Predicting every 2022 NASCAR Cup Series race winner

Before the 2022 Daytona 500, NASCAR.com's Zack Albert and Pat DeCola took turns predicting each NASCAR Cup Series race winner for the season ahead. See all the predictions before one of the most anticipated seasons in history begins.

Daytona 500

Zack's pick: Ryan Blaney

Why: This first Cup Series season with the Next Gen car comes front-loaded with plenty of uncertainty, but it seems so far that the basic tenets of superspeedway racing will carry over. If that remains true, Blaney has the mantle of a favorite. Three of his seven career wins have come at NASCAR's largest ovals. Win No. 8 would add a crown jewel to his portfolio.

Auto Club

Pat's pick: Kyle Busch

Why: While the wins have -- by his standards -- come few and far between the past couple of seasons, "Rowdy" strikes early in 2022 at a track he's owned over the years. With no 2021 race at Auto Club, look for Busch's familiar dominance there (four wins; three in last seven races) as he secures his playoff spot early.

Las Vegas-1

Zack's pick: Joey Logano

Why: With two wins in the last six Vegas races, Logano's record here stacks up as well as any. It also wouldn't be a complete stunner if Team Penske picks up on the Next Gen car's nuances quicker than most. If Logano's #The22in22 motto is a hashtag with heft, Vegas seems like a solid starting point.

Phoenix-1

Pat's pick: Kevin Harvick

Why: Not only did Harvick not win a single race last year, but he also hasn't been handed a checkered flag at his best track (nine victories) since 2018. Harvick won't stay winless for long, and the desert marks a good spot to break the drought.

Atlanta-1

Zack's pick: Alex Bowman

Why: Throw out all you might think you know about Atlanta for 2022. The 1.54-mile oval has been repaved and reconfigured with steeper banking, and the superspeedway rules configuration will be in place. Lots of unknowns, but Hendrick Motorsports' ability to adapt should carry one of their four drivers. Intuition says it's Bowman.

Circuit of the Americas

Pat's pick: Chase Briscoe

Why: In a rookie season that only included three top 10s, the first one came at COTA for Briscoe (sixth). With a rejuvenated SHR group, Briscoe should have a good shot at pulling out a road-course win this year. Austin might be his best shot.

Richmond-1

Zack's pick: Kyle Busch

Why: Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas have been the hot ticket at the 0.75-mile track through the years, winning five of the last seven and eight of the last 12 there. Richmond has been home to six Rowdy victories, and Busch seems poised to roll to a seventh.

Martinsville-1

Pat's pick: Bubba Wallace

Why: Yes, I know Wallace has yet to finish in the top 10 at Martinsville. The track did mark the spot for his first national series win, however, in 2013 (pictured). He also has, literally, exclusive access to an owner, teammate and JGR colleagues that have a combined 12 Martinsville wins between them. Wallace will have his spots this year. Don't be surprised if "The Paperclip" is one of them.

Bristol Dirt

Zack's pick: Kyle Larson

Why: NASCAR on dirt seems to be a fickle beast, as Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., and Daniel Suárez -- not exactly red-clay ringers -- led the bulk of the inaugural Bristol Dirt race last year. When the cream does rise (Year 2, anyone?) expect Larson to be atop that heap.

Talladega-1

Pat's pick: Justin Haley

Why: The young Haley, as you'll recall, already has a Cup win at Daytona in the summer race. It's Talladega, though, where he looks to strike gold in his first full-time Cup Series campaign. Kaulig's pride and joy is a good bet to revisit Victory Lane at the Alabama track, where he won twice and never finished worse than eighth in five Xfinity Series starts.

Dover

Zack's pick: Daniel Suárez

Why: In offseason interviews, the Mexican-born driver says he's bullish on Trackhouse Racing breaking through into Victory Lane in 2022. If there's a space on the calendar that seems most likely for the No. 99 driver, it's probably the Monster Mile. One of Suárez’s three career Xfinity Series wins came at Dover in his championship season in 2016. It was also a bright spot last year, when he ran ninth to notch one of four top-10 finishes in Trackhouse's first year.

Darlington-1

Pat's pick: Austin Dillon

Why: You know, given his proclivity for winning big races -- he already has two crown jewels -- I considered slotting Dillon in for a Southern 500 win to really shake things up. Landed on the spring race, but the point remains: Dillon is probably better at Darlington than you realize. His average finish there (12.2) ranks among the best at arguably NASCAR's toughest track, and it's only a matter of time that the 2020 Southern 500 runner-up seals the deal in SC.

