NASCAR Enjoy Illinois 300 DFS Preview
Photo Credit: The Edwardsville Intelligencer
DraftKings Preview
AustYnAlright folks, we are headed to the Midwest at World Wide Technology Raceway for the Enjoy Illinois 300 in the NASCAR Cup Series. This race week is not unlike many other weeks as major headlines tend to make their way onto airwaves and in the news. If you remotely follow the sport, you heard about the “earth-shattering” announcement that Chase Elliott will be parked for today’s race for intentionally wrecking Denny Hamlin in a high-speed straightaway. This isn’t the first time NASCAR has issued this penalty, but it is major nonetheless considering Chase has already missed 6 races due to an off-the-track injury…and you can see my voiced opinions on that the week it happened. I am glad that NASCAR issued the penalty because we cannot have “hot-headed” drivers in the sport, especially when these cars are so dangerous at the moment…one thing I do not applaud is the frivolous waiver system. Why should Chase be granted yet another exemption? I feel like you should only get one waiver a year and if you use it, you lose it. What is the point if they will just issue you thousands I guess, just because? There isn’t a limit on obtaining waivers as far as I know, but they seem pointless. Big actions result in big consequences is the way I see it. Also, being that the Xfinity Series was in Portland yesterday, Hendrick Motorsports decided to give Spire Motorsports driver Corey LaJoie a shot in Chase’s car. To this response I say, THANK THE LORD! Once Corey goes out today and finishes 25th or so, can we please stop talking about how great he is?!?!?!? The guy literally went into a media session and bashed his team for being in his words…” A Truck team”. Really man, I mean I get that you are happy that you are getting a shot, but geez when you say stuff like that, you are just mounting pressure on yourself to perform…sadly I don’t think he will. What do you expect though from a driver who has built his entire career around the fact that he has never been given a shot. I feel like his situation will be like Landon Cassill when he got a full-time Xfinity ride for Kaulig Racing. He made the comment that he forgot how to win…what he meant was he had been so used to driving such underfunded cars and really focused on bringing the cars home, that he struggled to push his car that he had to win. I hope Rick Hendrick can put together a Xfinity or truck team for Corey because he clearly wants to be there, and maybe he can win a race in those series, but don’t expect miracles today out of that 9.
Now onto the race, we will be seeing 240 laps on this 1.25-mile oval that is flat. A great comparison track would be Phoenix, albeit longer, it drives similar. It will be difficult to pass, but patient drivers can save their equipment and make up time on long runs. Joey Logano won the only Cup race here last season, and the truck series has been here nearly every year since 1998. Ryan Blaney won the Coke 600, which was major for him and his confidence and he will be starting in 2nd place besides Kyle Busch the pole sitter. Practice speeds will be a factor for me today, but what I want to look at is the tire. Once the season gets traction, you gain more data when playing DFS. With that being said…this tire has been run at Phoenix, Richmond and North Wilkesboro for the all-star race. Excluding North Wilkesboro, I want to go with drivers who have great average finishes in the Phoenix and Richmond races. Hendrick Motorsports dominated those events, but the one thing to note is the fact that they started towards the front and the highest qualifying car in their stable was Byron in 7th.
Photo Credit: Speedway Digest
Top Pick: Denny Hamlin Starting 3rd ($10,500)
This selection negates my comment about selecting drivers who performed well on this tire, but Denny was by far the fastest car in practice in the 10 lap and beyond averages by a couple tenths. Starting in 3rd, he is in a great position to stay up front and as long as he has a solid day on pit road, look out for the 11 car today.
Supporting Cast: Chase Briscoe Starting 25th ($7,700) & Ryan Preece Starting 29th ($6,800)
One thing I forgot to mention is the fact that NASCAR handed down one of, if not the largest penalty I’ve ever seen. Briscoe’s team was handed a L3 penalty after Charlotte and as a result, was fined $250k they lost 125 driver points and 25 playoff points. In other words, they must win and perform outstanding the rest of the way until playoff time. I like Briscoe today though; he showed speed in practice and his average finish on this tire is 9.5. That is an EV of 15.5 which is outstanding for the value. Fade LaJoie and go with Briscoe in this price range. Staying in the Stewart-Haas camp…which I have not done very often this year…I like Ryan Preece as well. He is solid on flat tracks, coming from modified’s which makes sense. His average finish is 15th on this tire and starting in 29h, that would be a great day if he can pull off a 15th.
