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.
AAA 400 picks
| Writer/Guest | Driver 1 | Driver 2 |
| Corey LaJoie | ||
| Amy Henderson | Chase Elliott | Clint Bowyer |
| Ava Ladner | Kevin Harvick | Clint Bowyer |
| Bryan Gable | Martin Truex Jr. | Kurt Busch |
| Bryan Keith | Kevin Harvick | Kurt Busch |
| Christian Koelle | Chase Elliott | Ty Dillon |
| Clayton Caldwell | Chase Elliott | Kurt Busch |
| Corey Brewer | Martin Truex Jr. | Clint Bowyer |
| Dan Greene | Jimmie Johnson | Clint Bowyer |
| Davey Segal | Jimmie Johnson | Erik Jones |
| Dustin Albino | Jimmie Johnson | Ryan Newman |
| Frank Velat | Jimmie Johnson | Kurt Busch |
| John Haverlin | Kyle Busch | Erik Jones |
| Joseph Wolkin | Jimmie Johnson | Daniel Suarez |
| Mark Howell | Jimmie Johnson | Kurt Busch |
| Matt Mclaughlin | Chase Elliott | Kurt Busch |
| Michael Massie | Kyle Larson | Kurt Busch |
| Mike Neff | ||
| Tom Bowles | Chase Elliott | William Byron |
| Vito Pugliese | Chase Elliott | Erik Jones |
| Wesley Coburn | Kyle Larson | Clint Bowyer |
Standings following Talladega
| Rank | Change | Writer/Guest | Points | Behind | Races | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | DNF |
| 1 | – | Bryan Gable | 695 | – | 10 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 1 |
| 2 | – | Mark Howell | 655 | -40 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 1 |
| 3 | +3 | Michael Massie | 624 | -71 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 2 |
| 4 | -1 | Amy Henderson | 620 | -75 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 2 |
| 5 | +4 | Christian Koelle | 602 | -93 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 1 |
| 6 | -2 | Corey Brewer | 602 | -93 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 13 | 1 |
| 7 | -2 | Dustin Albino | 576 | -119 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 3 |
| 8 | +5 | Mike Neff | 564 | -131 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 1 |
| 9 | -1 | Wesley Coburn | 556 | -139 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 3 |
| 10 | +2 | Clayton Caldwell | 548 | -147 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 2 |
| 11 | +3 | Vito Pugliese | 545 | -150 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 1 |
| 12 | -5 | Ava Ladner | 540 | -155 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 2 |
| 13 | -2 | Bryan Keith | 527 | -168 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 3 |
| 14 | -4 | John Haverlin | 511 | -184 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 1 |
| 15 | – | Matt Mclaughlin | 494 | -201 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 4 |
| 16 | – | Frank Velat | 490 | -205 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 4 |
| 17 | +3 | Dan Greene | 475 | -220 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 2 |
| 18 | -1 | Davey Segal | 443 | -252 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 6 |
| 19 | – | Joseph Wolkin | 442 | -253 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 2 |
| 20 | -2 | Corey LaJoie | 440 | -255 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| 21 | – | Tom Bowles | 396 | -299 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 8 | – |
| 22 | – | Greg Davis | 341 | -354 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 |
| 23 | – | Drew Mongiello | 219 | -476 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 24 | – | Michael Finley | 39 | -656 | 1 | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| 25 | – | Rick Lunkenheimer | 39 | -656 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | – |
Driver 1: #48 Jimmie Johnson
Driver 2: #14 Clint Bowyer
My standing after 10 races:
Pos: 3
Points: 634
Behind: 61
Wins: 4
Top 5: 9
Top 10: 11
DNF: 2