Welcome to the 11th season of the Frontstretch Cup, a year-long competition in which the Frontstretch staff and guests from around the NASCAR world attempt to predict the winner of each Cup race.
This week, we are joined by Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Corey LaJoie.
Think you can do better? Leave your picks in the comments.
How it works
Each week, Cup drivers will be ranked in order of their respective DraftKings price. Competitors will then select one driver ranked from 1-20 and one driver from 21-40. They will then choose the two drivers they believe will either win the race of finish well.
2018 Scoring System
Each driver will receive points on an inverted finishing position system. For example:
1st = 40
2nd = 39
3rd = 38
4th = 37
and so on.
There will be a five-point bonus for the winning driver.
There will be a ten-point bonus if both drivers finish first/second.
There will be a five-point deduction per driver for DNFs.
There will also be no limit to the amount of times a driver can be picked throughout the season.
Without further ado, here are this week’s rankings.
Daytona 500 picks
| Writer/Guest | Driver 1 | Driver 2 |
| Corey LaJoie | Brad Keselowski | Justin Marks |
| Amy Henderson | Brad Keselowski | AJ Allmendinger |
| Ava Ladner | Kyle Busch | Paul Menard |
| Bryan Gable | Denny Hamlin | Ryan Newman |
| Bryan Keith | Brad Keselowski | Paul Menard |
| Christian Koelle | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Michael McDowell |
| Clayton Caldwell | Ryan Blaney | David Ragan |
| Corey Brewer | Joey Logano | Paul Menard |
| Dan Greene | Martin Truex Jr. | Danica Patrick |
| Davey Segal | Brad Keselowski | Ty Dillon |
| Dustin Albino | Brad Keselowski | David Ragan |
| Frank Velat | Brad Keselowski | Kasey Kahne |
| Greg Davis | Chase Elliott | Darrell Wallace Jr. |
| John Haverlin | Denny Hamlin | Paul Menard |
| Joseph Wolkin | Brad Keselowski | AJ Allmendinger |
| Mark Howell | Joey Logano | Ryan Newman |
| Matt McLaughlin | Chase Elliott | Bubba Wallace |
| Michael Finley | Brad Keselowski | Paul Menard |
| Michael Massie | Chase Elliott | Paul Menard |
| Mike Neff | Joey Logano | Darrell Wallace Jr. |
| Tom Bowles | Ryan Blaney | Darrell Wallace Jr. |
| Vito Pugliese | Austin Dillon | Ryan Newman |
| Wesley Coburn | Ryan Blaney | Danica Patrick |
About the author
The Frontstretch Staff is made up of a group of talented men and women spread out all over the United States and Canada. Residing in 15 states throughout the country, plus Ontario, and widely ranging in age, the staff showcases a wide variety of diverse opinions that will keep you coming back for more week in and week out.
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.
I like that new scoring system … :-)
Driver 1: Ryan Blaney in that not iconic #12 car
Driver 2: Danica Patirck
Why don’t they just forget the first 180 laps. Tell the drivers there’s twenty to go and have at it. It’ll probably take three hours to finish.