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 Drivers—Atlanta:
Michael McDowell
Landon Cassill
David Ragan
Regan Smith
Casey Mears
Michael Annett
This week’s predictions: QuikTrip Folds of Honor 500
Tom Bowles, Editor-In-Chief: Matt Kenseth.
Amy Henderson, Senior Editor: My pick this week is Jimmie Johnson.
Jeff Wolfe, Senior Writer: Kevin Harvick.
Matt Stallknecht, Senior Editor: Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
Mark Howell, Senior Writer: My pick is Chase Elliott for his first career Cup win.
Joseph Wolkin, Assistant Editor: Joey Logano.
Phil Allaway, Newsletter Editor: I’m picking Kyle Larson to get No. 1 on Sunday. It’s his kind of driving.
Jeff Meyer, Semi-retired Contributor: Kyle Busch.
Aaron Bearden, Assistant Editor: Give me Paul Menard.
Tony Lumbis, Financial Manager: I’m feeling risky this week. Let’s go with Casey Mears.
Zach Catanzareti, Contributor: I’ll be having fun this year picking underdogs for every week: Ms. Danica in Atlanta.
Mike Neff, Short Track Coordinator: Kyle Busch.
Kevin Rutherford, Senior Editor: I’m with Phil: Kyle Larson.
Jason Schultz, Contributor: Carl Edwards.
Danny Peters, Senior Writer: Kenseth for me too.
Huston Ladner, Senior Editor: Joey Logano.
Dustin Albino, Contributor: Jimmie Johnson.
Clayton Caldwell, Contributor: I’ll take Stenhouse, too.
Bryan Gable, Contributor: Kevin Harvick.
Dan Greene, Webmaster: Martin Truex, Jr.
Jerry Jordan, Contributor: Kurt Busch.
Sean Fesko, Contributor: Carl Edwards.
Vito Pugliese, Senior Writer: Brad Keselowski.
Daytona 500
| Writer | Pick | Finishing Position | Points |
| Sean Fesko | Denny Hamlin | 1st | 5 |
| Danny Peters | Denny Hamlin | 1st | 5 |
| Tom Bowles | Kyle Busch | 3rd | 3 |
| Mark Howell | Kyle Busch | 3rd | 3 |
| Huston Ladner | Carl Edwards | 5th | 3 |
| Jeff Meyer | Carl Edwards | 5th | 3 |
| Dan Greene | Joey Logano | 6th | 1 |
| Jerry Jordan | Joey Logano | 6th | 1 |
| Tony Lumbis | Kurt Busch | 10th | 1 |
| Summer Bedgood | Kurt Busch | 10th | 1 |
| Kevin Rutherford | Matt Kenseth | 14th | 0 |
| Zach Catanzareti | Jimmie Johnson | 16th | 0 |
| Clayton Caldwell | Jamie McMurray | 17th | 0 |
| Jeff Wolfe | Ryan Blaney | 19th | 0 |
| Bryan Gable | Brad Keselowski | 20th | 0 |
| Aaron Bearden | Brad Keselowski | 20th | 0 |
| Phil Allaway | Landon Cassill | 23rd | -1 |
| Amy Henderson | Casey Mears | 32nd | -2 |
| Joseph Wolkin | Greg Biffle | 34th | -2 |
| Vito Pugliese | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | 36th | -2 |
| Mike Neff | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | 36th | -2 |
Standings
| Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Sean Fesko | 5 | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Danny Peters | 5 | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Tom Bowles | 3 | -2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Mark Howell | 3 | -2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Huston Ladner | 3 | -2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Jeff Meyer | 3 | -2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Dan Greene | 1 | -4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Jerry Jordan | 1 | -4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Tony Lumbis | 1 | -4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Summer Bedgood | 1 | -4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kevin Rutherford | 0 | -5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zach Catanzareti | 0 | -5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 0 | -5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aaron Bearden | 0 | -5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 0 | -5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bryan Gable | 0 | -5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Phil Allaway | -1 | -6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Amy Henderson | -2 | -7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joseph Wolkin | -2 | -7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vito Pugliese | -2 | -7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Neff | -2 | -7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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.