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—Martinsville II
Landon Cassill
Chris Buescher
Trevor Bayne
Casey Mears
Brian Scott
Kyle Larson
Aric Almirola
This week’s predictions: Goody’s Fast Relief 500
Amy Henderson, Senior Editor: I’m going with Denny Hamlin…he’s so good at Martinsville it’s scary!
Dan Greene, Webmaster: Harvick. What’s that in your rear view mirror? It’s Happy Harvick!
Tony Lumbis, Financial Manager: Kyle Busch steps out from the Invisible Cloak he wore at Talladega.
Jeff Wolfe, Senior Writer: Jimmie Johnson for the win.
Clayton Caldwell, Contributor: I’ll take the outside pole sitter please. (Joey Logano)
Sean Fesko, Staff Writer: Jeff Gordon–he’s back from the grave of retirement!
Aaron Bearden, Assistant Editor: I’ll take that kid driving the No. 88 since it may be the last time I can before he vanishes into the fog once more.
Danny Peters, Senior Writer: AJ Allmendinger.
Huston Ladner, Senior Editor: Kyle Busch.
Michael Finley, Contributor: Kyle Larson, who has nothing to lose.
Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer: David Ragan qualified good so him.
Bryan Gable, Staff Writer: Martinsville has been much less scary for Matt Kenseth since he went to JGR, so I’ll go with him.
Dustin Albino, Contributor: Joey Logano.
Vito Pugliese, Senior Writer: Jimmie Johnson.
Phil Allaway, Newsletter Editor: I’m going with Jamie McMurray. He’s fast, has a good track record at Martinsville, finished second last year. What’s not to like?
Corey Brewer, Contributor: Kyle Larson.
Hollywood Casino 400
| Writer | Pick | Finishing Position | Points |
| Bryan Gable | Joey Logano | 1st | 5 |
| Danny Peters | Denny Hamlin | 3rd | 3 |
| John Douglas | Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. | 5th | 3 |
| Jeff Meyer | Kevin Harvick | 7th | 1 |
| Mark Howell | Chase Elliott | 12th | 0 |
| Corey Brewer | Chase Elliott | 12th | 0 |
| Sean Fesko | Clint Bowyer | 18th | 0 |
| Huston Ladner | Danica Patrick* | 20th | 0 |
| Phil Allaway | Landon Cassill | 21st | 0 |
| Dan Greene | Tony Stewart | 32nd | -2 |
| Greg Davis | Tony Stewart | 32nd | -2 |
| Joseph Wolkin | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 34th | -2 |
| Tony Lumbis | Brad Keselowski | 38th | -3 |
| Jeff Wolfe | Brad Keselowski | 38th | -3 |
| Amy Henderson | Casey Mears* | 39th | -3 |
| Clayton Caldwell | Casey Mears* | 39th | -3 |
Standings
| Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Bryan Gable | 48 | — | 27 | 4 | 14 | 20 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 42 | -6 | 32 | 5 | 14 | 19 |
| Jeff Meyer | 42 | -6 | 29 | 1 | 13 | 18 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 41 | -7 | 31 | 5 | 10 | 18 |
| Tony Lumbis | 40 | -8 | 31 | 3 | 12 | 16 |
| Vito Pugliese | 33 | -15 | 31 | 3 | 8 | 19 |
| Dustin Albino | 33 | -15 | 27 | 4 | 9 | 16 |
| Danny Peters | 31 | -17 | 28 | 3 | 11 | 17 |
| Huston Ladner | 30 | -18 | 28 | 1 | 8 | 15 |
| Dan Greene | 24 | -24 | 32 | 1 | 8 | 17 |
| Corey Brewer | 21 | -27 | 18 | 1 | 8 | 12 |
| Mark Howell | 21 | -27 | 27 | 2 | 10 | 12 |
| Sean Fesko | 21 | -27 | 31 | 2 | 8 | 13 |
| Amy Henderson | 16 | -32 | 32 | 3 | 8 | 16 |
| Jason Schultz | 16 | -32 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| John Douglas | 14 | -34 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Zach Catanzareti | 12 | -36 | 29 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Aaron Bearden | 12 | -36 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 12 |
| Mike Neff | 8 | -40 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| Phil Allaway | 4 | -44 | 13 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Jerry Jordan | 4 | -44 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Tom Bowles | 3 | -45 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Summer Bedgood | 1 | -47 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Matt Stallknecht | -1 | -49 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Kevin Rutherford | -2 | -50 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joseph Wolkin | -3 | -51 | 32 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| Greg Davis | -5 | -52 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Michael Finley | -8 | -56 | 6 | 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.
My glassball says Jeff Gordon takes home his tenth Grandfather clock
Kyle Busch takes it. Truex sacrifices and takes out Logano early. Edwards takes out Harvick, but is able to finish. Kenseth takes out Kurt, but is able to finish. And Dennis-the-menace takes out Johnson, but finishes.
After all, it has to be an all-Toyota final, doesn’t it Brian!
New rule: Retired Cup drivers will no longer be allowed to compete in Chase races. This is to give the upcoming young stars a chance to win and advance to the Championship. AKA, the “Jeff Gordon rule.”
Boy do you have intestinal fortitude! There are far more Jeff Gordon fans, than there are Kyle Busch fans. Despite what you have said to anyone who dares to disagree with you, Kyle will never have the fan base of Gordon. Nor will he ever get the level of respect that Gordon has. Oh, just to be clear, I have never been a Gordon fan myself.