Welcome to our tenth 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 writer picks the drivers they they think will win the first two stages and the overall race. We can’t pick the same driver two weeks in a row or more than four times in a season. The first two stages pay one bonus point, with three bonus points if someone can get all three winners correct. Overall race points remain the same:
Prediction Scoring
+5 – Win
+3 – 2nd-5th
+1 – 6th-10th
0 – 11th-20th
-1 – 21st-30th
-2 – 31st-36th
-3 – 37th-40th
This week’s predictions: Kobalt 400
Amy Henderson, Senior Editor: Stage 1: Martin Truex, Jr., Stage 2: Brad Keselowski, Race Winner: Brad Keselowski
Corey Brewer, Staff Writer: Stage 1: Brad Keselowski, Stage 2: Brad Keselowski, Race Winner: Brad Keselowski
Dan Greene, Webmaster: Stage 1: Martin Truex, Jr., Stage 2: Chase Elliot, Race Winner: Kevin Harvick
Vito Pugliese, Senior Writer: Stage 1: Martin Truex, Jr., Stage 2: Kevin Harvick, Race Winner: Kevin Harvick
Joseph Wolkin, Assistant Editor: Stage 1: Kyle Busch, Stage 2: Kevin Harvick, Race Winner: Kevin Harvick
Mark Howell, Senior Writer: Stage 1: Jimmie Johnson, Stage 2: Kevin Harvick, Race Winner: Joey Logano
Dustin Albino, Assistant Editor: Stage 1: Martin Truex Jr., Stage 2: Matt Kenseth, Race Winner: Joey Logano
Clayton Caldwell, Staff Writer: Stage 1: Kyle Larson, Stage 2: Martin Truex, Jr., Race Winner: Martin Truex, Jr.
Huston Ladner, Senior Editor: Stage 1: Brad Keselowski, Stage 2: Ryan Blaney, Race Winner: Kyle Busch
Greg Davis, Staff Writer: Stage 1: Brad Keselowski, Stage 2: Kevin Harvick, Race Winner: Clint Bowyer
Frank Velat, Staff Writer: Stage 1: Denny Hamlin, Stage 2: Martin Truex, Jr., Race Winner: Kevin Harvick
Michael Massie, Staff Writer: Stage 1: Brad Keselowski, Stage 2: Brad Keselowski, Race Winner: Matt Kenseth
Bryan Gable, Staff Writer: Stage 1: Martin Truex, Jr., Stage 2: Martin Truex, Jr., Race Winner: Matt Kenseth
Jeff Wolfe, Senior Writer: Stage 1: Chase Elliott, Stage 2: Kevin Harvick, Race Winner: Kevin Harvick
Davey Segal, Staff Writer: Stage 1: Brad Keselowski, Stage 2: Chase Elliott, Race Winner: Kevin Harvick
John Douglas, Staff Writer: Stage 1: Brad Keselowski, Stage 2: Martin Truex Jr., Stage 3: Brad Keselowski
Results: Folds of Honor Quik Trip 500
Writer | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Race Winner | Winner Pick Finish | Points |
Jeff Wolfe | Kevin Harvick | Jimmie Johnson | Brad Keselowski | 1st | 6 |
Mark Howell | Kevin Harvick | Chase Elliott | Kyle Larson | 2nd | 4 |
Amy Henderson | Kevin Harvick | Jimmie Johnson | Chase Elliott | 5th | 4 |
Dan Greene | Kevin Harvick | Martin Truex, Jr. | Chase Elliott | 5th | 4 |
Michael Finley | Kevin Harvick | Chase Elliott | Chase Elliott | 5th | 4 |
Dustin Albino | Kevin Harvick | Joey Logano | Chase Elliott | 5th | 4 |
Bryan Gable | Kevin Harvick | Kyle Larson | Chase Elliott | 5th | 4 |
Davey Segal | Kevin Harvick | Jimmie Johnson | Chase Elliott | 5th | 4 |
Michael Massie | Kyle Busch | Kevin Harvick | Chase Elliott | 5th | 4 |
Huston Ladner | Kevin Harvick | Brad Keselowski | Joey Logano | 6th | 2 |
Clayton Caldwell | Brad Keselowski | Kevin Harvick | Kevin Harvick | 9th | 2 |
Frank Velat | Kevin Harvick | Jimmie Johnson | Kevin Harvick | 9 | 2 |
Vito Pugliese | Kyle Busch | Kevin Harvick | Kyle Busch | 16th | 1 |
John Douglas | Kyle Larson | Kevin Harvick | Jimmie Johnson | 19th | 1 |
Joseph Wolkin | Ryan Newman | Kevin Harvick | Jimmie Johnson | 19th | 1 |
Mike Neff | Chase Elliott | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | Jimmie Johnson | 19th | 0 |
Corey Brewer | Kevin Harvick | Kyle Busch | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | 30th | 0 |
Standings
Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
Michael Massie | 7 | — | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Jeff Wolfe | 6 | -1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Michael Finley | 4 | -3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Dan Greene | 3 | -4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Clayton Caldwell | 2 | -5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Bryan Gable | 2 | -5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Dustin Albino | 2 | -5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Mark Howell | 2 | -5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Corey Brewer | 1 | -6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Frank Velat | 1 | -6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Amy Henderson | 1 | -6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Davey Segal | 1 | -6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Huston Ladner | 0 | -7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Phil Allaway | 0 | -7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Tom Bowles | 0 | -7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
John Douglas | 0 | -7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Joseph Wolkin | 0 | -7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Zach Catanzareti | -1 | -8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Vito Pugliese | -2 | -9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Greg Davis | -2 | -9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Danny Peters | -3 | -10 | 1 | 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.