1 day agoMartin Truex Jr is one of the top drivers when it comes to short, flat tracks, but he's going to have some work to do this weekend at Gateway if he's going to end up at or near the front when the checkered flag waves. Truex qualified back in 19th for this weekend's Enjoy Illinois 300, which is a disadvantage in a race that is shorter than usual (only 240 laps) and at a track where it is difficult to pass. With that being said, Truex's teammates all showed plenty of race-winning speed during practice on Saturday, so there's no reason to think that the No. 19 Toyota won't be fast once the green flag waves this weekend. Here at Gateway, Truex has finishes of sixth and fifth to his credit in the two Cup Series races ran here. Truex is priced at $10,500 on DraftKings this weekend and has the rare Place Differential plus race-winning potential. He's a strong DFS pick for Gateway.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
1 day agoWhen you look at Bubba Wallace's track record at Gateway, there's not much to like. He finished 30th here last season, which followed up a 26th-place effort in the first Cup Series race here back in 2022. However, Bubba hasn't been as bad as the numbers say. In last year's race, the No. 23 Toyota was running 11th late in the race but the car had a brake failure, which relegated Bubba to the 30th-place result. In 2022, he spun out mid-race. This weekend, Wallace qualified eighth for Sunday's Enjoy Illinois 300 and was fifth-fastest in practice. If Bubba can stay out of trouble during the race, there's no reason to think he can't contend for a top-10 result--and maybe even a top five, as the Toyotas all look to be very strong on this track type this season.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
1 day agoMichael McDowell is on the pole for the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway (otherwise known as Gateway) this weekend. Front Row Motorsports has definitely improved its qualifying efforts this season, as McDowell now has three poles on the year after previously going 0-for-465 since joining the NASCAR Cup Series. Now DFS players are faced with a pivotal decision on Sunday, though: do you roster Michael McDowell? He only costs $6,500 on DraftKings, so it won't take a lot for McDowell to hit value on that DFS site. However, the risk is definitely there, because the No. 34 Ford could definitely fall back immediately from the start and miss out on dominator/laps lap FPTS. In last year's race at Gateway, McDowell finished ninth, and he should be able to contend for a top-10 result this weekend as well. Don't avoid him like the plague in DFS, but be smart with how you build lineups with McDowell in them on Sunday.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
1 day agoDon't sleep on Justin Haley at Gateway this weekend. The Rick Ware Racing driver is on a hot streak of sorts as of late, with finishes of 22nd, ninth, 18th, and 23rd over the last four Cup Series races. That is a major improvement for this Rick Ware Racing team that has been a constant 30th-place (or worse) finisher for years. This weekend at Gateway, Haley had a strong qualifying effort (21st) and was fast in practice, ranking 11th-best on the overall speed chart on Saturday morning. Gateway has also been a good track for Haley, as he has finished 16th and 14th here in his two starts while driving for Kaulig Racing. At just $5,700 on DraftKings this weekend, Justin Haley is definitely in play as a low-dollar driver to pick.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
1 day agoAnother race, another opportunity for Todd Gilliland to put up a massive Place Differential total on DFS sites. The Front Row Motorsports driver qualified 35th out of 36 cars for this weekend's Enjoy Illinois 300, which was a bit surprising considering his teammate, Michael McDowell, was the fastest in qualifying and will start from the pole on Sunday. Gilliland has finishes of 15th and 22nd in his two Cup Series starts at Gateway, so that's a positive for this No. 38 team heading into race day. Also, momentum is on Gilliland's side, as he has an average finish of 15.3 over the last three Cup Series races overall. His Place Differential total during that span is also a very strong +29 positions.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
1 day agoWorld Wide Technology Raceway (otherwise known as Gateway) is one track where Austin Cindric has actually kind of excelled at in the Cup Series. In his two starts here, Cindric has finished 11th and 13th, which easily puts Gateway near the top in terms of average finish at a particular track for the Team Penske driver. Knowing this, we knew that Cindric would be a sleeper pick on Sunday, and it's looking even more so after he qualified second for the Enjoy Illinois 300. While that is definitely a huge positive for the No. 2 team, it does make Cindric a very risky DFS pick in DraftKings. However, at only $6,200 in salary, it won't take much for Cindric to be worth taking the risk on this Sunday. If he leads early and finishes inside the top 10, Cindric could definitely end up being a great value pick on this DraftKings slate.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
4 days agoFront Row Motorsports is growing. With the news breaking yesterday about Stewart-Haas Racing closing up shop at the end of the year, it was widely expected that Front Row would buy one of SHR's four charters. That became official today, as Front Row officially announced that they will be expanding to a three-car team in 2025. The driver lineup is not yet official, as Michael McDowell will be leaving the organization to join Spire Motorsports next year. Todd Gilliland, who drives the No. 38 Ford for Front Row is expected to return in 2025, so that leaves two seats open for the organization.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: NASCAR.com
5 days agoStewart-Haas Racing is exiting NASCAR. In a joint statement on Tuesday from co-owners, Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, the duo stated, "The commitment needed to extract maximum performance while providing sustainability is incredibly demanding, and we've reached a point in our respective personal and business lives where it's time to pass the torch." This definitely heats up NASCAR's Silly Season, as Stewart-Haas Racing currently has four full-time drivers in the Cup Series (Chase Briscoe, Josh Berry, Noah Gragson, and Ryan Preece) that will be searching for a ride for next season. As far as SHR's charters go, it is rumored that 23XI Racing, Trackhouse Racing, and Front Row Motorsports will all obtain one of them, with the fourth's landing spot currently unclear.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Stewart-Haas Racing
