Welcome to our eighth year of staff predictions! Each week, our experts attempt to tell you who the winner of each Cup race will be. Take a look to see who your favorite writers think will win it all (or at least score some points) this week!
Think you can out-prognosticate our staff? Leave your picks in the comments and see how they stack up!
Because the All-Star Race is a non-points paying event, we’ve got a little different system. Our writers chose the drivers they thought would grab the two transfer spots from the Sprint Showdown into the All-Star Race, the fan vote and the All-Star trophy. Each correct pick is worth one point, and if anyone gets all four correct, it will be worth a bonus point for a total of five. No points will be lost this week!
This week’s predictions: Sprint All-Star Race
| Writer | Transfer #1 | Transfer #2 | Fan Vote | All-Star Winner |
| Amy Henderson | Martin Truex Jr. | Paul Menard | Danica Patrick | Kevin Harvick |
| Brett Winningham | Kyle Larson | Martin Truex Jr. | Danica Patrick | Jimmie Johnson |
| Jeff Wolfe | Kyle Larson | Martin Truex Jr. | Danica Patrick | Kasey Kahne |
| Mark Howell | Martin Truex Jr. | Clint Bowyer | Danica Patrick | Jeff Gordon |
| Zach Catanzareti | Martin Truex Jr. | Clint Bowyer | Danica Patrick | Kasey Kahne |
| Tom Bowles | Martin Truex Jr. | Paul Menard | Danica Patrick | Kasey Kahne |
| Aaron Bearden | Martin Truex Jr. | Paul Menard | Danica Patrick | Jimmie Johnson |
| Matt Stallknecht | Martin Truex Jr. | David Ragan | Danica Patrick | Kurt Busch |
| Matt McLaughlin | Martin Truex Jr. | Chase Elliott | Danica Patrick | Kevin Harvick |
| Joseph Wolkin | Martin Truex Jr. | Greg Biffle | Danica Patrick | Kurt Busch |
| Sean Fesko | Martin Truex Jr. | Kyle Larson | Josh Wise | Jimmie Johnson |
| Mike Neff | Kyle Larson | Martin Truex Jr. | Austin Dillon | Jimmie Johnson |
| Tony Lumbis | Paul Menard | Kyle Larson | Martin Truex Jr. | Kevin Harvick |
| Huston Ladner | Martin Truex Jr. | Kyle Larson | Danica Patrick | Jimmie Johnson |
| Clayton Caldwell | Martin Truex Jr. | Paul Menard | Danica Patrick | Kevin Harvick |
| Toni Montgomery | Martin Truex Jr. | Chase Elliott | Danica Patrick | Jimmie Johnson |
| Kevin Rutherford | Clint Bowyer | Chase Elliott | Danica Patrick | Denny Hamlin |
| Phil Allaway | Martin Truex Jr. | Kyle Larson | Danica Patrick | Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
SpongeBob SquarePants 400
| Writer | Pick | Finishing Position | Points |
| Tom Bowles | Jimmie Johnson | 1st | 5 |
| Amy Henderson | Jimmie Johnson | 1st | 5 |
| Toni Montgomery | Jimmie Johnson | 1st | 5 |
| Mike Neff | Jimmie Johnson | 1st | 5 |
| Clayton Caldwell | Jimmie Johnson | 1st | 5 |
| Jeff Wolfe | Kevin Harvick | 2nd | 3 |
| Matt McLaughlin | Kevin Harvick | 2nd | 3 |
| Sean Fesko | Kevin Harvick | 2nd | 3 |
| Mark Howell | Jeff Gordon | 4th | 3 |
| Zach Catanzareti | Jeff Gordon | 4th | 3 |
| Aaron Bearden | Jeff Gordon | 4th | 3 |
| Joseph Wolkin | Joey Logano | 5th | 3 |
| Danny Peters | Joey Logano | 5th | 3 |
| Huston Ladner | Brad Keselowski | 7th | 1 |
| Matt Stallknecht | Martin Truex Jr. | 9th | 1 |
| Phil Allaway | Ryan Newman | 10th | 1 |
| Brett Winningham | Kasey Kahne | 17th | 0 |
| Jeff Meyer | Carl Edwards | 20th | 0 |
| Tony Lumbis | Carl Edwards | 20th | 0 |
| Greg Davis | Carl Edwards | 20th | 0 |
Standings
| Writer | Points | Behind | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
| Matt Stallknecht | 27 | — | 11 | 5 | 6 | 8 |
| Mike Neff | 26 | -1 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 8 |
| Jeff Wolfe | 22 | -5 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| Sean Fesko | 19 | -8 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| Brett Winningham | 16 | -11 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Tom Bowles | 16 | -11 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Huston Ladner | 14 | -13 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| Matt McLaughlin | 13 | -14 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| Danny Peters | 13 | -14 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| Joseph Wolkin | 7 | -20 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Zach Catanzareti | 7 | -20 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Amy Henderson | 7 | -20 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| Aaron Bearden | 6 | -21 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Vito Pugliese | 6 | -21 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Jeff Meyer | 4 | -23 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Toni Montgomery | 4 | -23 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| S.D. Grady | 4 | -23 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| David Ifeguni | 3 | -24 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Phil Allaway | 3 | -24 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Mark Howell | 3 | -24 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Clayton Caldwell | 2 | -25 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Tony Lumbis | 2 | -25 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Greg Davis | -2 | -29 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
About the author
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.
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