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 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: Ford EcoBoost 400
| Writer | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Race Winner |
| Amy Henderson | Martin Truex Jr. | Kyle Busch | Martin Truex Jr. |
| Corey Brewer | Martin Truex Jr. | Martin Truex Jr. | Martin Truex Jr. |
| Mark Howell | Kyle Busch | Kevin Harvick | Kevin Harvick |
| Huston Ladner | Martin Truex Jr. | Kyle Busch | Kevin Harvick |
| Davey Segal | Martin Truex Jr. | Martin Truex Jr. | Martin Truex Jr. |
| Bryan Gable | Martin Truex Jr. | Kevin Harvick | Kyle Larson |
| Michael Massie | Denny Hamlin | Martin Truex Jr. | Kyle Busch |
| Christian Koelle | Martin Truex Jr. | Brad Keselowski | Kyle Busch |
| Jeff Wolfe | Martin Truex Jr. | Martin Truex Jr. | Martin Truex Jr. |
| Clayton Caldwell | Martin Truex Jr. | Brad Keselowski | Martin Truex Jr. |
| Dan Greene | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Results: First Data 500
| Writer | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Race Winner | Winner Pick Finish | Total Points |
| Amy Henderson | Clint Bowyer | Kyle Busch | Kevin Harvick | 5th | 3 |
| Corey Brewer | Denny Hamlin | Kevin Harvick | Kevin Harvick | 5th | 3 |
| Mark Howell | Ryan Blaney | Joey Logano | Brad Keselowski | 16th | 0 |
| Dustin Albino | Ryan Blaney | Kevin Harvick | Matt Kenseth | 1st | 5 |
| Davey Segal | Kyle Busch | Denny Hamlin | Matt Kenseth | 1st | 5 |
| Bryan Gable | Chase Elliott | Kevin Harvick | Kevin Harvick | 5th | 3 |
| Michael Massie | Ryan Blaney | Denny Hamlin | Ryan Blaney | 17th | 1 |
| Christian Koelle | Ryan Blaney | Ryan Blaney | Ryan Blaney | 17th | 0 |
| Jeff Wolfe | Ryan Blaney | Chase Elliott | Ryan Blaney | 17th | 0 |
| Clayton Caldwell | Martin Truex Jr. | Kevin Harvick | Kevin Harvick | 5th | 3 |
| John Haverlin | Ryan Blaney | Kyle Larson | Joey Logano | 12th | 0 |
Standings
| Â Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Corey Brewer | 75 | — | 35 | 5 | 15 | 24 |
| Amy Henderson | 74 | -1 | 35 | 5 | 18 | 25 |
| Davey Segal | 70 | -5 | 35 | 8 | 16 | 23 |
| Bryan Gable | 61 | -14 | 32 | 6 | 12 | 20 |
| Dustin Albino | 61 | -14 | 35 | 5 | 16 | 20 |
| Michael Massie | 55 | -20 | 33 | 6 | 11 | 16 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 52 | -23 | 34 | 2 | 13 | 19 |
| Mark Howell | 49 | -26 | 35 | 0 | 13 | 21 |
| Dan Greene | 49 | -26 | 28 | 2 | 13 | 19 |
| Huston Ladner | 46 | -29 | 30 | 3 | 11 | 13 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 43 | -32 | 32 | 4 | 9 | 16 |
| Vito Pugliese | 35 | -40 | 20 | 4 | 6 | 11 |
| Joseph Wolkin | 33 | -42 | 21 | 1 | 9 | 13 |
| Frank Velat | 28 | -47 | 22 | 2 | 8 | 11 |
| John Haverlin | 21 | -54 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| John Douglas | 17 | -58 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Samarth Kanal | 13 | -62 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Matteo Marcheschi | 12 | -63 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Greg Davis | 10 | -65 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Christian Koelle | 6 | -69 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Michael Finley | 3 | -72 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Phil Allaway | 0 | -75 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zach Catanzareti | -1 | -76 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Bowles | -2 | -77 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Danny Peters | -3 | -78 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |