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 FanDuel price. With 40 drivers on the Talladega entry list, competitors select one driver ranked from 1-10 and one driver from 11-40. They 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.
GEICO 500 picks
| Writer/Guest | Driver 1 | Driver 2 |
| Corey LaJoie | Brad Keselowski | Matt DiBenedetto |
| Amy Henderson | Brad Keselowski | David Ragan |
| Ava Ladner | Brad Keselowski | Paul Menard |
| Bryan Gable | Joey Logano | Paul Menard |
| Bryan Keith | Brad Keselowski | Aric Almirola |
| Christian Koelle | Joey Logano | David Ragan |
| Clayton Caldwell | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ryan Blaney |
| Corey Brewer | Joey Logano | Kyle Larson |
| Dan Greene | Kevin Harvick | Aric Almirola |
| Davey Segal | Brad Keselowski | Jamie McMurray |
| Dustin Albino | Brad Keselowski | Brendan Gaughan |
| Frank Velat | Brad Keselowski | Matt DiBenedetto |
| Greg Davis | Jimmie Johnson | Darrell Wallace Jr. |
| John Haverlin | Brad Keselowski | Jamie McMurray |
| Joseph Wolkin | Brad Keselowski | David Ragan |
| Mark Howell | Kevin Harvick | Kyle Larson |
| Matt Mclaughlin | Brad Keselowski | Ryan Blaney |
| Michael Massie | Joey Logano | Aric Almirola |
| Mike Neff | Joey Logano | Aric Almirola |
| Vito Pugliese | Chase Elliott | Aric Almirola |
| Wesley Coburn | Brad Keselowski | Ryan Blaney |
Standings following Richmond
| Rank | Change | Writer/Guest | Points | Behind | Races | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | DNF |
| 1 | – | Bryan Gable | 644 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 11 | 15 | – |
| 2 | – | Mark Howell | 622 | -22 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 12 | – |
| 3 | – | Amy Henderson | 582 | -62 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 1 |
| 4 | – | Corey Brewer | 561 | -83 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 12 | – |
| 5 | +1 | Dustin Albino | 554 | -90 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 2 |
| 6 | -1 | Michael Massie | 545 | -99 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 2 |
| 7 | +2 | Ava Ladner | 531 | -113 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 10 | – |
| 8 | – | Wesley Coburn | 530 | -114 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 2 |
| 9 | -2 | Christian Koelle | 522 | -122 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 1 |
| 10 | – | John Haverlin | 495 | -149 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 11 | – |
| 11 | +1 | Bryan Keith | 490 | -154 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 2 |
| 12 | -1 | Clayton Caldwell | 489 | -155 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 2 |
| 13 | +1 | Mike Neff | 485 | -159 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 1 |
| 14 | -1 | Vito Pugliese | 473 | -171 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 13 | 1 |
| 15 | -2 | Matt Mclaughlin | 468 | -176 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 3 |
| 16 | – | Frank Velat | 465 | -179 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 3 |
| 17 | +1 | Davey Segal | 427 | -217 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 5 |
| 18 | +1 | Corey LaJoie | 415 | -229 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
| 19 | +1 | Joseph Wolkin | 404 | -240 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
| 20 | +1 | Dan Greene | 404 | -240 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
| 21 | -4 | Tom Bowles | 396 | -248 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 8 | – |
| 22 | – | Greg Davis | 287 | -357 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 |
| 23 | – | Drew Mongiello | 219 | -425 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 24 | +1 | Michael Finley | 39 | -605 | 1 | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| 25 | +1 | Rick Lunkenheimer | 39 | -605 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | – |