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—Daytona II:
Matt DiBenedetto
Kyle Larson
Brian Scott
Josh Wise
Michael McDowell
Michael Annett
Cole Whitt
This week’s predictions: Coke Zero 400
Amy Henderson, Senior Editor: My pick is Dale Earnhardt, Jr. He’s not on solid Chase ground yet, and a win would put him there.Â
Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer: Kyle Larson.
Dan Greene, Webmaster: Smoke. He’s riding high from the win and Daytona in the summer has been good to him in the past.
Joseph Wolkin, Assistant Editor: Brian Scott because why not?
Mark Howell, Senior Writer: Kevin Harvick for the win, please.
Huston Ladner, Senior Editor: Um, Jimmie Johnson?
Michael Finley, Contributor: Â Bobby Labonte.
Vito Pugliese, Senior Writer: Matt Kenseth.
Jeff Wolfe, Senior Writer: Smoke ’em for two straight.Â
Greg Davis, Senior Writer: Casey Mears? No other reason than he has a pretty bad a$$ paint scheme this weekend for the 4th, and wayyyyy overdue for a win. And hey- its a plate track, anything can happen!
Aaron Bearden, Assistant Editor: Katt Menseth. I mean, Matt Kenseth.
Bryan Gable, Contributor: Denny Hamlin.
Danny Peters, Senior Writer: I will take the 88 too.
Clayton Caldwell, Contributor:Â Give me Larson please. Good HP under that hood and a lot of skill behind the wheel. I’ll take the risk.
Sean Fesko, Staff Writer: Austin Dillon.
Jason Schultz, Contributor: I’ll go with Trevor Bayne. Solid run at Talladega, along with his plate racing ability and improvements from Roush this season will make him a threat.
Corey Brewer, Contributor: Chase Elliott. It’s only a matter of time.
Dustin Albino, Contributor: Landon Cassill.
Toyota Save Mart 350
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| Writer | Pick | Finishing Position | Points |
| Mark Howell | Tony Stewart | 1st | 5 |
| Zach Catanzareti | Tony Stewart | 1st | 5 |
| Vito Pugliese | Carl Edwards | 4th | 3 |
| Huston Ladner | Martin Truex, Jr. | 5th | 3 |
| Dan Greene | Kyle Busch | 7th | 1 |
| Tony Lumbis | Kyle Busch | 7th | 1 |
| Corey Brewer | Kurt Busch | 10th | 1 |
| Danny Peters | Kurt Busch | 10th | 1 |
| Jeff Meyer | Kyle Larson | 12th | 0 |
| Jason Schultz | Jimmie Johnson | 13th | 0 |
| Sean Fesko | AJ Allmendinger | 14th | 0 |
| Bryan Gable | AJ Allmendinger | 14th | 0 |
| Clayton Caldwell | Jamie McMurray | 17th | 0 |
| Amy Henderson | Chase Elliott | 21st | -1 |
| Jeff Wolfe | Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. | 26th | -1 |
| Joseph Wolkin | Clint Bowyer | 40th | -3 |
Standings
| Â Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 29 | — | 16 | 3 | 8 | 10 |
| Bryan Gable | 29 | — | 14 | 1 | 8 | 11 |
| Dustin Albino | 23 | -6 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 9 |
| Tony Lumbis | 21 | -8 | 16 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| Jeff Meyer | 20 | -9 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| Danny Peters | 20 | -9 | 15 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| Vito Pugliese | 20 | -9 | 16 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 19 | -10 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| Dan Greene | 18 | -11 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| Jason Schultz | 16 | -13 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Huston Ladner | 14 | -15 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Aaron Bearden | 12 | -17 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Mark Howell | 12 | -17 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Sean Fesko | 8 | -21 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Zach Catanzareti | 6 | -23 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Amy Henderson | 6 | -23 | 16 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Phil Allaway | 6 | -23 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Joseph Wolkin | 5 | -24 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Jerry Jordan | 4 | -25 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Corey Brewer | 4 | -25 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Mike Neff | 3 | -26 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Tom Bowles | 3 | -26 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Summer Bedgood | 1 | -28 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Greg Davis | 0 | -29 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Matt Stallknecht | -1 | -30 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Kevin Rutherford | -2 | -31 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michael Finley | -2 | -31 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Nobody takes Cousin Carl – but me …