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—Phoenix II
Brian Scott
Casey Mears
David Ragan
Paul Menard
Chris Buescher
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
Trevor Bayne
This week’s predictions: Can-Am 500
Amy Henderson, Senior Editor: It’s Phoenix, which means I’m going with Kevin Harvick. Sorry about the jinx, Happy fans…
Dan Greene, Webmaster: Smoke, why not?
Tony Lumbis, Financial Manager: Logano makes a statement heading to Homestead.
Jeff Wolfe, Senior Writer: Edwards with a back to back and belly to belly!
Clayton Caldwell, Contributor: I’ll take Denny Hamlin, please.
Sean Fesko, Staff Writer: Kurt Busch somehow ekes out the win.
Danny Peters, Senior Writer: I will go with the No. 2.
Huston Ladner, Senior Editor: KuBu.
Jeff Meyer, Retiree: I go with Edwards on the back to back also please.Â
Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer: Matt DiBenedetto.
Mark Howell, Senior Writer: Matt Kenseth.Â
Bryan Gable, Staff Writer: Joey Logano.
Dustin Albino, Contributor: No. 5 car.
Joseph Wolkin, Assistant Editor: Kyle Busch.
Vito Pugliese, Senior Writer: Harvick too.
Corey Brewer, Contributor: I’ll take Kyle Busch.
AAA Texas 500
| Writer | Pick | Finishing Position | Points |
| Sean Fesko | Carl Edwards | 1st | 5 |
| Huston Ladner | Joey Logano | 2nd | 3 |
| Dan Greene | Martin Truex, Jr. | 3rd | 3 |
| Vito Pugliese | Martin Truex, Jr. | 3rd | 3 |
| Mark Howell | Kyle Busch | 5th | 3 |
| Dustin Albino | Kyle Busch | 5th | 3 |
| Tony Lumbis | Kevin Harvick | 6th | 1 |
| Bryan Gable | Kevin Harvick | 6th | 1 |
| Corey Brewer | Matt Kenseth | 7th | 1 |
| Amy Henderson | Jimmie Johnson | 11th | 0 |
| Danny Peters | Jimmie Johnson | 11th | 0 |
| Clayton Caldwell | Ryan Blaney | 12th | 0 |
| Zach Catanzareti | Alex Bowman* | 13th | 0 |
| Jeff Wolfe | Brad Keselowski | 14th | 0 |
| Joseph Wolkin | Kyle Larson | 15th | 0 |
| Jeff Meyer | Tony Stewart | 31st | -2 |
Standings
| Â Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Bryan Gable | 52 | — | 29 | 4 | 15 | 22 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 47 | -5 | 34 | 6 | 15 | 20 |
| Tony Lumbis | 44 | -8 | 33 | 3 | 13 | 18 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 42 | -10 | 33 | 5 | 10 | 19 |
| Vito Pugliese | 41 | -11 | 33 | 4 | 10 | 21 |
| Jeff Meyer | 38 | -14 | 31 | 1 | 13 | 18 |
| Dustin Albino | 37 | -15 | 29 | 4 | 10 | 18 |
| Huston Ladner | 36 | -16 | 30 | 1 | 10 | 17 |
| Danny Peters | 32 | -20 | 30 | 3 | 11 | 18 |
| Dan Greene | 27 | -25 | 34 | 1 | 9 | 18 |
| Sean Fesko | 27 | -25 | 33 | 3 | 9 | 15 |
| Mark Howell | 24 | -28 | 28 | 2 | 11 | 13 |
| Corey Brewer | 22 | -30 | 20 | 1 | 8 | 13 |
| Amy Henderson | 19 | -33 | 34 | 3 | 9 | 17 |
| Jason Schultz | 16 | -36 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| John Douglas | 14 | -38 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Aaron Bearden | 13 | -39 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 13 |
| Zach Catanzareti | 9 | -43 | 31 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Mike Neff | 8 | -44 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| Phil Allaway | 5 | -47 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Jerry Jordan | 4 | -48 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Tom Bowles | 3 | -49 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Summer Bedgood | 1 | -51 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Matt Stallknecht | -1 | -53 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Kevin Rutherford | -2 | -54 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joseph Wolkin | -3 | -55 | 33 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| Greg Davis | -5 | -57 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Michael Finley | -8 | -60 | 7 | 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.
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My pick ist that #11 car
Logano? What if the loony toon in the 20 is behind him?
Tony Stewart’s Outlaw sprint car with Donny Schatz driving won the POINTS championship by 314 points over Kasey Kahne’s Daryn Pittman. Does anyone think they will push for a change to a chase system?