NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: eero 400 at Chicagoland Speedway

Track Size: 1.5-miles
Track: Asphalt Paved Oval
Race Length: 267 laps / 400.5 miles

 

Shane van Gisbergen's win last win at Sonoma didn't seem nearly as dominating as past performances. Sure he led 74 of the 110 laps, but Chase Briscoe was nipping at his lead in the closing laps and no one knows what could have happened if they had gotten door to door. I do believe it would have been a masterful example of clean racing, but we'll never know. 

The victory was SVG's second of the season and his eighth on road courses. He is now tied for second with Tony Stewart for all-time in road-course wins and sits just one behind Jeff Gordon. Now let's see what he can do this week at Chicagoland.

 

This Week's Pick Strategy: It's super challenging to do fantasy picks for a track that hasn't been on the circuit since 2019. After all, nearly half the field (18 drivers) entered in the eero 400 have never run a NASCAR Cup series race at Chicagoland. Pretty mind-blowing, but it should certainly make things interesting.

My pick strategy is selecting a combination of drivers who performed well here when the track was on the NASCAR circuit, plus drivers who are wheelmen, have well-honed skills to manage tire wear, possess an undeniable knack for studying and searching to find the best lines for speed, and absolutely love to ride the high line. Oh, and it's just icing on the cake if they are good at mile-and-a-half tracks.

 

Active Cup Drivers with Most Top 10s at Chicagoland

2014 to 2019: 6 Races
Both with 6 - Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano

Both with 5- Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin  
Alex Bowman - 3

 

Active Cup Drivers with Most Top 3s at Chicagoland

2014 to 2019: 6 Races

Kyle Larson - 4
Both with 3 - Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano
Both with 2 - Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin

 

Active Cup Drivers with Most Top 3s at Chicagoland

2014 to 2019: 6 Races
Kyle Larson - 3

Both with 2 - Chase Elliott and Joey Logano

                            Recent Cup Series Performance

                Intermediate & Large Oval Tracks Since 2023

SOURCE: driveraverages.com

 

2019 Pole Winner (most recent race): Austin Dillon
 

2019 Race Winner (most recent race): Alex Bowman

 

The Likely Suspects: This week's likely suspects are Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, and William Byron.

My 2 Cents: My no-brainer pick is a tie between Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin. My next picks are Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick, Erik Jones, and Ty Gibbs. I will complete my team with Corey Heim and Carson Hocevar.

My Final Four: Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick, and Carson Hocevar.

Second-Look Driver: This week's second-look driver is Erik Jones. Sunday's race will mark Erik's fourth Chicagoland Cup race. In the most recent race here, he finished seventh after starting 21st. Erik ranks 11th among all active drivers at Chicagoland, just one spot below Denny Hamlin. He has two Top 10s in three Cup starts there, and two O’Reilly Auto Parts Series wins at the track in 2015 and 2016.
 

Points to Ponder:

• Brad Keselowski leads all active Cup Series drivers in wins at Chicagoland Speedway with two (2012, 2014). He also leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in Top-5 finishes here with five and in Top 10s with nine. 
• Nearly 43% (42.11%) of all wins at Chicagoland have come from the Top 10 starting positions. 
• Joe Gibbs Racing leads the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Chicagoland Speedway with six victories among four drivers: Tony Stewart (two), Kyle Busch (two), Matt Kenseth (one) and Denny Hamlin (one). 
• Kyle Larson leads all active drivers in runner-up finishes at Chicagoland Speedway with two. Both Chase Elliott and Joey Logano are tied with one runner-up finish each. Larson also leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in average finishing position here with a 6.2 in six starts. 
• Jimmie Johnson holds the Cup Series record for laps led at Chicagoland Speedway with 705 laps in 18 starts, though oddly enough, he never won at the Joliet, Illinois track. 

If you are playing Driver Group Game, remember to make your partial picks by 3 p.m. ET today and and your final picks by 6 p.m. ET on race day, Sunday, July 5th.

Enjoy the race!

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Carol D'Agostino has been playing Fantasy NASCAR for 19 years. She launched NASCAR Fantasy Fusion for Skirts & Scuffs in October 2011. Each week, Carol pores through statistics and combs through her personal notebooks to arm fans with analysis and picking strategies that will leave their friends wondering how they got so smart. Carol also does race coverage for Skirts & Scuffs at Richmond Raceway and occasionally at her home track, Dover International Speedway. She is also part of the distinguished NASCAR Expert Picks panel at frcs.pro. formerly called Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. When she isn’t wielding her fantasy-racing superpowers, you’ll find Carol hammering out a news release or creating a marketing strategy at a small niche public relations firm she founded called Purple Cat or executing downtown revitalization projects for a small town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.