For the second time in the NextGen era, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Midwest for racing around the 1.25-mile oval of World Wide Technology Raceway. Last year’s race saw Joey Logano drive to victory lane for the inaugural Enjoy Illinois 300 and coming off the backs of Ryan Blaney winning the Coca-Cola 600 a week ago, Team Penske has seemingly found new life heading into this weekend. As we begin constructing our fantasy NASCAR DFS lineups, we will need to decide what we should look at for our research. Practice and qualifying occurred at 9:00am local time, but the green flag will drop just after 2:30 pm local time and the track conditions will be much different. Nevertheless, let’s take a look at the top NASCAR DFS picks for our fantasy NASCAR DFS lineups.
Fantasy NASCAR DFS Picks: Enjoy Illinois 300 Picks
- Kyle Busch (#8 Richard Childress Racing)
- Ryan Blaney (#12 Team Penske)
- Denny Hamlin (#11 Joe Gibbs Racing)
- Kevin Harvick (#4 Stewart-Haas Racing)
- Martin Truex Jr. (#19 Joe Gibbs Racing)
- Joey Logano (#22 Team Penske)
- William Byron (#24 Hendrick Motorsports)
- Ross Chastain (#1 Trackhouse Racing)
- Tyler Reddick (#45 23XI Racing)
- Austin Cindric (#2 Team Penske)
If we were only looking at the data from a year ago, we could lock in several of those drivers. And we likely still will. Last year’s race saw a lot of the fastest drivers in practice and qualifying, finish up front as well. But we’re in the intermediate package this year, not the short-track package like a year ago. This package has hurt Team Penske this year and all three drivers start in the top ten. Last week they had cooler weather conditions that helped them gain more down force. This week will be hotter and the track will be slicker. Don’t be too surprised if Penske regresses once again for this race. The top ten feature some fantasy NASCAR DFS picks that can go out and lead laps like Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., and William Byron.
Which Value-Priced Fantasy NASCAR DFS Picks Got A Movement Points Bump?
The issue with Saturday’s practice is that the track conditions were not the same for both groups. So we can’t really digest a whole lot and the track conditions for the actual race will be even hotter than the practice sessions. But we still saw the cream rise to the top. The good drivers performed well, while there were some fantasy NASCAR DFS picks in the value range that will provide points for us if they can move up through the race.
DraftKings
- Corey Lajoie – P30, $7,400
- Ryan Preece – P29, $6,800
- Todd Gilliland – P28, $5,600
FanDuel
- Chris Buescher – P27, $7,500
- Ryan Preece – P29, $4,800
- Todd Gilliland – P30, $3,000
There are similar fantasy NASCAR DFS picks in the value range on both DraftKings and FanDuel. Todd Gilliland is back in the 38-car and can contend for a top 20 finish. Ryan Preece tends to thrive more on shorter, flat tracks like teammate Aric Almirola. Both Corey Lajoie and Chris Buescher should be considered as fantasy NASCAR DFS picks, but Buescher is cheaper on FanDuel, while Lajoie is better value on DraftKings.
Which Higher-Priced Fantasy NASCAR DFS Picks Got The Same Bump?
- Kyle Larson – P22
- Christopher Bell – P17
- Alex Bowman – P18
- Bubba Wallace – P20
Kyle Larson is going to be heavily owned among the fantasy NASCAR DFS picks. He’s in one of the best cars and he starts outside the top 20. Christopher Bell can have speed any given week and we should anticipate it’ll be there once again. He starts far enough back and has win equity. Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace are more in the mid-range. However, they still have top ten upside. Bubba Wallace, in particular, has four straight top-five finishes if you include the All-Star race. Alex Bowman seemed perfectly fine a week ago after returning from his back injury. He’s been a popular top-ten bet amongst the fantasy NASCAR DFS community.
Enjoy Illinois 300
Do make sure you consult the Enjoy Illinois 300 Preview published earlier this week. The only driver from the article we might want to downgrade would be A.J. Allmendinger. It’s more likely that he goes backward so he won’t be one of my fantasy NASCAR DFS picks for Sunday. We should still see a few different drivers lead laps on Sunday. Last year we saw six different drivers lead 20+ laps. We shouldn’t expect a similar result this year. For the most part we should consider two-to-three fantasy NASCAR DFS picks to contend for laps led. The four drivers mentioned previously starting in the top ten fit that mold. The remaining spots should go towards drivers that can move up through the field and finish well.
This is one of the shorter tracks on the NASCAR schedule and we should expect some drivers to fall off the lead lap. But with 240 laps on tap we can handle some value-priced fantasy NASCAR DFS picks falling off the lead lap. We just need to also have the right drivers leading laps. Here are two fantasy NASCAR DFS lineups I’ll be entering for Sunday afternoon’s race.
DraftKings
- Denny Hamlin – $10,500
- Martin Truex Jr. – $10,300
- Alex Bowman – $8,600
- Chris Buescher – $7,500
- Corey Lajoie – $7,400
- Todd Gilliland – $5,600
It’s possible these fantasy NASCAR DFS picks make up a chalky Cash game lineup on DraftKings. It’s using some fairly popular drivers, especially Corey Lajoie. But it’s a good combination of building around Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. Those two can lead laps and record fastest laps. If you buy into the “Auto Owners” paint scheme narrative with Truex, then this is your kind of week. Bowman, Buescher, Lajoie, and Gilliland offer place differential. But again, among the fantasy NASCAR DFS picks those four will be popular. Pivots in this range include Brad Keselowski, Ty Gibbs, and Aric Almirola in addition to Wallace and Preece.
FanDuel
- Denny Hamlin – $12,500
- Christopher Bell – $11,500
- Tyler Reddick – $9,500
- Alex Bowman – $8,500
- Brad Keselowski – $8,000
Above are five drivers that can very well all finish in the top ten. Hamlin, Bell, and Reddick can be viewed as drivers to potentially win and lead plenty of laps. But you could also pivot to other fantasy NASCAR DFS picks such as Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, and even Kyle Larson. FanDuel devalues laps led in comparison to DraftKings. They tend to reward fantasy NASCAR DFS lineups that have drivers finishing well. But there is wiggle room with this lineup to maybe target drivers starting deeper in the field. Or, perhaps, you move off Bell to get another driver that can lead laps.
White Flag Thoughts Before You Go
The Enjoy Illinois is certainly a tricky race to analyze when looking for fantasy NASCAR DFS picks. The hotter, slicker weather tomorrow will negatively impact plenty of drivers. I’m trying to remain optimistic that the intermediate package allows for plenty of passing. But there will be drivers that lose the lead lap in the first stage. Be sure to diversify your fantasy NASCAR DFS lineups so you aren’t too overloaded on any one driver. Everyone wants to play Corey Lajoie this week since he’s driving for Hendrick Motorsports. He hits value on DraftKings if he finishes 18th. But keep in mind he’s still Corey Lajoie and he’s not a top driver in this series. Sure, play him in your 50/50 and Double Up lineups. But he’s not someone that we should rush to plug into our Tournament lineups.
Bankroll management will be key this weekend. NASCAR heads to Sonoma next week which is a road course and then they have a week off. Don’t feel like you need to play heavy simply because a week off is coming in two weeks. Fantasy NASCAR DFS is a marathon, not a sprint. Best of luck with your fantasy NASCAR DFS lineup construction this weekend! Feel free to hit me up on Twitter (@RealDANlanta) if you have questions. Most of all, just take and relish in this weekend’s Enjoy Illinois 300!