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
Note: Of course, this week features the All-Star Race, so we’ve got a few different rules. No pick counts toward the season total, and nobody will lose points; only bonus points will be awarded. Writers will get one point for each correct pick, and an additional point if all four picks are correct (which didn’t happen; nobody guessed the pole winner).
This week’s predictions: Monster Energy All-Star Race
| Writer | All-Star Pole Winner | Open Winner | Fan Vote Winner | All-Star Race Winner |
| Amy Henderson | Brad Keselowski | Chase Elliott | Matt DiBenedetto | Kyle Larson |
| Corey Brewer | Martin Truex, Jr. | Clint Bowyer | Chase Elliott | Brad Keselowski |
| Dan Greene | Martin Truex, Jr | Trevor Bayne | Clint Bowyer | Kevin Harvick |
| Mark Howell | Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. | Ryan Blaney | Clint Bowyer | Martin Truex, Jr. |
| Dustin Albino | Kyle Busch | Ryan Blaney | Matt DiBenedetto | Brad Keselowski |
| Clayton Caldwell | Kyle Busch | Chase Elliott | Matt DiBenedetto | Kyle Larson |
| Vito Pugliese | Kyle Busch | Ryan Blaney | Chase Elliott | Jimmie Johnson |
| Frank Velat | Matt Kenseth | Ryan Blaney | Danica Patrick | Martin Truex, Jr. |
| Michael Massie | Joey Logano | Erik Jones | Matt DiBenedetto | Kyle Busch |
| Davey Segal | Denny Hamlin | Ryan Blaney | Matt DiBenedetto | Kyle Larson |
| Bryan Gable | Brad Keselowski | Chase Elliott | Matt DiBenedetto | Kyle Larson |
| Jeff Wolfe | Joey Logano | Ryan Blaney | Danica Patrick | Martin Truex, Jr. |
| Michael Finley | Denny Hamlin | Trevor Bayne | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Kevin Harvick |
Results: Go Bowling 400
| Writer | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Race Winner | Winner Pick Finish | Points | |
| Corey Brewer | Martin Truex, Jr. | Kyle Busch | Martin Truex, Jr. | 1st | 5 | |
| Michael Massie | Ryan Blaney | Kyle Busch | Martin Truex, Jr. | 1st | 5 | |
| John Haverlin | Matt Kenseth | Matt Kenseth | Martin Truex, Jr. | 1st | 5 | |
| Bryan Gable | Martin Truex, Jr. | Kevin Harvick | Kevin Harvick | 3rd | 3 | |
| Amy Henderson | Kyle Busch | Brad Keselowski | Ryan Blaney | 4th | 4 | |
| Mark Howell | Kyle Karson | Kyle Busch | Kyle Busch | 5th | 3 | |
| Frank Velat | Martin Truex, Jr. | Kyle Busch | Kyle Busch | 5th | 3 | |
| Joseph Wolkin | Kyle Larson | Martin Truex, Jr. | Kyle Larson | 6th | 1 | |
| Dan Greene | Kevin Harvick | Kyle Busch | Clint Bowyer | 9th | 1 | |
| Vito Pugliese | Ryan Blaney | Kyle Larson | Clint Bowyer | 9th | 1 | |
| Huston Ladner | Brad Keselowski | Clint Bowyer | Jimmie Johnson | 24th | -1 | |
| Dustin Albino | Kyle Larson | Brad Keselowski | Jimmie Johnson | 24th | -1 | |
| Clayton Caldwell | Brad Keselowski | Chase Elliott | Chase Elliott | 29th | -1 | |
Standings
| Â Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Corey Brewer | 21 | — | 11 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| Mark Howell | 20 | -1 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Amy Henderson | 19 | -2 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 8 |
| Huston Ladner | 17 | -4 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| Frank Velat | 15 | -6 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Dustin Albino | 14 | -7 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| John Douglas | 14 | -7 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Bryan Gable | 14 | -7 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Michael Massie | 13 | -8 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Matteo Marcheschi | 12 | -9 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 11 | -10 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Vito Pugliese | 10 | -11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Davey Segal | 9 | -12 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 9 | -12 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Joseph Wolkin | 6 | -15 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| John Haverlin | 5 | -16 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Dan Greene | 4 | -17 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Michael Finley | 3 | -18 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Greg Davis | 3 | -18 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Phil Allaway | 0 | -21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Bowles | 0 | -21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zach Catanzareti | -1 | -22 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Danny Peters | -3 | -24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Johnson! Failing post race inspection doesn’t matter.