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—Kentucky
Matt DiBenedetto
Danica Patrick
Reed Sorenson
Josh Wise
Michael McDowell
Lando Cassill
Cole Whitt
This week’s predictions: Quaker State 400
Amy Henderson, Senior Editor: My pick this week is Kyle Busch. Joe Gibbs Racing has been crazy strong at the 1.5-milers this year, and with my luck lately, I need to turn things around.
Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer: Trevor Bayne.
Dan Greene, Webmaster: Martin Truex, Jr.
Tony Lumbis, Financial Manager: Matt Kenseth.
Joseph Wolkin, Assistant Editor: Ryan Blaney.
Mark Howell, Senior Writer: Give me Cousin Carl for the win at Kentucky.
Huston Ladner, Senior Editor: KyBu.
Vito Pugliese, Senior Writer: Matt Kenseth.
Jeff Wolfe, Senior Writer: Kevin Harvick.
Greg Davis, Senior Writer: Because Hendrick hasn’t won in awhile- Chase Elliott.
Aaron Bearden, Assistant Editor: Loey Jogano…er, Joey Logano.
Bryan Gable, Contributor: Kevin Harvick has been solid, well, everywhere this year. I’ll go with him.
Jeff Meyer, Can’t-Quite-Retiree: Kyle Larson. Bound to happen sooner or later!
Danny Peters, Senior Writer: Carl Edwards, please.
Clayton Caldwell, Contributor: I’ll go Brad Keselowski please.
Sean Fesko, Staff Writer: Jimmie Johnson.
Jason Schultz, Contributor: Joey Logano.
Corey Brewer, Contributor: Martin Truex, Jr.
Dustin Albino, Contributor: Brad Keselowski.
Coke Zero 400
| Writer | Pick | Finishing Position | Points |
| Jason Schultz | Trevor Bayne | 3rd | 3 |
| Clayton Caldwell | Kyle Larson* | 6th | 2 |
| Zach Catanzareti | Kyle Larson* | 6th | 2 |
| Sean Fesko | Austin Dillon | 7th | 1 |
| Greg Davis | Casey Mears | 12th | 0 |
| Bryan Gable | Denny Hamlin | 17th | 0 |
| Amy Henderson | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | 21st | -1 |
| Danny Peters | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | 21st | -1 |
| Michael Finley | Bobby Labonte | 24th | -1 |
| Dan Greene | Tony Stewart | 26th | -1 |
| Jeff Wolfe | Tony Stewart | 26th | -1 |
| Vito Pugliese | Matt Kenseth | 28th | -1 |
| Aaron Bearden | Matt Kenseth | 28th | -1 |
| Dustin Albino | Landon Cassill | 31st | -2 |
| Corey Brewer | Chase Elliott | 32nd | -2 |
| Huston Ladner | Jimmie Johnson | 35th | -2 |
| Joseph Wolkin | Brian Scott | 37th | -3 |
| Mark Howell | Kevin Harvick | 39th | -3 |
Standings
| Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Bryan Gable | 29 | — | 15 | 1 | 8 | 11 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 28 | -1 | 17 | 3 | 8 | 10 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 21 | -8 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Dustin Albino | 21 | -8 | 15 | 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 | 19 | -10 | 17 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| Jason Schultz | 19 | -10 | 15 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| Dan Greene | 17 | -12 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| Huston Ladner | 12 | -17 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Aaron Bearden | 11 | -18 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Mark Howell | 9 | -20 | 15 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Sean Fesko | 9 | -20 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| Zach Catanzareti | 8 | -21 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Phil Allaway | 6 | -23 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Amy Henderson | 5 | -24 | 17 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Jerry Jordan | 4 | -25 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Mike Neff | 3 | -26 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Tom Bowles | 3 | -26 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Joseph Wolkin | 2 | -27 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Corey Brewer | 2 | -27 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Summer Bedgood | 1 | -28 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Greg Davis | 0 | -29 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Matt Stallknecht | -1 | -30 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Kevin Rutherford | -2 | -31 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michael Finley | -3 | -32 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The Frontstretch Staff is made up of a group of talented men and women spread out all over the United States and Canada. Residing in 15 states throughout the country, plus Ontario, and widely ranging in age, the staff showcases a wide variety of diverse opinions that will keep you coming back for more week in and week out.