Kansas-1

Zack's pick: Martin Truex Jr.

Why: Racing in the Sunflower State probably won't ratchet up the wackiness level at its 1.5-mile track. If Kansas goes by the book, then MTJ is as solid a selection as any, racing at a venue where he’s placed in the top 10 in nine of the last 10 events.

Texas All-Star

Pat's pick: Tyler Reddick

Why: The 2022 season may see Tyler Reddick's rise to stardom -- so an All-Star Race win is fitting for NASCAR's next superstar. After all, he was runner-up in his Texas Cup debut in 2020 and is honestly probably itching to get his hands on a cowboy hat.

Coca-Cola 600

Zack's pick: Kevin Harvick

Why: With little exception, NASCAR's longest race often favors the veterans. So give a call to Harvick, who has won the annual 600-miler twice before. And if these predictions hold true (narrator: "they probably won't"), another Charlotte Motor Speedway win would give Harvick a milestone -- victory No. 60 for this Cup Series career.

World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway

Pat's pick: Ross Chastain

Why: Let's talk facts here. The Cup Series has never raced at Gateway. Only a handful of current Cup drivers have raced there. Chastain is the most recent among them to win at the track (Camping World Truck Series, 2019). It also seems possible that the new Trackhouse Racing driver will win his first Cup race in 2022. You see where I'm going with this?

Sonoma

Zack's pick: Martin Truex Jr.

Why: The technical California circuit has long been a friendly haunt for Truex, who has three victories there, including recent ones in 2018-19. Here's leaning that the wine goblet fits Truex's hand one more, giving one of the current road-racing rulers another tally.

Nashville

Pat's pick: Kyle Larson

Why: With so many teams aiming to beat specifially him this year it'll be tough for Larson to repeat many of his 2021 wins, but Nashville marks a good candidate. His victory here last year came at the tail-end of a three-race win streak where everything was just humming. The dialed-in No. 5 team led 264 of 300 laps at a track that seemed to fit the champs to a T.

Road America

Zack's pick: Chase Elliott

Why: One of the only struggles Elliott had at the mammoth Wisconsin track last year was finding a place to do his burnout. The No. 9 driver likely continues his winning road-course ways at Road America this year, potentially giving him more options for the post-race burning of rubber.

Atlanta-2

Pat's pick: Kyle Larson

Why: Sure, Larson had 10 wins in 2021 -- but he knows it could have easily been 11 or more. Atlanta was one of those near-misses, leading 269 laps before ceding to Ryan Blaney for his second runner-up at the Georgia track. This track will be circled on his '22 calendar, for sure.

Loudon

Zack's pick: Denny Hamlin

Why: Prowess on relatively flat, mile-long tracks runs deep for the No. 11 driver, who has three New Hampshire Motor Speedway wins to his credit. He finished second there in 2019 and 2020, so being in contention is a strong likelihood.

Pocono

Pat's pick: Denny Hamlin

Why: Ah, there he is. After being shut out for most of the 2022 season, one of the title favorites catches fire over the summer and knocks off a brief two-win jaunt by securing his seventh Tricky Triangle win. Hard to see how the No. 11 team isn't clicking on all cylinders from this point on.

Indianapolis

Zack's pick: Austin Cindric

Why: The gauntlet in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year race should be thrown down at the Indianapolis Road Course, where Cindric won last season in his Xfinity Series farewell tour. The difficulty level will rise as Cindric arrives in Cup, but his road-racing background should remain an advantage.

Michigan

Pat's pick: Kyle Larson

Why: It wasn't that long ago that our reigning champ's claim to fame was being known as "2-mile Kyle." Larson's first four Cup wins all came on tracks of that length, three of which came at Michigan. He has no such victories since 2017, but he returns to his winning ways at the big tracks with this trophy-earner.

Richmond-2

Zack's pick: Christopher Bell

Why: JGR’s super skill at Richmond is aforementioned, and Bell's opportunity is there for the taking. Richmond presented one of Bell's best tracks when he was an Xfinity Series regular, enjoying three victories in his five starts there. Two of his three Cup Series appearances there have netted top-five results, so expect him to be near the head of the pack.

