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—Las Vegas:
Michael McDowell
Matt DiBenedetto
Danica Patrick
David Ragan
Aric Almirola
Cole Whitt
Michael Annett
This week’s predictions: Kobalt 400
Amy Henderson, Senior Editor: Matt Kenseth.
Jeff Wolfe, Senior Writer: Kyle Shrub, err Busch.
Matt Stallknecht, Senior Editor: Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Mark Howell, Senior Writer: Carl Edwards.
Joseph Wolkin, Assistant Editor: Kurt Busch.
Phil Allaway, Newsletter Editor: For this week, I’m going to take Denny Hamlin.Â
Mike Neff, Short Track Coordinator: Jimmie Johnson.
Jeff Meyer, Semi-retired Contributor: Martin Truex, Jr.
Aaron Bearden, Assistant Editor: Rowdy Busch
Tony Lumbis, Financial Manager: Carl Edwards.
Zach Catanzareti, Contributor: Paul Menard.
Kevin Rutherford, Senior Editor: Aric Almirola.
Jason Schultz, Contributor: Matt Kenseth.
Danny Peters, Senior Writer: Kevin Harvick.
Huston Ladner, Senior Editor: Kasey Kahne.
Dustin Albino, Contributor: Brad Keselowski.
Clayton Caldwell, Contributor: Ryan Newman.
Bryan Gable, Contributor: Joey Logano.
Dan Greene, Webmaster: Kevin Harvick.
Sean Fesko, Contributor: Jimmie Johnson … BOOM, confetti!
Michael Finley, Contributor: Â It being Las Vegas, I think it’s time to make a gamble. The Cuban Missile, Aric Almirola, is my pick this week.
Vito Pugliese, Senior Writer: Kurt Busch.
Folds of Honor 400
| Writer | Pick | Finishing Position | Points |
| Amy Henderson | Jimmie Johnson | 1st | 5 |
| Dustin Albino | Jimmie Johnson | 1st | 5 |
| Mike Neff | Kyle Busch | 3rd | 3 |
| Jeff Meyer | Kyle Busch | 3rd | 3 |
| Jerry Jordan | Kurt Busch | 4th | 3 |
| Sean Fesko | Carl Edwards | 5th | 3 |
| Jason Schultz | Carl Edwards | 5th | 3 |
| Jeff Wolfe | Kevin Harvick | 6th | 1 |
| Bryan Gable | Kevin Harvick | 6th | 1 |
| Dan Greene | Martin Truex, Jr. | 7th | 1 |
| Mark Howell | Chase Elliott | 8th | 1 |
| Vito Pugliese | Brad Keselowski | 9th | 1 |
| Matt Stallknecht | Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. | 10th | 1 |
| Clayton Caldwell | Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. | 10th | 1 |
| Joseph Wolkin | Joey Logano | 12th | 0 |
| Huston Ladner | Joey Logano | 12th | 0 |
| Tony Lumbis | Casey Mears | 14th | 0 |
| Aaron Bearden | Paul Menard | 18th | 0 |
| Tom Bowles | Matt Kenseth | 19th | 0 |
| Danny Peters | Matt Kenseth | 19th | 0 |
| Zach Catanzareti | Danica Patrick | 20th | 0 |
| Kevin Rutherford | Kyle Larson | 26th | -1 |
| Phil Allaway | Kyle Larson | 26th | -1 |
Standings
| Â Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Sean Fesko | 8 | — | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Jeff Meyer | 6 | -2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Danny Peters | 5 | -3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Dustin Albino | 5 | -3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Mark Howell | 4 | -4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Jerry Jordan | 4 | -4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Amy Henderson | 3 | -5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Huston Ladner | 3 | -5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Tom Bowles | 3 | -5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Jason Schultz | 3 | -5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Dan Greene | 2 | -6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 1 | -7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Tony Lumbis | 1 | -7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Summer Bedgood | 1 | -7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Matt Stallknecht | 1 | -7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Mike Neff | 1 | -7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Bryan Gable | 1 | -7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 1 | -7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Aaron Bearden | 0 | -8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zach Catanzareti | 0 | -8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vito Pugliese | -1 | -9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kevin Rutherford | -1 | -9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joseph Wolkin | -2 | -10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Phil Allaway | -2 | -10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
My pick is Matt Kenseth