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—Indianapolis
Josh Wise
Landon Cassill
Patrick Carpentier
Michael McDowell
Reed Sorenson
Chris Buescher
Cole Whitt
This week’s predictions: New Hampshire 301
Amy Henderson, Senior Editor: My pick is Jimmie Johnson; I haven’t jinxed…er, picked him in a while.
Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer: Matt Da Brat Kenseth.
Dan Greene, Webmaster: Kurt Busch. But only because I can’t pick Jeff Gordon or Smoke.
Tony Lumbis, Financial Manager: Kyle Busch starts a new JGR streak.
Mark Howell, Senior Writer: Chase Elliott for his first Cup win. The future begins now.
Vito Pugliese, Senior Writer: Brad Keselowski keeps it rolling at Indy.
Huston Ladner, Senior Editor: Â Joey Logano.
Jeff Wolfe, Senior Writer: Smoke!
Bryan Gable, Contributor: Carl Edwards, he’s overdue for a good run at the Brickyard.
Clayton Caldwell, Contributor: I’ll take Kevin Harvick please.Â
Dustin Albino, Contributor: Kevin Harvick.
Sean Fesko, Staff Writer: Jeff Gordon!
Michael Finley, Contributor: Tony Stewart. With just how much momentum he has, his last start at Indy should be one to remember.
Corey Brewer, Contributor: Joey Logano was the runner up in this race a year ago, but he will finally kiss the bricks for Team Penske on Sunday.
Joseph Wolkin, Assistant Editor: Jeff Gordon—why not?
New Hampshire 301
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| Writer | Pick | Finishing Position | Points |
| Bryan Gable | Matt Kenseth | 1st | 5 |
| Corey Brewer | Matt Kenseth | 1st | 5 |
| Dan Greene | Tony Stewart | 2nd | 3 |
| Amy Henderson | Joey Logano | 3rd | 3 |
| Jeff Wolfe | Joey Logano | 3rd | 3 |
| Jeff Meyer | Kevin Harvick | 4th | 3 |
| Vito Pugliese | Denny Hamlin | 9th | 1 |
| Danny Peters | Denny Hamlin | 9th | 1 |
| Tony Lumbis | Danica Patrick | 14th | 0 |
| Zach Catanzareti | Danica Patrick | 14th | 0 |
| Mark Howell | Brad Keselowski | 15th | 0 |
| Sean Fesko | Carl Edwards | 20th | 0 |
| Michael Finley | Alex Bowman | 26th | -1 |
| Clayton Caldwell | David Ragan | 30th | -1 |
| Joseph Wolkin | Matt DiBenedetto | 31st | -2 |
Standings
| Â Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Bryan Gable | 35 | — | 17 | 2 | 9 | 13 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 32 | -3 | 19 | 3 | 9 | 12 |
| Dustin Albino | 26 | -9 | 16 | 3 | 6 | 10 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 25 | -10 | 18 | 2 | 5 | 9 |
| Danny Peters | 24 | -11 | 17 | 3 | 7 | 11 |
| Jeff Meyer | 23 | -12 | 17 | 1 | 7 | 9 |
| Tony Lumbis | 22 | -13 | 18 | 1 | 6 | 9 |
| Vito Pugliese | 21 | -14 | 19 | 2 | 5 | 12 |
| Dan Greene | 21 | -14 | 19 | 1 | 5 | 12 |
| Jason Schultz | 16 | -19 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| Mark Howell | 12 | -23 | 17 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Huston Ladner | 12 | -23 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Amy Henderson | 8 | -27 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Aaron Bearden | 8 | -27 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Zach Catanzareti | 8 | -27 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Corey Brewer | 8 | -27 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Sean Fesko | 7 | -28 | 18 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| Phil Allaway | 6 | -29 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Jerry Jordan | 4 | -31 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Mike Neff | 3 | -32 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Tom Bowles | 3 | -32 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Summer Bedgood | 1 | -34 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Matt Stallknecht | -1 | -36 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Joseph Wolkin | -2 | -37 | 19 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Greg Davis | -2 | -37 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kevin Rutherford | -2 | -37 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michael Finley | -4 | -39 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |