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Justin's NASCAR Cup Series DFS picks for the Enjoy Illinois 300. Check out his DFS sleepers and top plays on DraftKings and FanDuel for Gateway (2024).
The NASCAR Cup Series is at World Wide Technology Raceway this weekend for the Enjoy Illinois 300. This track, formerly known as Gateway and still often referred to as that colloquially, has held just two Cup Series races before. Joey Logano won in 2022 and Kyle Busch won last year.
There are two big stories in NASCAR this week. I'll talk about one of them down in the article, but the other is the Kyle Larson waiver situation. Larson missed the Coca-Cola 600 because the weather impacted his ability to make it there from the Indianapolis 500. Now, he needs a waiver to maintain playoff eligibility, but NASCAR has yet to decide if he'll get one.
Below are my NASCAR DFS lineup picks for the Enjoy Illinois 300 on DraftKings and FanDuel this week. This slate locks on 6/2/2024 at 3:40 p.m. EDT. If you have any questions or want to talk about NASCAR, you can find me on Twitter at @juscarts.
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Ryan Blaney
Starts Third - DK: $10.8K, FD: $10.5K
We've got a strange front row this weekend, with Michael McDowell on pole and Austin Cindric beside him. It's safe to say neither of those drivers are favorites in this weekend's race. With Ford looking so fast, I do think the driver starting in third has a great shot to win this race.
Joey Logano is quickest in practice.
Good session for Team Penske overall. Ryan Blaney is second, Austin Cindric sixth. pic.twitter.com/tmYCNF2wZY
— Aaron Bearden (@aaronbearden93) June 1, 2024
That's where defending Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney comes into play. Blaney is struggling in 2024 with just five top 10s in the first 14 races, with a big part of that stemming from Ford being off pace. Add in crashes the past two weeks and yeah...it hasn't been great.
If this No. 12 car has speed this weekend, watch out. Blaney led 83 laps here last year and ultimately finished sixth. He was fourth in the 2022 Gateway race.
Chase Elliott
Starts 17th - DK: $9.0K, FD: $8.5K
Chase Elliott feels like a good bet to go somewhere between +7 and +10 in place differential on this slate. He's finished in the top 10 in half of the races in 2024 and has been 12th or better in four consecutive races.
I also think Elliott could go a little underutilized this weekend by DFS players who are focusing too much on track records. Elliott missed this race in 2023, so he's only run one Cup Series race at the track. In 2022, he was 21st here.
One race is a really small sample. I'm not knocking Elliott for that one poor performance here, especially when so much of this field is inexperienced at this track since it's only hosted two Cup races and isn't on the Xfinity Series schedule.
Chris Buescher
Starts 26th - DK: $8.5K, FD: $8.2K
This is a slate with a lot of enticing place differential options, so let's take a look at some of them. We start with Roush Fenway Keselowski driver Chris Buescher, who starts back in 26th.
Fords have been fast this weekend, but Buescher didn't really find that speed in practice and qualifying. Still, the fact that the other Fords have speed gives me hope that Buescher's crew chief, Scott Graves, can figure things out during the race on Sunday.
Last year, Buescher started 27th in this race and went on to finish in 12th place.
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Noah Gragson
Starts 27th - DK: $7.5K, FD: $7.0K
I alluded to a big story this week in the intro, so here it is: the saga of Stewart-Haas Racing. After months of rumors, the team announced this week that they'll close at the end of the season and sell all four charters. That leaves the four Stewart-Haas drivers with a lot to prove as they try to earn a spot on some other team in 2025.
Noah Gragson crashed last week in Charlotte, but before that he had four finished in a row of 14th or better, with this No. 10 car showing increased speed recently. Gragson has two top 10s here in the Truck Series. Back in 2018, he led 63 of the 160 laps in the Villa Lighting Delivers The Eaton 200 before finishing 10th.
Josh Berry
Starts 29th - DK: $7.2K, FD: $7.2K
Like Gragson, Josh Berry is a victim of the implosion of Stewart-Haas Racing. Also like Gragson, Berry has been showing increased speed. While he only has top 10s all year, they've come over the past two races, including a finish of third at Darlington. He's also got a streak of five top-20 finishes in a row.
It's going to be hard for Stewart-Haas Racing to keep a full staff through November for those not under contract. There's still playoff goals there.
The drivers intend to do their parts to rally their teams to remain competitive and finish strong.https://t.co/tZt5BKBV0V
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) June 1, 2024
As a slightly older prospect, Berry's probably feeling more pressure to showcase he can get good results than Gragson is as he searches for a new home next season. Based on how he's been running, Berry's going to land on a Cup team in 2025 and he'll collect a lot more top 10s this season in the process.
Todd Gilliland
Starts 35th - DK: $6.4K, FD: $4.5K
While his teammate landed on the pole, Todd Gilliland got a slight bit out of shape in one of the turns in qualifying and landed 35th on the grid. Yikes. It also makes him a top DFS play because of the place differential upside.
Good morning from the @WWTRaceway garage with @ToddGilliland_ and the @Team_FRM No. 38 team. 🔥
Todd’s best finish in Cup at Gateway was 15th (2023). He also scored two runner-ups in Trucks (2018-2019).#NASCAR | #EnjoyIllinois300 pic.twitter.com/k7z5LVA1mM
— Cole Cusumano (@Cole_Cusumano_) June 1, 2024
Gilliland has run well lately, posting three top-20s in a row. He's not that far behind where McDowell's at right now with race pace, though McDowell continues to qualify shockingly well.
Last year, Gilliland started 28th here and finished 15th. He's been the runner-up here twice in the Truck Series and led 75 laps in the 2020 Truck Series race.
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