NASCAR on TV this week

2016 Frontstretch Cup: Staff Predictions for the Goody’s Fast Relief 500

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

Frontstretch.com

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.

Sign up for the Frontstretch Newsletter

A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.


4 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
JohnDoe

My glassball says Jeff Gordon takes home his tenth Grandfather clock

Ken

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!

SmarterThanYou

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.”

Ken

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.