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—Chicago
Chris Buescher
Michael McDowell
Trevor Bayne
Casey Mears
Danica Patrick
Austin Dillon
Regan Smith
This week’s predictions: Federated Auto Parts 400
Amy Henderson, Senior Editor: I’ll take Brad Keselowski this week. JJ has a better average at Chicago but can’t close the deal. Kes will close it and slam the door.
Dan Greene, Webmaster: Denny Hamlin for the repeat win.
Tony Lumbis, Financial Manager: I’ll take Kyle Larson. He had a chance for the win here back in his rookie year. Now that they have the confidence that they can seal the deal, I think they will do so this weekend.
Mike Neff, Short Track Editor: Please put me down for the 2015 Sprint Cup Champion to kick off his title defense in style. No. 18 – Kyle Busch.
Jeff Wolfe, Senior Writer: I’m picking the on-track class of Hendrick Motorsports – Chase Elliott.
Mark Howell, Senior Writer: My pick for Chicagoland is Joey Logano. He got to drive a Model T in Michigan this past week; he’ll be thrilled to get behind the wheel of a newer Ford that’s just a tad faster.
Clayton Caldwell, Contributor: I’ll take Martin Truex, Jr. please. He’s had the fastest car pretty much all year. Time for them to roll off some victories.
Dustin Albino, Contributor: Kyle Busch.
John Douglas, Contributor: I’m going with Truex. I think his team is in the best position to go out, knock off a quick win, and work on Round 2 performance with the other two Round 1 races.
Sean Fesko, Staff Writer: Denny Hamlin.
Vito Pugliese, Senior Writer: Pencil me in for Matt Kenseth.
Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer: Since McMurray has had some gutsy comments lately, I’ll bite and choose him.
Danny Peters, Senior Writer: No. 4, please.
Huston Ladner, Senior Editor: Have Knaus and JJ been laying in the weeds? Time to find out. Jimmie Johnson.
Bryan Gable, Staff Writer: I’ll take Kevin Harvick.
Corey Brewer, Contributor: Brad Keselowski.
Joseph Wolkin, Assistant Editor: I’m going with Matt Kenseth.
Federated Auto Parts 400
| Writer | Pick | Finishing Position | Points |
| Clayton Caldwell | Denny Hamlin | 1st | 5 |
| Vito Pugliese | Denny Hamlin | 1st | 5 |
| Jeff Wolfe | Kyle Larson | 2nd | 3 |
| Tony Lumbis | Kevin Harvick | 5th | 3 |
| Danny Peters | Kevin Harvick | 5th | 3 |
| Amy Henderson | Kyle Busch | 9th | 1 |
| Huston Ladner | Joey Logano | 10th | 1 |
| Sean Fesko | Austin Dillon* | 13th | 0 |
| Zach Catanzareti | Austin Dillon* | 13th | 0 |
| Dustin Albino | Chase Elliott | 19th | 0 |
| Dan Greene | Chris Buescher* | 24th | -1 |
| Joseph Wolkin | Chris Buescher* | 24th | -1 |
| Jeff Meyer | Carl Edwards | 32nd | -2 |
| Corey Brewer | Carl Edwards | 32nd | -2 |
| Mark Howell | Tony Stewart | 33rd | -2 |
| Aaron Bearden | Matt Kenseth | 38th | -3 |
| Michael Finley | Matt Kenseth | 38th | -3 |
Standings
| Â Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Tony Lumbis | 44 | — | 25 | 3 | 11 | 15 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 37 | -7 | 25 | 3 | 8 | 15 |
| Bryan Gable | 33 | -11 | 23 | 2 | 10 | 16 |
| Dustin Albino | 32 | -12 | 23 | 4 | 8 | 14 |
| Jeff Meyer | 31 | -13 | 24 | 1 | 10 | 13 |
| Danny Peters | 30 | -14 | 22 | 3 | 9 | 15 |
| Vito Pugliese | 30 | -14 | 26 | 3 | 8 | 16 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 28 | -16 | 26 | 3 | 10 | 14 |
| Dan Greene | 26 | -18 | 26 | 1 | 7 | 14 |
| Huston Ladner | 18 | -26 | 22 | 0 | 5 | 11 |
| Sean Fesko | 16 | -28 | 25 | 2 | 6 | 9 |
| Jason Schultz | 16 | -28 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| Amy Henderson | 14 | -30 | 26 | 3 | 7 | 13 |
| Zach Catanzareti | 14 | -30 | 24 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| Aaron Bearden | 11 | -33 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 11 |
| Mark Howell | 11 | -33 | 22 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Corey Brewer | 11 | -33 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| John Douglas | 6 | -38 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Phil Allaway | 5 | -39 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Jerry Jordan | 4 | -40 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Mike Neff | 4 | -40 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Tom Bowles | 3 | -41 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Joseph Wolkin | 2 | -42 | 26 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Summer Bedgood | 1 | -43 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Matt Stallknecht | -1 | -45 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Kevin Rutherford | -2 | -46 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Davis | -3 | -47 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Michael Finley | -8 | -52 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Gibbs drivers will finish 1-2-3-4-5. First cars out of the race will be the 2 (courtesy of contact from the 20), then the 22 (also courtesy of contact from the 20).
Kasey Kahne spoils the chase party