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After a rain-soaked weekend that pushed the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 back to Monday, the series heads to World Wide Technology Raceway—better known as Gateway—for the Enjoy Illinois 300.
This track has a long history in NASCAR's other top series, but last year was the inaugural Cup Series race here. Joey Logano led 22 laps to win that race, while Kyle Busch led 66 laps and finished second here. While a lot of caution flags flew for accidents, just three drivers failed to finish the race.
Below are my NASCAR DFS lineup picks for the Enjoy Illinois 300 on DraftKings and FanDuel this week. This slate locks on 6/4/23 at 3:40 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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Kyle Larson
Starts 22nd - DK: $11,300, FD: $14,000
Larson has been in a weird spot lately. He's had arguably the best speed in the series but has finished 20th or worse in three of the last four points race. During that stretch, he also went out and dominated the All-Star Race.
Larson starts 22nd on Sunday, his worst start of the season. It's not often you get one of the top drivers in the series with some place differential upside, but that's the case this weekend.
Last season, Larson finished 12th here. I don't really think Larson's going to end up competing for the victory here, but he definitely has the talent and the car to get a top 10 and contend for a top five.
Kyle Busch
Starts 1st - DK: $9,800, FD: $12,000
Busch had a great chance to win here last year as he led a race-high 66 laps and finished second. He came up just short of the win, losing the lead to Joey Logano on the final restart after leading the previous 16 laps.
With Ford not really showing race-winning speed on a weekly basis this year, I've got Busch down as my favorite to win. He'll have a good shot to lead a lot of early laps off the pole if he can get free from Ryan Blaney quickly. For what it's worth, Blaney looked good here last year, leading 12 laps and finishing fourth, so he's a solid play too—while a lot of Fords have struggled, Blaney hasn't really fell victim to that.
Anyway, if you want someone who can get you a lot of laps led, I think it's between Busch and Blaney. I lean Busch because he'll control the start of the race.
Bubba Wallace
Starts 20th - DK: $8,400, FD: $8,200
He hasn't won yet, but it's hard to really say anyone has been better over the past month or so than Bubba Wallace. If we include the All-Star Race, Wallace's worst finish in five races in May was 12th to start the month, and he's finished in the top five in four consecutive races. That includes three races where Wallace had double-digit fastest laps.
His 20th-place starting spot puts his top-five streak in jeopardy, but he came from 17th to finish fourth at Kansas, so it's not impossible. Wallace has found something lately, and it's a good bet that he'll continue that run this weekend, even if he struggled here last season, finishing 26th after starting 18th.
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Chris Buescher
Starts 27th - DK: $7,500, FD: $7,500
Buescher hasn't been as good as Wallace lately, but he's run pretty well. In the four points races in May, Buescher had three top 10s and his worst finish was 17th. Last week, he led 12 laps and finished eighth in the Coca-Cola 600.
Starting 27th gives Buescher some really good place differential upside. He's currently got an average finish of 14.6 through the first 14 races of the season, putting him on track to have the best average finish of his career. He's also sitting 12th in points, in a position where he could make the playoffs on points. Buescher has never made the Cup Series postseason.
One potential concern: Buescher missed this race last year because of COVID-19 protocols, so he doesn't have experience at this track.
Corey Lajoie
Starts 30th - DK: $7,400, FD: $7,800
With Chase Elliott suspended this week, Corey Lajoie gets a one-week shot in the 9 car. He's been impressive for Spire this year, and now he gets to drive one of the best cars in the Cup Series.
I don't think Lajoie is going to go out and battle for a win in this race, but he should manage to finish better than he's starting by a good bit after he ended up just 30th in qualifying, though that wasn't necessarily a speed thing:
Hendrick Motorsports as a whole struggled on Saturday, with only William Byron making the final round of qualifying. I'd imagine things look a little better Sunday, especially as the race goes on and the team makes adjustments.
Todd Gilliland
Starts 28th - DK: $5,600, FD: $3,000
Remember: when it comes to projecting what Todd Gilliland will do, you've got to take note of what car he's in. Last week, he was in a Rick Ware car, and he finished 33rd, but this week he's back in the Front Row Motorsports 38 car, and he's run well in this car.
Gilliland has finished in the top 25 in his last nine starts for FRM, which includes six top 15 finishes, with the most recent coming at Darlington, where he finished 11th.
Definitely a strong value option on this slate because of the place differential upside.
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