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 |
Driver 1 #18 Kyle Busch
Driver 2 #14 Clint Bowyer
Kevin Harvick
Clint Bowyer