6 days agoChristopher Bell was declared the 2024 Coca-Cola 600 race winner on Sunday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but fans weren't too happy about it. NASCAR decided to call the race because of rain after just 249 of the scheduled 400 laps were ran. Fans were not pleased with that decision, and took it out on Christopher Bell, as boos were heard all around when Bell was announced as the winner. Still, though, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver is still the official winner of the race, his second victory of the 2024 season.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Bob Pockrass
6 days agoBrad Keselowski finished second in this year's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which was impressive considering he qualified back in 30th for it. Additionally, the race was shortened because of rain, with only 249 of the 400 scheduled laps being ran. When speaking to the media after the race, Keselowski stated, "I felt like we had a car to win the race. We kind of ran down the [eventual race winner Christopher Bell's] No. 20 car twice, and just didn't get to see it play out." With his runner-up result at Charlotte, Keselowski has now finished first or second in four of the last six races.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Bob Pockrass
6 days agoAfter his team made an unapproved adjustment after pre-qualifying inspection, Tyler Reddick was forced to start last and make a drive-through penalty at the start of Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He came out of the pits directly in front of Ty Gibbs and was able to stay in front of him longer than many people expected, but he eventually fell a lap down before taking a wave-around just before the conclusion of Stage 1. Reddick eventually salvaged a fourth-place finish, and in general, he seems to have mostly overcome his Achilles' heel of inconsistency in previous seasons, as he has never been as consistent as he has been this year. Reddick's teammate, Bubba Wallace, outran him for most of the race because of where Reddick started, but Reddick did have a pass differential of 38, the third-best in the race. He remains one of the best passers this season.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
6 days agoIn his second season, Ty Gibbs remains very fast, as he ranks fifth in Cup Series speed with a speed percentile of 71.96, and he backed that up at Charlotte with his first-ever pole and his second-fastest lap this year. However, he ultimately finished sixth, both in the race and in his speed ranking. Although Gibbs already has consistent speed, he doesn't seem to be good at holding the lead for an entire run, which is why he'll probably take longer to win his first race than most fans expect. Sunday night's race is a case in point. Despite winning the pole, he lost the lead on the track (twice to William Byron and once to Ross Chastain) three times without making any passes for the lead. Gibbs will likely be a prolific winner, but he will likely need to take another step up in to reach that point.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
6 days agoDespite all of William Byron's recent strengths, one of his weaknesses has been passing on long runs. Although he is usually electrifying on short runs, particularly late in races, he often struggled to dominate entire stints last year, and in 2023's Coca-Cola 600, he had a dismal 2-7 lead change record as he kept retaking the lead in the pits due to having the first pit stall before losing it on track (usually to Ryan Blaney). However, this year, Byron leads the Cup Series with an overall 10-5 lead change record and he was 4-2 in this weekend's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, as he passed Ty Gibbs twice en route to winning Stage 1, then passed Chase Elliott and swapped the lead with Christopher Bell twice before ultimately losing to Bell in the end. Despite fading to third, it's very promising that Byron has turned one of his weaknesses from last year into a strength.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
6 days agoAfter the rain delay at Indianapolis meant Kyle Larson couldn't make the start of the Coca-Cola 600, Justin Allgaier got the opportunity of a lifetime to drive Larson's No. 5 Chevrolet, only the second time the prolific Xfinity Series winner drove a competitive NASCAR Cup Series car. In his only other Hendrick start at the 2020 Brickyard 400, Allgaier was taken out in an unavoidable pileup on his first pit stop, so he was unable to show what he could do for an entire race. Since the 600 ended before Larson could take over the No. 5 car, Allgaier ran the complete distance and drove from the back to 13th, but was outrun by the other Hendrick cars all day and only ranked 26th in speed. It was a decent run, but not one that suggests that Allgaier would be significantly competitive in the Cup Series.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
6 days agoOn Sunday night, Chase Elliott finished seventh in the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Sunday's race marked the sixth top-10 finish in the last eight races for the second-generation Cup star, which ties him for the most over this span in the Cup Series. While we will never know what could have been given that the race ended with 151 laps remaining, it did not look as if the No. 9 had enough speed to rival Christopher Bell, who led a race-high 90 laps. Although you can never count a driver the caliber of Chase Elliott out, given that he led just two of the 249 laps that were completed and that he only managed to record four fastest laps on the night, it seems unlikely that he was going to do enough to return value on his $9,300 DraftKings salary even if the race would have been run in full. Up next for the Chase Elliott and the entire Cup Series is a trip to World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway) for Sunday's Enjoy Illinois 300.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: Jayski.com
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