NASCAR has officially laid claim to the Grant Park neighborhood in the Windy City, and the weather certainly has not held up. The Xfinity Series race was postponed and will finish Sunday. After watching practice and qualifying for both races, it’s a bit chaotic on this street course. Drivers like Justin Haley, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chase Elliott, William Byron, and Kevin Harvick will all likely start at the rear. This is important for our Grant Park 220 DFS picks because they’ll be scored from where they qualified.
From what we gathered during Saturday’s race, the lack of runoff will likely lead to an excess of cautions. It doesn’t seem like dominator points will come into play unless there are fewer cautions. Additionally, it is very difficult to pass. Alas, there are still contests to play and lineups to be made. Let’s dig into the Grant Park 220 DFS picks.
Daily Fantasy NASCAR: The Top 10 For The Grant Park 220
- Denny Hamlin (#11 Joe Gibbs Racing)
- Tyler Reddick (#45 23XI Racing)
- Shane van Gisbergen (#91 Trackhouse Racing)
- Christopher Bell (#20 Joe Gibbs Racing)
- Daniel Suarez (#99 Trackhouse Racing)
- Michael McDowell (#34 Front Row Motorsports)
- Kyle Larson (#5 Hendrick Motorsports)
- Jenson Button (#15 Rick Ware Racing)
- Joey Logano (#22 Team Penske)
- A.J. Allmendinger (#16 Kaulig Racing)
We have some surprise names in the top 10. Shane van Gisbergen and Jenson Button are surprising names simply because of the equipment and lack of familiarity. But they have more experience than most in the field on street courses through racing in other series. Jenson Button is a former F1 world champion after all. The qualifying spots are justified based on the speed both drivers showed in practice.
Denny Hamlin is going to be a popular mid-range play assuming he doesn’t give up the lead from the pole. He’s easy to play on both DraftKings and FanDuel and is likely in the optimal lineup if he finishes top-five and leads a handful of laps.
The Chicago Street Course is challenging. We saw plenty of drivers wreck their cars in practice and qualifying. The narrow straightaways, tight turns, and lack of runoff will lead to carnage and numerous cautions. There are plenty of drivers starting deep in the field, but we just can’t simply play all positional differential targets for our Grant Park 220 DFS picks. We will need some drivers starting in the top 10 that are contrarian as well.
Which Value-Priced Picks Got A Points Movement Bump?
DraftKings Grant Park 220 DFS Picks
- Kevin Harvick – P35, $7,500
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – P36, $6,600
- Justin Haley – P37, $5,800
FanDuel Grant Park 220 DFS Picks
- Kevin Harvick – P35, $7,800
- Austin Cindric – P31, $6,800
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – P36, $4,800
- Justin Haley – P37, $4,500
A lot of similar names on both DraftKings and FanDuel. To nobody’s surprise, Kevin Harvick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Justin Haley either wrecked or couldn’t post a qualifying lap on Saturday. They’ll make unapproved adjustments or go to backup cars so their scoring is safe. Austin Cindric is a unique option on FanDuel that should be considered. He tends to thrive more on this kind of track and is still reasonably priced for a driver starting further back.
Which Higher-Priced Picks Got The Same Bump?
- Chase Elliott – P26
- Ross Chastain – P34
- William Byron – P22
Where these three differ from the drivers in the value range is that Chase Elliott and William Byron will start at the rear, but be scored from their qualifying spots. That’s not ideal for our Grant Park 220 DFS picks. And truthfully, because of the starting spots for the value drivers we don’t necessarily need to get too much exposure in this range. They may draw lower rostership on DraftKings and FanDuel so they may be best suited for tournament contests.
Grant Park 220 DFS Picks
A lot of NASCAR DFS touts were likely hoping to use the Xfinity Series race as a litmus test. Unfortunately, an excess of cautions and poor weather kept us from really learning anything new. It still looks like those who qualified well will be able to take advantage of clean air and run freely up front. There are a few spots to pass on the track, but you have to time them perfectly. It doesn’t feel like a week where you need to load up on drivers starting at the rear. Mix in a couple Grant Park 220 DFS picks starting in the top ten, the teens, and then round out your lineup with some value plays that can move up. Below are lineups that can be considered for tomorrow’s race on DraftKings and FanDuel.
DraftKings:
- Tyler Reddick – $10,100
- Kyle Busch – $9,700
- Chris Buescher – $8,500
- Austin Cindric – $8,400
- Ty Gibbs – $7,300
- Justin Haley – $5,800
This is the perfect Tournament lineup on DraftKings. It avoids the chalky mid-range option with Denny Hamlin. And while it’s not heavy on drivers listed above, it does feature plenty of drivers mentioned in this week’s Grant Park 220 Preview. I don’t want to build a lineup entirely of drivers starting deeper in the field. You need a perfect mashup of drivers who qualified well (Reddick, Buescher, and Gibbs) and some drivers offering position differential (Busch, Cindric, and Haley).
FanDuel:
- Tyler Reddick – $12,500
- Ross Chastain – $12,000
- Michael McDowell – $9,500
- Kevin Harvick – $7,800
- Austin Cindric – $6,800
A couple of notes on this FanDuel lineup: For starters, I’m visiting family and I’m having issues entering DFS lineups on that site. So I may not even get to play on FanDuel for Sunday’s race. Moreover, FanDuel’s pricing is always weird. This lineup leaves $1,400 on the table. Truthfully, I built a lineup that left $7,900 on the table and I was very fond of it for tournaments. This build does start more drivers starting deeper in the field. But you could pivot off Ross Chastain for Martin Truex Jr., a noted road course specialist. Or you could pivot off Kevin Harvick for Chris Buescher. There are so many ways to build lineups on FanDuel because of their pricing so get creative and don’t commit to too much chalk.
White Flag Thoughts Before You Go
Enjoy Sunday’s Grant Park 220. Truly, it’s NASCAR doing its best to expand to a new audience and build upon its fanbase. Do I like this race for DFS? I’d be lying if I said yes. Even for Saturday’s Xfinity Series race I only built one lineup on DraftKings. Even next week, with Atlanta lined up, it’s not looking to be another heavy DFS weekend. But we will have races down the stretch where we can get more exposure. Unfortunately, we still don’t know what we’re going to get on Sunday. If you have access to betting and sportsbooks, it’s a much better race to bet and find some +EV bets that may still be available. I’d suggest conserving your DFS bankroll and playing some single-entry or three-entry max contests for NASCAR DFS.