| Tom Bowles | 17 | -31 | 17 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
| Joseph Wolkin | 16 | -32 | 23 | 2 | 7 | 10 |
| Zach Catanzareti | 14 | -34 | 20 | 0 | 5 | 11 |
| Tony Lumbis | 13 | -35 | 24 | 1 | 5 | 10 |
| Toni Montgomery | 11 | -37 | 24 | 3 | 6 | 10 |
| Phil Allaway | 6 | -42 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Jeff Meyer | 5 | -43 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| S.D. Grady | 4 | -44 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 3 | -45 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| David Ifeguni | 3 | -45 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Jerry Jordan | 2 | -46 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Greg Davis | 2 | -46 | 23 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| Dan Greene | -1 | -49 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
As requested, since I missed the deadline for picks this week. Please give me Kurt Busch for the win tonight at Darlington