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—Loudon I
Eddie MacDonald
Landon Cassill
Michael Annett
Danica Patrick
Casey Mears
David Ragan
Paul Menard
This week’s predictions: New Hampshire 301
Amy Henderson, Senior Editor: I’m going with Joey Logano this week-his teammate’s been red-hot, and now it’s his turn.
Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer: I’ll take Danica Patrick. Some pretty solid pace here last year.
Dan Greene, Webmaster: Smoke. 3 wins,1302 laps led at New Hampshire, and a special paint scheme. What’s not to like?
Tony Lumbis, Financial Manager: I’ll go with Danica Patrick.
Mark Howell, Senior Writer: My pick is Bad Brad for win No. 3 in a row. Keselowski tends to run well in the Granite State.
Vito Pugliese, Senior Writer: Denny Hamlin.
Jeff Wolfe, Senior Writer: Logano because he always seems to find a way to win there.
Bryan Gable, Contributor: I’ll take Matt Kenseth. He’s been outstanding here since joining JGR.
Jeff Meyer, Can’t-Quite-Retiree: I’ll take Harvick. ‘Cuz I drink a lot of Busch beer.
Danny Peters, Senior Writer: No. 11
Clayton Caldwell, Contributor: I’m gonna take a risk and go David Ragan this weekend please.
Sean Fesko, Staff Writer: Carl Edwards.
Michael Finley, Contributor: Dale Ear-Oh, wait. I guess I’ll go with Alex Bowman. He’s had some strong runs this year in XFINITY and I think he can surprise some people on Sunday.
Corey Brewer, Contributor: Matt Kenseth.
Quaker State 400
Writer | Pick | Finishing Position | Points |
Dustin Albino | Brad Keselowski | 1st | 5 |
Clayton Caldwell | Brad Keselowski | 1st | 5 |
Danny Peters | Carl Edwards | 2nd | 3 |
Mark Howell | Carl Edwards | 2nd | 3 |
Tony Lumbis | Matt Kenseth | 8th | 1 |
Vito Pugliese | Matt Kenseth | 8th | 1 |
Jeff Wolfe | Kevin Harvick | 9th | 1 |
Bryan Gable | Kevin Harvick | 9th | 1 |
Dan Greene | Martin Truex, Jr. | 10th | 1 |
Corey Brewer | Martin Truex, Jr. | 10th | 1 |
Zach Catanzareti | Trevor Bayne | 11th | 0 |
Amy Henderson | Kyle Busch | 12th | 0 |
Huston Ladner | Kyle Busch | 12th | 0 |
Jeff Meyer | Kyle Larson | 19th | 0 |
Greg Davis | Chase Elliott | 31st | -2 |
Sean Fesko | Jimmie Johnson | 32nd | -2 |
Joseph Wolkin | Ryan Blaney | 35th | -2 |
Aaron Bearden | Joey Logano | 39th | -3 |
Jason Schultz | Joey Logano | 39th | -3 |
Standings
Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
Bryan Gable | 30 | — | 16 | 1 | 8 | 12 |
Jeff Wolfe | 29 | -1 | 18 | 3 | 8 | 11 |
Clayton Caldwell | 26 | -4 | 17 | 2 | 5 | 9 |
Dustin Albino | 26 | -4 | 16 | 3 | 6 | 10 |
Danny Peters | 23 | -7 | 16 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
Tony Lumbis | 22 | -8 | 17 | 1 | 6 | 9 |
Jeff Meyer | 20 | -10 | 16 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
Vito Pugliese | 20 | -10 | 18 | 2 | 5 | 11 |
Dan Greene | 18 | -12 | 18 | 1 | 4 | 11 |
Jason Schultz | 16 | -14 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
Mark Howell | 12 | -18 | 16 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
Huston Ladner | 12 | -18 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
Aaron Bearden | 8 | -22 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
Zach Catanzareti | 8 | -22 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
Sean Fesko | 7 | -23 | 18 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
Phil Allaway | 6 | -24 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Amy Henderson | 5 | -25 | 18 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
Jerry Jordan | 4 | -26 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Mike Neff | 3 | -27 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Tom Bowles | 3 | -27 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Corey Brewer | 3 | -27 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Summer Bedgood | 1 | -29 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Joseph Wolkin | 0 | -27 | 18 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
Matt Stallknecht | -1 | -31 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Greg Davis | -2 | -32 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Kevin Rutherford | -2 | -32 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Michael Finley | -3 | -33 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
About the author
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.
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.