NASCAR Cup Series Chicago Street DFS Picks
- RoundersKyle
- Jul 5
- 3 min read
The NASCAR Cup Series is in Chicago this week for the only street circuit on the schedule this season. We should see the top road racers rise to the occasion and we will see if anyone can beat Shane Van Gisbergen this weekend. Track position is going to be vital for everyone as the track and passing zones are tight. Getting to the front and staying out of trouble is going to be very important this weekend, especially if there is rain as expected for the race.
Potential Dominators
Shane Van Gisbergen
I don’t see a world where SVG doesn’t dominate this race with how good he is on street courses and with the speed he had in practice. He should lead the majority of the laps and win the race as long as he doesn’t have any mechanical issues or gets taken out at some point by someone else. We do have the threat of rain this weekend so he could get stuck on a bad strategy if things don’t fall his way, but I would still expect him to be the best in the rain. The only threat I see to SVG is Michael McDowell but I just don’t see him overtaking him and leading the laps needed to end up optimal.
Place Differential Plays
William Byron
Chase Elliott
Denny Hamlin
Ross Chastain
Ryan Blaney
We saw Byron, Elliott, and Hamlin all have trouble in practice with wrecks and Hamlin blowing up so they all did not get to qualify. They all start in the back and have huge place differential potential and will be top plays for the race. Byron and Elliott especially will be popular as they had top 5 speed in practice and should make their way through the field to contend up front.
Chastain could go overlooked this week with the other top guys starting in the back, but Chastain starts mid pack and runs well on road courses. He should have the chance to move forward and be a good play at his salary, especially if something happen to the more obvious place differential plays. Blaney is another that I think will go low owned and should be a threat for a top 10. At only $7500 salary he is a good pivot off of Hamlin or to help you have a more balanced lineup if you go against Byron or Elliott.
Cheap Options
Bubba Wallace
John Hunter Nemechek
Zane Smith
Austin Hill
Wallace has made huge improvements in his road racing ability and he had really good speed in practice. Unfortunately he spun in qualifying and could not get a good lap in so he starts in the back with some of the other top options back there. He is a great value at his salary and is a great option for place differential this weekend. Nemechek has had some good runs on road courses recently and I like him in this spot starting 25th. He has some room to move forward but isn’t too obvious of a play starting all the way in the back. Zane Smith is another play I really like for this race. He is a good road racer and starts back in 28th giving him a good amount of place differential potential. He should move forward and be a good sleeper play this weekend. Hill is a bit of a flier play this week as he only runs a handful of races in the Cup Series but he is in good RCR equipment and is solid on road courses. Starting in 30th he should be a good value play if you need to open up some salary.
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