RADIO
The NASCAR Cup Series is in Chicago this weekend for the inaugural race on the street course. I was hoping to use the Xfinity Series race as a control to judge today off of, but that race wasn't completed Saturday because of the weather, so we'll have to use just a little knowledge from that to make some guesses about this race.
While yesterday's lightning issues have dampened some of the hype about this weekend, it looks like this street race idea has mostly gone well. People in Chicago seem really excited about it, and just watching NASCAR cars drive through one of the world's biggest cities is a really cool experience, even on television.
Below are my NASCAR DFS lineup picks for the Grant Park 220 on DraftKings and FanDuel this week. This slate locks on 7/2/23 at 5:03 p.m. ET. If you have any questions or want to talk about NASCAR, you can find me on Twitter at @juscarts.
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Chase Elliott
Starts 26th - DK: $10,300, FD: $13,500
Elliott is one of NASCAR's best road course racers. In 26 road course starts in the Cup Series, he has seven wins and 18 top 10 finishes, with an average finish of 8.0.
A poor qualifying run puts him back at 26th for the start of this one. What we've seen so far from the Xfinity Series race is that passing is tough, but it isn't impossible, and if there's anyone who can gain a lot of spots, it's Chase Elliott.
This season, Elliott was fifth in his only road course start, leading seven laps and finishing plus-five spots over where he began the day.
Tyler Reddick
Starts 2nd - DK: $10,100, FD: $12,500
Reddick starts on the front row with his team owner Denny Hamlin. Based on the Xfinity race, clean air really matters, so I expect one of the two to get the lead on the first lap and not give it up for a long time, if at all.
Of those two, Reddick's the smarter bet. Three of his four Cup Series wins have come on road courses, including his one win this year, which came at COTA, where he led 41 of the 75 laps.
Hamlin, meanwhile, has just one road course win in 47 starts. He's decent at road courses, but they aren't his strength in the way that they're Reddick's strength, which is why I expect Reddick to find his way to the front.
Daniel Suarez
Starts 5th - DK: $8,900, FD: $7,800
Little risky here because of the starting spot, but two of the three Trackhouse cars have been so good this weekend so far, so I think Suarez has a good chance to run around this spot all day.
Suarez's only Cup Series win came on a road course, as he won Sonoma last year. Five of his 16 career top fives have come on road courses as well. His road course results in 2023 haven't been great, as he DNFed at COTA and was 22nd at Sonoma, but he's definitely shown speed. He ran as high as third at Sonoma, for example.
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Shane Van Gisbergen
Starts 3rd - DK: $7,600, FD: $6,200
Nothing about this race is more intriguing than the story of Shane Van Gisbergen in this 91 car for Trackhouse. Fastest in practice. Third in qualifying. All that when Van Gisbergen has never raced in the Cup Series before.
But the 68-time winner in Australia's Supercars series is showing why people say that series is the closest international comparison to NASCAR. He's adjusted quickly and has a chance to contend for a victory in the first start of his NASCAR career.
Starting third means that there's a lot of place differential downside for Van Gisbergen, especially since we haven't seen him race in traffic in a Cup car before. But he's also the cheapest driver with a viable shot at the win, and that makes him a really nice value.
Ty Gibbs
Starts 12th - DK: $7,300, FD: $7,500
Gibbs, who was ninth quickest in practice, is in a pretty good position here. The rookie starts 12th, the lowest of his Toyota teammates but still close enough to the front for Gibbs to fight for a top 10 here. And if things get weird, who knows—maybe Gibbs could sneak a top-five.
One of Gibbs' four top 10s this year came at COTA. While COTA isn't a great comparison for Chicago since, well, nothing really is, the fact he's shown speed at a road course is a good sign.
Gibbs also has top fives in both his Xfinity Series starts at road courses this year. The kid's a good road course racer, and that's something that should translate to the Cup Series' first street race.
Justin Haley
Starts 37th - DK: $5,800, FD: $3,500
Something you might not immediately think of when you think of Justin Haley: his road course racing ability.
But Haley, who starts last on Sunday after not running a qualifying lap, has a pair of top 10s in his Cup Series career on road courses, as well as 10 top 10s in 16 Xfinity Series starts on that track type.
Passing might be hard, but Haley starting dead last means that if he keeps the car clean, he's looking at a lot of place differential upside, both from passing worse cars than his and from general attrition.
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