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 bonus: Win: +3; 2nd-5th: +2; 6th-10th: +1
High-Risk Drivers—Michigan I:
Michael McDowell
Matt DiBenedetto
Michael Annett
Josh Wise
Reed Sorenson
Landon Cassill
Cole Whitt
This week’s predictions: FireKeepers Casino 400
Amy Henderson, Senior Editor: My pick this week is Carl Edwards. Sorry, Cousin Carl fans…
Jeff Meyer, Semi-retired Contributor: I’ll take Kevin Harvick.
Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer: A. Dillon…A is in “Austin”!
Dan Greene, Webmaster: Martin Truex, Jr.
Joseph Wolkin, Assistant Editor: Trevor Bayne. YOLO.Â
Phil Allaway, Newsletter Editor: For this week, I’m going to press my luck and go with Tony Stewart.
Mark Howell, Senior Writer: Dale Jr. for the win.
Aaron Bearden, Assistant Editor: Martin Truex, Jr.
Greg Davis, Senior Writer: Call me crazy… Going out on a huge limb here, but he’s been fast this weekend: Tony Stewart.
Vito Pugliese, Senior Writer: Kyle Larson.
Jeff Wolfe, Senior Writer: Brad Keselowski.
Tony Lumbis, Financial Manager: Larson makes it two in a row for interim crew chiefs.
Bryan Gable, Contributor: Chase Elliott.
Danny Peters, Senior Writer: I will go with Logano.
Clayton Caldwell, Contributor:Â I’ll take Logano too. Roger Penske would love to win at Michigan!
Sean Fesko, Staff Writer: Matt Kenseth.
Jason Schultz, Contributor:Â Carl Edwards.
Dustin Albino, Contributor: Austin Dillon
Corey Brewer, Contributor: Kevin Harvick.
Axalta We Paint Winners 400
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| Writer | Pick | Finishing Position | Points |
| Tony Lumbis | Kurt Busch | 1st | 5 |
| Jason Schultz | Kurt Busch | 1st | 5 |
| Dan Greene | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | 2nd | 3 |
| Clayton Caldwell | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | 2nd | 3 |
| Aaron Bearden | Brad Keselowski | 3rd | 3 |
| Dustin Albino | Chase Elliott | 4th | 3 |
| Jeff Wolfe | Joey Logano | 5th | 3 |
| Vito Pugliese | Joey Logano | 5th | 3 |
| Huston Ladner | Carl Edwards | 8th | 1 |
| Joseph Wolkin | Carl Edwards | 8th | 1 |
| Jeff Meyer | Kyle Larson | 11th | 0 |
| Mark Howell | Kyle Larson | 11th | 0 |
| Zach Catanzareti | Jamie McMurray | 17th | 0 |
| Amy Henderson | Martin Truex, Jr. | 19th | 0 |
| Sean Fesko | Martin Truex, Jr. | 19th | 0 |
| Danny Peters | Kyle Busch | 31st | -2 |
| Bryan Gable | Jimmie Johnson | 35th | -2 |
Standings
| Â Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 27 | — | 14 | 3 | 7 | 9 |
| Bryan Gable | 26 | -1 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 10 |
| Dustin Albino | 22 | -5 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
| Jeff Meyer | 17 | -10 | 13 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| Dan Greene | 17 | -10 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| Tony Lumbis | 17 | -10 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Jason Schultz | 15 | -12 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| Danny Peters | 14 | -13 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 14 | -13 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Vito Pugliese | 14 | -13 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| Aaron Bearden | 12 | -15 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Huston Ladner | 11 | -16 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Mark Howell | 10 | -16 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Sean Fesko | 8 | -19 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Joseph Wolkin | 8 | -19 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Amy Henderson | 6 | -21 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Phil Allaway | 5 | -22 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Jerry Jordan | 4 | -23 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Mike Neff | 3 | -24 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Tom Bowles | 3 | -24 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Summer Bedgood | 1 | -26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Zach Catanzareti | 0 | -27 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Greg Davis | -1 | -28 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Stallknecht | -1 | -28 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Kevin Rutherford | -2 | -29 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michael Finley | -2 | -30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
My pick this week is that #21 car for the first win