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—Charlotte II
Ryan Blaney
Paul Menard
Trevor Bayne
Casey Mears
Danica Patrick
Regan Smith
This week’s predictions: Bank of America 500
Amy Henderson, Senior Editor: I think I like Matt Kenseth. He’s on the pole and he’s due for a W.
Dan Greene, Webmaster: Jamie Mac.
Tony Lumbis, Financial Manager: Jamie McMurray benefits from some home race motivation.
Jeff Wolfe, Senior Writer: Let’s go with Loooongaaano (otherwise known as Logano).
Mark Howell, Senior Writer: Kyle Busch for the win and the advance.
Clayton Caldwell, Contributor: I’ll take Amazing Chase from the Exact Same Place…..aka Chase Elliott.
Sean Fesko, Staff Writer: Kyle Busch.
Jeff Meyer, Retiree: I want Carl Edwards.
Vito Pugliese, Senior Writer: James Dennis Hamlin.
Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer: Trevor Bayne.
Danny Peters, Senior Writer: Jimmie Johnson for me please.
Huston Ladner, Senior Editor: I’ll ride with Edwards.
Dustin Albino, Contributor: Denny Hamlin.
Bryan Gable, Staff Writer: Kevin Harvick.
Aaron Bearden, Assistant Editor: I’ll snatch up Kenseth as well if no one just beat me to it.
Corey Brewer, Contributor: Kyle Busch.
Joseph Wolkin, Assistant Editor: Ryan Blaney.
AAA 400
| Writer | Pick | Finishing Position | Points |
| Jeff Wolfe | Jimmie Johnson | 1st | 5 |
| Huston Ladner | Jimmie Johnson | 1st | 5 |
| Sean Fesko | Brad Keselowski | 7th | 1 |
| Vito Pugliese | Brad Keselowski | 7th | 1 |
| Jeff Meyer | Tony Stewart | 9th | 1 |
| Aaron Bearden | Danica Patrick* | 11th | 0 |
| Tony Lumbis | Carl Edwards | 12th | 0 |
| Amy Henderson | Martin Truex, Jr. | 13th | 0 |
| Corey Brewer | Martin Truex, Jr. | 13th | 0 |
| Bryan Gable | Denny Hamlin | 30th | -1 |
| Clayton Caldwell | Ryan Blaney* | 31st | -2 |
| Zach Catanzareti | Ryan Blaney* | 31st | -2 |
| Mark Howell | Joey Logano | 36th | -2 |
| Danny Peters | Joey Logano | 36th | -2 |
| Dan Greene | Kevin Harvick | 38th | -3 |
| Dustin Albino | Kevin Harvick | 38th | -3 |
| Joseph Wolkin | Alex Bowman | 39th | -3 |
Standings
| Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 46 | — | 29 | 5 | 10 | 18 |
| Tony Lumbis | 46 | — | 29 | 3 | 12 | 16 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 42 | -4 | 39 | 5 | 13 | 18 |
| Bryan Gable | 38 | -8 | 25 | 2 | 12 | 18 |
| Jeff Meyer | 38 | -8 | 27 | 1 | 12 | 16 |
| Vito Pugliese | 33 | -13 | 30 | 3 | 8 | 19 |
| Dustin Albino | 33 | -13 | 26 | 4 | 9 | 16 |
| Dan Greene | 29 | -17 | 30 | 1 | 8 | 17 |
| Huston Ladner | 27 | -19 | 26 | 1 | 7 | 14 |
| Danny Peters | 25 | -21 | 26 | 3 | 9 | 15 |
| Corey Brewer | 20 | -26 | 16 | 1 | 7 | 11 |
| Mark Howell | 18 | -28 | 26 | 2 | 9 | 11 |
| Amy Henderson | 18 | -28 | 30 | 3 | 8 | 15 |
| Sean Fesko | 18 | -28 | 29 | 2 | 7 | 12 |
| Jason Schultz | 16 | -30 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| Zach Catanzareti | 12 | -34 | 28 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Aaron Bearden | 11 | -35 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 11 |
| John Douglas | 11 | -35 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Mike Neff | 8 | -38 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| Phil Allaway | 5 | -41 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Jerry Jordan | 4 | -42 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Tom Bowles | 3 | -43 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Summer Bedgood | 1 | -45 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Joseph Wolkin | -1 | -47 | 30 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| Matt Stallknecht | -1 | -47 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Kevin Rutherford | -2 | -48 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Davis | -3 | -49 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Michael Finley | -8 | -54 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.