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—Richmond II
Chris Buescher
Michael Annett
Brian Scott
Casey Mears
Danica Patrick
Austin Dillon
Regan Smith
This week’s predictions: Federated Auto Parts 400
Amy Henderson, Senior Editor: I’ll take Kyle Busch. Because he’s pretty good there and I need some points.
Dan Greene, Webmaster: I’ll swing for the fences and go with Chris Buescher. He’ll be driving hard to make sure he stays in the top 30.
Tony Lumbis, Financial Manager: Last week’s pit road misfortunes motivate Harvick and team to recover and win at Richmond.
Jeff Meyer, Sorta-kinda Retired: Carl Edwards please.
Jeff Wolfe, Senior Writer: I’ll go Kyle Larson for his second win.
Mark Howell, Senior Writer: Where there’s Smoke, there’s fire. My Richmond pick to win is Tony Stewart.
Clayton Caldwell, Contributor: Virginia native Denny Hamlin!
Dustin Albino, Contributor: Chase Elliott.
Aaron Bearden, Assistant Editor: I live or die by my pick in Jeff Gluck’s fantasy league this week. Come on, Matt Kenseth. Deliver me a Chase bid.
Sean Fesko, Staff Writer: Austin Dillon.
Vito Pugliese, Senior Writer: Going Denny Hamlin.
Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer: Austin Dillon. Pretty solid driver to be high risk.
Danny Peters, Senior Writer: No. 4.
Huston Ladner, Senior Editor: Going with JoLo.
Michael Finley, Contributor: Matt Kenseth on Saturday and both his and my Green Bay Packers on Sunday on the road against Jacksonville.
Corey Brewer, Contributor: Carl Edwards.
Joseph Wolkin, Assistant Editor: Let’s go with Mr. Buescher.
Bojangles Southern 500
| Writer | Pick | Finishing Position | Points |
| Tony Lumbis | Martin Truex, Jr. | 1st | 5 |
| Dan Greene | Kevin Harvick | 2nd | 3 |
| Jeff Meyer | Kevin Harvick | 2nd | 3 |
| Mark Howell | Kyle Larson | 3rd | 3 |
| John Douglas | Kyle Larson | 3rd | 3 |
| Amy Henderson | Denny Hamlin | 4th | 5 |
| Danny Peters | Denny Hamlin | 4th | 5 |
| Dustin Albino | Joey Logano | 5th | 3 |
| Corey Brewer | Joey Logano | 5th | 3 |
| Clayton Caldwell | Matt Kenseth | 6th | 1 |
| Bryan Gable | Matt Kenseth | 6th | 1 |
| Aaron Bearden | Brad Keselowski | 9th | 1 |
| Mike Neff | Chase Elliott | 10th | 1 |
| Vito Pugliese | Chase Elliott | 10th | 1 |
| Joseph Wolkin | Kyle Busch | 11th | 0 |
| Huston Ladner | Jeff Gordon | 14th | 0 |
| Zach Catanzareti | Chris Buescher* | 17th | 0 |
| Sean Fesko | Carl Edwards | 19th | 0 |
| Greg Davis | Clint Bowyer | 22nd | -1 |
| Jeff Wolfe | Tony Stewart | 35th | -2 |
Standings
| Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Tony Lumbis | 41 | — | 24 | 3 | 10 | 14 |
| Bryan Gable | 33 | -8 | 23 | 2 | 10 | 16 |
| Jeff Meyer | 33 | -8 | 23 | 1 | 10 | 13 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 32 | -9 | 24 | 2 | 7 | 14 |
| Dustin Albino | 32 | -9 | 22 | 4 | 8 | 14 |
| Dan Greene | 27 | -14 | 25 | 1 | 7 | 14 |
| Danny Peters | 27 | -14 | 21 | 3 | 8 | 14 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 25 | -16 | 25 | 3 | 9 | 13 |
| Vito Pugliese | 25 | -16 | 25 | 2 | 7 | 15 |
| Huston Ladner | 17 | -24 | 21 | 0 | 5 | 10 |
| Sean Fesko | 16 | -25 | 24 | 2 | 6 | 9 |
| Jason Schultz | 16 | -25 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| Zach Catanzareti | 14 | -27 | 23 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| Aaron Bearden | 14 | -27 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 11 |
| Mark Howell | 13 | -28 | 21 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Amy Henderson | 13 | -28 | 25 | 3 | 7 | 12 |
| Corey Brewer | 13 | -28 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| John Douglas | 6 | -35 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Phil Allaway | 5 | -36 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Jerry Jordan | 4 | -37 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Mike Neff | 4 | -37 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Tom Bowles | 3 | -38 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Joseph Wolkin | 3 | -38 | 25 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Summer Bedgood | 1 | -40 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Matt Stallknecht | -1 | -42 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Kevin Rutherford | -2 | -43 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Davis | -3 | -44 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Michael Finley | -5 | -46 | 5 | 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.