Welcome to our 10th year of staff predictions! Each week, our experts attempt to tell you who the winner of each Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 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: Bank of America 500
| Writer | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Race Winner |
| Amy Henderson | Martin Truex, Jr. | Martin Truex, Jr. | Kyle Larson |
| Corey Brewer | Denny Hamlin | Martin Truex, Jr. | Kyle Larson |
| Mark Howell | Kyle Larson | Brad Keselowski | Chase Elliott |
| Dustin Albino | Denny Hamlin | Kyle Busch | Kevin Harvick |
| Clayton Caldwell | Martin Truex, Jr. | Martin Truex, Jr. | Kevin Harvick |
| Davey Segal | Kyle Busch | Martin Truex, Jr. | Martin Truex, Jr. |
| Bryan Gable | Kevin Harvick | Kyle Busch | Kevin Harvick |
| Michael Massie | Denny Hamlin | Matt Kenseth | Jimmie Johnson |
| Samarth Kanal | Denny Hamlin | Kevin Harvick | Kyle Busch |
| Dan Greene | Martin Truex, Jr. | Kyle Busch | Chase Elliott |
| Christian Koelle | Kevin Harvick | Clint Bowyer | Brad Keselowski |
| John Haverlin | Kevin Harvick | Kyle Busch | Chase Elliott |
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Results: Apache Warrior 400
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| Writer | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Race Winner | Winner Pick Finish | Total Points |
| Amy Henderson | Martin Truex, Jr. | Martin Truex, Jr. | Jimmie Johnson | 3rd | 3 |
| Corey Brewer | Martin Truex, Jr. | Martin Truex, Jr. | Martin Truex, Jr. | 4th | 3 |
| Mark Howell | Martin Truex, Jr. | Jimmie Johnson | Jimmie Johnson | 3rd | 3 |
| Dustin Albino | Kyle Busch | Kyle Larson | Chase Elliott | 2nd | 4 |
| Clayton Caldwell | Martin Truex, Jr. | Martin Truex, Jr. | Jimmie Johnson | 3rd | 3 |
| Davey Segal | Kyle Busch | Martin Truex, Jr. | Kyle Larson | 5th | 3 |
| Bryan Gable | Martin Truex, Jr. | Martin Truex, Jr. | Kyle Larson | 5th | 3 |
| Jeff Wolfe | Martin Truex, Jr. | Kyle Busch | Matt Kenseth | 11th | 0 |
| Michael Massie | Martin Truex, Jr. | Kyle Busch | Kurt Busch | 20th | 0 |
| Samarth Kanal | Martin Truex, Jr. | Kyle Busch | Matt Kenseth | 11th | 0 |
| Dan Greene | Martin Truex, Jr. | Kyle Busch | Jimmie Johnson | 3rd | 3 |
| Christian Koelle | Martin Truex, Jr. | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | 7th | 1 |
| Huston Ladner | Martin Truex, Jr. | Ryan Blaney | Jimmie Johnson | 3rd | 3 |
Standings
| Â Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Corey Brewer | 58 | — | 29 | 3 | 12 | 18 |
| Davey Segal | 57 | -1 | 29 | 6 | 13 | 18 |
| Amy Henderson | 56 | -2 | 29 | 3 | 14 | 20 |
| Bryan Gable | 43 | -15 | 26 | 4 | 8 | 16 |
| Mark Howell | 43 | -15 | 29 | 0 | 12 | 18 |
| Dustin Albino | 43 | -15 | 29 | 2 | 12 | 16 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 42 | -16 | 29 | 2 | 10 | 15 |
| Huston Ladner | 42 | -16 | 27 | 2 | 10 | 12 |
| Dan Greene | 41 | -17 | 24 | 2 | 11 | 15 |
| Michael Massie | 41 | -17 | 27 | 4 | 8 | 12 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 34 | -24 | 27 | 3 | 8 | 13 |
| Joseph Wolkin | 33 | -25 | 21 | 1 | 9 | 13 |
| Vito Pugliese | 31 | -24 | 19 | 4 | 5 | 10 |
| Frank Velat | 25 | -33 | 19 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| John Douglas | 17 | -41 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| John Haverlin | 14 | -44 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Samarth Kanal | 13 | -45 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Matteo Marcheschi | 12 | -46 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Greg Davis | 10 | -48 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Christian Koelle | 5 | -53 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Michael Finley | 3 | -55 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Phil Allaway | 0 | -58 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zach Catanzareti | -1 | -59 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Bowles | -2 | -60 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Danny Peters | -3 | -61 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
About the author
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.
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My prediction; cars spaced out at least 2 seconds apart with little passing all night. The Toyotas occupy 3 of the top 5 with Larson and Kez round out a chevy and a Ford. Danica has an altercation with a back marker and bitches and moans all night about it. Basically to sum it up a very long and boring night as usual at Charlotte.