FanDuel Preview
YacsWorld Wide Technology Raceway is the site of today’s race. It was formerly known as Gateway and I think 95% of fans still refer to it as Gateway. I probably will during this article quite a few times. It is a somewhat unique track, but there are a couple similarities to other tracks on the circuit. I’ll get into that later. Last week was a caution-filled, long, delayed race. They raced on Monday afternoon and it sure was a long weekend for fans and people working the event. Rain delayed all of the racing except the Truck Series race, but to be fair, it was worth the wait. It was a good race and Ryan Blaney picked up his first 600 win. The right car won, in my opinion and I think a lot would agree that was the case. That wasn’t the big news of the weekend though. Chase Elliott collected Denny Hamlin during the race after both drivers were racing each other hard. Hamlin got turned by Elliott and now Elliott isn't racing today. He will be suspended for one race. He applied for a playoff waiver and it was granted., again He has received two waivers this year due to missing time with an injury. To be honest, I don’t think he should have been granted it, either one for that matter. I think he should race his way in like everyone else, especially when he does something stupid like turning a car into the wall or, you know, snowboarding in the Rocky Mountains and breaking your leg when you’re guaranteed millions of dollars to drive a car for a living. I know they have granted waivers for suspended drivers in the past, but I don’t think they should. It isn't fair to the other drivers that are acting like adults on the race track. At some point, you have to realize that doing what he did could’ve really hurt another driver. Most popular driver or not, 2023 hasn’t been a good year for him and he has really acted like an idiot.
Moving on. This track is a unique track in a lot of ways, like I said earlier, but it does draw some similarities to flat track like New Hampshire, Phoenix, Richmond. Gateway is 1.25 miles, so I would say New Hampshire is probably the most similar track, except Gateway is a little more banked and the turns aren't the same distance. From up above, it is shaped kind of like Darlington, but it in no way runs like Darlington. It is a lot slower. My strategy will be to look at who does well at the tracks I mentioned, other than Darlington, obviously. They did get a practice session and a qualifying session in, so that definitely helps to form a lineup. It will be 240 laps, so it won’t be a race where lap leading matters and I really don’t think that will be a factor anyway. It is also somewhat difficult to judge who is good here and who isn't because there has only been one race in the Cup Series here, but it can be beneficial when making your lineup. Let’s see what FanDuel has for us this week.
NASCAR
Gibbs’ Toyotas: Denny Hamlin ($12,500) Starting 3rd; Martin Truex Jr. ($13,000) Starting 5th
Both drivers did well in practice, but Denny Hamlin had the best 10-lap average of anyone this weekend. He was in the midst of a lot of controversy last week, but hopefully that is behind him. Hamlin finished 11 laps down in last year’s race here, but I don’t think that should be an indicator of how well he ran. In fact, he ran really well until he was in an accident in the first half of the race, with Ross Chastain. I think Denny will have a really fast car and is my pick to win today.
Truex has just been having a really good year and like Hamlin, is a master at flat race tracks. Truex doesn’t have a win at New Hampshire, but is very good there. He finished 6th at Gateway last year and had decent runs at the other tracks that I mentioned in the last section. This is his kind of track. If you take away Darlington and Talladega, he has been on a very good stretch. He has Top 10s in 5 of the last 7 races and those 2 tracks above where his only omissions. Truex should have a fast car today and I expect him to remain in or around the Top 10 for most of the day.
The Fords: Brad Keselowski ($8,000) Starting 19th; Michael McDowell ($5,800) Starting 21st
Keselowski has quietly been one of the best drivers this season in the Cup Series. He doesn’t have a win this season, but don’t be surprised if that doesn’t change within the next few races. Keselowski finished 20th here last season and while he had an up and down year in 2022, he did put together some good runs. I’m looking at New Hampshire. He finished 7th at New Hampshire last season. He also has the best last 3-race average finish at New Hampshire. He also got a Top 10 at Richmond this season. His starting spot and price are tough to pass up and I think he could definitely get a Top 10 today. He didn’t put together a 10-lap average, but he did have the 10th fastest lap in practice.
Michael McDowell may be picked a bit more than I want today, but I don’t care. He was blistering fast in practice this weekend. 4th fastest lap, 2nd best 10-lap average. That is incredible for him at a track like this. McDowell finished 18th at Gateway last year, but he was fast. He led 34 laps, which was more than the race winner, Joey Logano. Not only that, he was pulling away in his lap leading. If practice is any indication of how he’ll do, then he should be a solid pick for today.
Final Pick: Alex Bowman ($8,500) Starting 18th
Bowman had a solid 13th place finish last season at Gateway and he is normally pretty decent at most tracks. He has had consistently good finishes at Richmond and Phoenix in the past and if he finished a 600-mile race with no issues, then he is fine. Hendrick cars have been fast all season long and I expect Byron and Larson to both be fast this week, as for LaJoie, it’s a mystery. I think Bowman will be in the Larson/Byron grouping and I think he will get a Top 10 at Gateway today.