Welcome to our 10th 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: O’Reilly Auto Parts 500
Amy Henderson: Stage 1: Joey Logano, Stage 2: Jimmie Johnson, Race Winner: Brad Keselowski
Corey Brewer: Stage 1: Kevin Harvick, Stage 2: Joey Logano, Race Winner: Kevin Harvick
Dan Greene: Stage 1: Kevin Harvick, Stage 2: Martin Truex, Jr., Race Winner: Kevin Harvick
Mark Howell: Stage 1: Kevin Harvick, Stage 2: Brad Keselowski, Race Winner: Clint Bowyer
Dustin Albino: Stage 1: Kevin Harvick, Stage 2: Joey Logano, Race Winner: Martin Truex Jr.
Clayton Caldwell: Stage 1: Kevin Harvick, Stage 2: Kevin Harvick, Race Winner: Brad Keselowski
Huston Ladner: Stage 1: Kevin Harvick, Stage 2: Ryan Blaney, Race Winner: Kyle Busch
Frank Velat: Stage 1: Kevin Harvick, Stage 2: Brad Keselowski, Race Winner: Kevin Harvick
Michael Massie: Stage 1: Kevin Harvick, Stage 2: Joey Logano, Race Winner: Kyle Busch
Vito Pugliese: Stage 1: Kevin Harvick, Stage 2: Ryan Blaney, Race Winner: Brad Keselowski
John Douglas: Stage 1: Kyle Larson, Stage 2: Brad Keselowski, Winner: Kyle Larson
Greg Davis: Stage 1: Kevin Harvick, Stage 2: Kevin Harvick, Race Winner: Kevin Harvick (for the “cycle”!)
Jeff Wolfe: Stage 1: Ryan Blaney, Stage 2: Joey Logano, Race Winner: Kyle Busch
Davey Segal: Stage 1: Kevin Harvick, Stage 2: Joey Logano, Race Winner: Brad Keselowski
Matteo Marcheschi: Stage 1: Kevin Harvick, Stage 2: Kevin Harvick, Race Winner: Kyle Busch
Results: STP 500
| Writer | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Race Winner | Winner Pick Finish | Points |
| Mark Howell | Denny Hamlin | Chase Elliott | Kyle Busch | 2nd | 4 |
| Corey Brewer | Martin Truex, Jr. | Kyle Busch | Kyle Busch | 2nd | 4 |
| Huston Ladner | Joey Logano | Denny Hamlin | Kyle Busch | 2nd | 3 |
| Frank Velat | Joey Logano | Martin Truex, Jr. | Kyle Busch | 2nd | 3 |
| Joseph Wolkin | Joey Logano | Chase Elliott | Joey Logano | 4th | 4 |
| Davey Segal | Joey Logano | Jimmie Johnson | Joey Logano | 4th | 3 |
| Dan Greene | Denny Hamlin | Kyle Busch | Clint Bowyer | 7th | 1 |
| Clayton Caldwell | Brad Keselowski | Denny Hamlin | Clint Bowyer | 7th | 1 |
| Dustin Albino | Brad Keselowski | Kyle Busch | Jimmie Johnson | 15th | 0 |
| Bryan Gable | Martin Truex, Jr. | Brad Keselowski | Denny Hamlin | 30th | 0 |
| Amy Henderson | Chase Elliott | Clint Bowyer | Denny Hamlin | 30th | -1 |
| Michael Massie | Chase Elliott | Brad Keselowski | Denny Hamlin | 30th | -1 |
| Jeff Wolfe | Denny Hamlin | Denny Hamlin | Denny Hamlin | 30th | -1 |
| Greg Davis | Chase Elliott | Kurt Busch | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | 34th | -2 |
Standings
| Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Mark Howell | 16 | — | 6 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 15 | -1 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Dustin Albino | 13 | -4 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Amy Henderson | 12 | -4 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Corey Brewer | 12 | -4 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 11 | -5 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Michael Massie | 10 | -6 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Frank Velat | 9 | -7 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Davey Segal | 9 | -7 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| John Douglas | 8 | -8 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Huston Ladner | 8 | -8 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Bryan Gable | 7 | -9 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Vito Pugliese | 6 | -10 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Michael Finley | 4 | -12 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Dan Greene | 2 | -14 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Greg Davis | 1 | -15 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Joseph Wolkin | 1 | -15 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Phil Allaway | 0 | -16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Bowles | 0 | -16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zach Catanzareti | -1 | -17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Danny Peters | -3 | -19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |