Race Weekend Central

2018 Frontstretch Cup: Auto Club 400 Predictions

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 season, 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. With 37 drivers on the Auto Club entry list, competitors will select one driver ranked from 1-10 and one driver from 11-37. They will choose the two drivers they believe will either win the race or 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 10-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 number of times a driver can be picked throughout the season.

Without further ado, here are this week’s rankings.

Auto Club 400 picks

Writer/Guest Driver 1 Driver 2
Corey LaJoie Kevin Harvick David Ragan
Amy Henderson Kyle Busch Aric Almirola
Ava Ladner Kyle Busch Kurt Busch
Bryan Gable Kyle Larson Kurt Busch
Christian Koelle Denny Hamlin Paul Menard
Clayton Caldwell Kyle Larson Kurt Busch
Corey Brewer Kevin Harvick Erik Jones
Davey Segal Kevin Harvick Kurt Busch
Drew Mongiello Kevin Harvick Aric Almirola
Dustin Albino Denny Hamlin Kurt Busch
Frank Velat Kyle Larson Erik Jones
Greg Davis Jimmie Johnson Trevor Bayne
John Haverlin Kyle Larson Clint Bowyer
Johnny Thomas Chase Elliott Kurt Busch
Joseph Wolkin Denny Hamlin AJ Allmendinger
Mark Howell Kyle Larson Erik Jones
Matt Mclaughlin Kyle Larson Aric Almirola
Michael Massie Kyle Larson Erik Jones
Mike Neff Brad Keselowski Kurt Busch
Tom Bowles Kyle Busch Aric Almirola
Vito Pugliese Kevin Harvick Erik Jones
Wesley Coburn Kyle Busch Kurt Busch

Standings following Phoenix

Writer/Guest Points Behind Races Wins Top 5 Top 10 DNF
Bryan Gable 281 4 1 4 7
Mark Howell 276 -5 4 1 4 6
Corey Brewer 274 -7 4 2 4 6
Vito Pugliese 271 -10 4 2 3 7
John Haverlin 259 -22 4 1 4 5
Ava Ladner 232 -49 4 2 3
Tom Bowles 230 -51 4 1 2 5
Amy Henderson 226 -55 4 1 3 5 1
Michael Massie 223 -58 4 1 5 1
Corey LaJoie 215 -66 4 1 1 4 1
Joseph Wolkin 213 -68 4 1 2 4 1
Mike Neff 212 -69 4 4 4
Wesley Coburn 210 -71 4 1 2 3 1
Christian Koelle 208 -73 4 1 1 5 1
Dustin Albino 206 -75 4 2 3 3 2
Clayton Caldwell 205 -76 4 1 4 1
Frank Velat 205 -76 4 3 4 2
Bryan Keith 189 -92 4 2 4 2
Matt Mclaughlin 179 -102 4 1 3 4 2
Greg Davis 175 -106 3 3 3 1
Dan Greene 162 -119 4 1 1 1 1
Davey Segal 156 -125 4 1 2 4 3
Johnny Thomas 54 -227 1 1 1
Michael Finley 39 -242 1 1 1
Drew Mongiello 26 -255 1 1

About the author

Corey Brewer made the move to Frontstretch to follow his dream of covering the sport of NASCAR. He is a die-hard motorsports fan and an avid player of daily fantasy sports.

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JohnDoe

Driver 1 #18 Kyle Busch
Driver 2 #14 Clint Bowyer

Lynne

Kevin Harvick
Clint Bowyer

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