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—Sonoma:
Landon Cassill
Josh Wise
Michael Annett
David Ragan
Regan Smith
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
This week’s predictions: Toyota Save Mart 350
Amy Henderson, Senior Editor: My pick this week is Chase Elliott. His NXS road course numbers are pretty darn impressive, and he’s knocking on the door of Victory Lane.
Jeff Meyer, Semi-retired Contributor: Kyle Larson. He’s been knocking more than Dr. Sheldon Cooper.
Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer: Tony Stewart.
Dan Greene, Webmaster: Kyle Busch. No particular reason. What wine pairs well with M&M’s?
Joseph Wolkin, Assistant Editor: Clint Bowyer is back!
Mark Howell, Senior Writer: Tony Stewart for the win in Wine Country, please.
Huston Ladner, Senior Editor: How about Martin Truex, Jr.?
Vito Pugliese, Senior Writer: Carl Edwards.
Jeff Wolfe, Senior Writer: Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
Tony Lumbis, Financial Manager: Kyle Busch–this place is special for him. Got him into the Chase last year, will break his mini bad luck streak this year.
Bryan Gable, Contributor: AJ Allmendinger has been a contender at Sonoma for the past few seasons. I’ll take him this week.
Danny Peters, Senior Writer: Kurt Busch.
Clayton Caldwell, Contributor: I’ll take Jamie McMurray please. Very underrated road racer!
Sean Fesko, Staff Writer: The ‘Dinger has to break his bad luck streak, right?
Jason Schultz, Contributor: Jimmie Johnson is always strong at Sonoma and nearly captured the victory last season, making him one to watch.
Corey Brewer, Contributor: Kurt Busch.
Results: FireKeepers Casino 400
| Writer | Pick | Finishing Position | Points |
| Clayton Caldwell | Joey Logano | 1st | 5 |
| Danny Peters | Joey Logano | 1st | 5 |
| Bryan Gable | Chase Elliott | 2nd | 3 |
| Vito Pugliese | Kyle Larson | 3rd | 3 |
| Tony Lumbis | Kyle Larson | 3rd | 3 |
| Jeff Wolfe | Brad Keselowski | 4th | 3 |
| Jeff Meyer | Kevin Harvick | 5th | 3 |
| Corey Brewer | Kevin Harvick | 5th | 3 |
| Amy Henderson | Carl Edwards | 6th | 1 |
| Jason Schultz | Carl Edwards | 6th | 1 |
| Phil Allaway | Tony Stewart | 7th | 1 |
| Greg Davis | Tony Stewart | 7th | 1 |
| Zach Catanzareti | Austin Dillon | 8th | 1 |
| Dustin Albino | Austin Dillon | 8th | 1 |
| Dan Greene | Martin Truex, Jr. | 12th | 0 |
| Aaron Bearden | Martin Truex, Jr. | 12th | 0 |
| Sean Fesko | Matt Kenseth | 14th | 0 |
| Joseph Wolkin | Trevor Bayne | 15th | 0 |
| Mark Howell | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | 39th | -3 |
Standings
| Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 30 | — | 15 | 3 | 8 | 10 |
| Bryan Gable | 29 | -1 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 11 |
| Dustin Albino | 23 | -7 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 9 |
| Jeff Meyer | 20 | -10 | 14 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| Tony Lumbis | 20 | -10 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| Danny Peters | 19 | -11 | 14 | 3 | 6 | 8 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 19 | -11 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| Dan Greene | 17 | -13 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| Vito Pugliese | 17 | -13 | 15 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| Jason Schultz | 16 | -14 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Aaron Bearden | 12 | -18 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Huston Ladner | 11 | -19 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Sean Fesko | 8 | -22 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Joseph Wolkin | 8 | -22 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Amy Henderson | 7 | -23 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Mark Howell | 7 | -23 | 13 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Phil Allaway | 6 | -24 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Jerry Jordan | 4 | -26 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Corey Brewer | 3 | -27 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Mike Neff | 3 | -27 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Tom Bowles | 3 | -27 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Summer Bedgood | 1 | -29 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Zach Catanzareti | 1 | -29 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Greg Davis | 0 | -30 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Matt Stallknecht | -1 | -31 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Kevin Rutherford | -2 | -32 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michael Finley | -2 | -32 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jeff Wolfe… You lead the standings by a mere point…. Why would you blow it by taking Stenhouse? It’s not worth the three measly extra points, man. You should have taken Danica!
The Dinger too