Watkins Glen

Pat's pick: AJ Allmendinger

Why: With just two races before the playoffs and postseason berths in high demand ... how about a part-timer coming in to spoil the party? We saw 'Dinger drop down from the rafters and win a Cup race in a ringer role last year, and that's exactly what he'll be trying to do again in '22 while also competing for the Xfinity Series championship. He only seems to get better with age, and we've seen him do it at The Glen before.

Daytona-2

Zack's pick: Brad Keselowski

Why: One of the series' perennially best superspeedway racers comes through again in the regular-season finale. Doing so would provide the organization its first win under the RFK Racing banner and its first since Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won this race in 2017.

Southern 500

Pat's pick: Kurt Busch

Why: Nearly 20 years ago in just his fifth start at the track, Busch was part of the closest finish in NASCAR history -- and he was not on the happy end of that result. He's yet to claim a win in 23 starts since then at the "Lady in Black," but we're saying he gets it done here -- and for a crown jewel, no less. Another accolade for the future Hall of Famer.

Kansas-2

Zack's pick: Kevin Harvick

Why: Harvick's name has popped up on this list twice already, and a three-win season seems about right as the Stewart-Haas Racing veteran aims to shake his winless 2021 campaign. Kansas would be a prime place to reach that level; his average finish there is a series-best 8.9.

Bristol Night Race

Pat's pick: Kyle Busch

Why: Busch has gone through stretches where it looked like nobody could touch him at Bristol. We're expecting big things from Rowdy in 2022 and given how comfortable he looked in a Coliseum to start the season, we anticipate that carrying over to the Colosseum, too, where he re-establishes his dominance. Yes, we're entertained.

Texas

Zack's pick: Kyle Larson

Why: Larson's dominance at the Fort Worth facility in last year's NASCAR All-Star Race and its playoff event showed he has a knack for Texas. If his postseason expectations hold, a Texas victory would propel him into the next round of the Cup Series Playoffs.

Talladega-2

Pat's pick: Joey Logano

Why: The midseason lull was a long one for Logano -- who we have winning all the way back at Vegas-1 -- but this victory couldn't come at a better time for the 2018 champ. Always one of NASCAR's best superspeedway racers, a fourth Talladega win puts No. 22 in the Round of 8.

Charlotte Roval

Zack's pick: Chase Elliott

Why: Chase Elliott missed out an oval-track victory last season, so perhaps one on a track that’s some oval, some road-course will provide partial credit. Either way, another Roval triumph would give him three wins in five races on the hybrid Charlotte layout.

Las Vegas-2

Pat's pick: Ryan Blaney

Why: And just like that, Blaney is the first driver locked into the Championship 4 -- his first. A career year is propelled further by finally closing the deal at one of his best tracks (8.8 average finish) to send him to Phoenix to compete for his first title as well.

Homestead-Miami

Zack's pick: Tyler Reddick

Why: By this point in the season, we’ll know how well the Next Gen car runs the top groove and just how durable the composite bodies are. All those factors stand to suit Reddick at one of his strongest tracks, a place where he won twice in the Xfinity Series and placed second on the Cup side last season.

Martinsville-2

Pat's pick: Denny Hamlin

Why: We mentioned earlier how Bubba Wallace has access to some Martinsville masters -- and his boss might be the one who wrote the handbook. It will probably be deep in his memory by now, but the image of him interfering with Alex Bowman's burnout last fall is still fresh in ours -- he's going to really want to win at Martinsville in 2022. It would be for the sixth time, and it would also send him to the Championship 4 for the fourth straight season.

Phoenix Cup Series Championship

Zack's pick: Denny Hamlin

Why: He's due? Hamlin has been in the championship field for three years running, and he has two career Phoenix wins in his career. Catching stride in the playoffs and finally finishing it off would mean he’d ultimately be able to scratch his name from the "best driver to never win a Cup Series title" conversation.

Pat's pick: Ryan Blaney

Why: It sure is hard to pick against Hamlin, for all the reasons Zack mentioned, but Blaney's the choice here. Everything seems to be falling into place for the No. 12 driver to have his full and complete breakout in 2022, and I expect him to be among the elite from start to finish. Zack has him starting the season with a 500 win -- and I have him coming full circle and taking home the championship, too.