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—Michigan II
Brian Scott
Alex Bowman
AJ Allmendinger
Casey Mears
Cole Whitt
Ryan Blaney
David Ragan
This week’s predictions: Pure Michigan 400
Amy Henderson, Senior Editor:Â I’m going with Matt Kenseth. Â He’s from Wisconsin, which is sort of near Michigan…
Dan Greene, Webmaster: Martin Truex, Jr. He was fast in practice and it’s hard to bet against Toyota this year.
Tony Lumbis, Financial Manager: Ryan Blaney. He’s been good at intermediate tracks but just needs to stay out of trouble to get the finish to go with it. I think it might happen this week.
Jeff Meyer, Sorta-kinda Retired: Kevin Harvick, please.
Jeff Wolfe, Senior Writer: Going with Carl Edwards.
Bryan Gable, Contributor: I’ll take Joey Logano. He and Team Penske have been a great combination in the Irish Hills.
Clayton Caldwell, Contributor: An old Roger Penske track…gotta go with a Roger Penske driver- Brad Keselowski.
Dustin Albino, Contributor: Kyle Larson.
Aaron Bearden, Assistant Editor: Martin Truex, Jr.
Sean Fesko, Staff Writer: Kyle Larson.
Vito Pugliese, Senior Writer: Chase Elliott for the win.
Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer: Ryan Blaney.
Danny Peters, Senior Writer: I’m picking Joey Logano. He was fast last time out at Michigan. His only redeeming quality is that he has a French Bulldog like we do.
Huston Ladner, Senior Editor: Guess I’ll go with the Big M&M – Kyle Busch.
Corey Brewer, Contributor: Brad Keselowski.
Joseph Wolkin, Assistant Editor: Jimmie Johnson.
 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol
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| Writer | Pick | Finishing Position | Points |
| Tony Lumbis | Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. | 2nd | 3 |
| John Douglas | Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. | 2nd | 3 |
| Huston Ladner | Denny Hamlin | 3rd | 3 |
| Amy Henderson | Carl Edwards | 6th | 1 |
| Jeff Meyer | Carl Edwards | 6th | 1 |
| Aaron Bearden | AJ Allmendinger* | 9th | 2 |
| Clayton Caldwell | Joey Logano | 10th | 1 |
| Sean Fesko | Joey Logano | 10th | 1 |
| Joseph Wolkin | Greg Biffle | 16th | 0 |
| Mark Howell | Greg Biffle | 16th | 0 |
| Zach Catanzareti | Kyle Larson | 24th | -1 |
| Dan Greene | Tony Stewart | 30th | -1 |
| Jeff Wolfe | Brad Keselowski | 33rd | -2 |
| Danny Peters | Brad Keselowski | 33rd | -2 |
| Dustin Albino | Matt Kenseth | 37th | -3 |
| Vito Pugliese | Matt Kenseth | 37th | -3 |
| Bryan Gable | Kurt Busch | 38th | -3 |
| Mike Neff | Kyle Busch | 39th | -3 |
| Corey Brewer | Kyle Busch | 39th | -3 |
Standings
| Â Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Bryan Gable | 31 | — | 21 | 2 | 10 | 14 |
| Tony Lumbis | 31 | — | 22 | 2 | 8 | 12 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 28 | -3 | 22 | 2 | 6 | 12 |
| Jeff Meyer | 27 | -4 | 21 | 1 | 8 | 11 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 26 | -5 | 23 | 3 | 9 | 12 |
| Dustin Albino | 24 | -7 | 20 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| Dan Greene | 24 | -7 | 23 | 1 | 6 | 13 |
| Danny Peters | 23 | -8 | 19 | 3 | 7 | 12 |
| Vito Pugliese | 21 | -10 | 23 | 2 | 6 | 13 |
| Huston Ladner | 17 | -14 | 19 | 0 | 5 | 10 |
| Jason Schultz | 16 | -15 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| Aaron Bearden | 13 | -18 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| Sean Fesko | 11 | -20 | 22 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| Mark Howell | 10 | -21 | 20 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Amy Henderson | 10 | -21 | 23 | 3 | 6 | 11 |
| Zach Catanzareti | 9 | -22 | 21 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Corey Brewer | 7 | -24 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Phil Allaway | 5 | -26 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Jerry Jordan | 4 | -27 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Mike Neff | 3 | -28 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Tom Bowles | 3 | -28 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| John Douglas | 3 | -28 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Joseph Wolkin | 2 | -29 | 23 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| Summer Bedgood | 1 | -30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Matt Stallknecht | -1 | -32 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Greg Davis | -2 | -33 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kevin Rutherford | -2 | -33 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michael Finley | -5 | -36 | 5 | 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.
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My Pick for Michigan #42 Kyle Larson
That was quite simple – wasn’t ist? ;-)