World Wide Technology Raceway (AKA Gateway) hosts the second race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
With temperatures expected to be cooler than normal for this time of year, and only 240 laps, this could be a one- or two-dominator race, although we can’t rule out three dominators.
Practice FLAGS data looked really good this week, and as always you can check out my NASCAR projections in the NASCAR Models on FantasyLabs, complete with floor, ceiling, median, and ownership projections.
My projections, along with Stephen Young’s from RotoGrinders, are available in our new NASCAR DFS package. You can read more about what the package entails here.
Let’s not skip the best part — my Perfect% metric — a metric that tells you how often certain racers appear in the optimal lineup when running 10,000 race simulations.
And don’t forget about the tools that FantasyLabs has to offer, like our Lineup Optimizer to effortlessly create up to 300 lineups or our Lineup Builder if you like to hand-build your lineups.
So, without further ado, here’s my strategy guide and NASCAR DFS picks for the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Enjoy Illinois 300 DFS Core Picks
Instead of calling them cash-game picks, I’ll call them core picks, as these are picks I like in all formats. However, it’s important to note that very often core picks tend to go over-rostered in tournaments, so while they should still be used plenty, it may be prudent to sometimes go underweight on these drivers if you think they’ll be significantly over-rostered.
Christopher Bell ($10,500): Bell looked like the car to beat based off his No. 1 FLAGS ranking in practice, and teammate Chase Briscoe even commented that Bell had a super strong car in a TV interview after practice.
Bell dominated here last year, and he only seemingly lost this race due to an engine failure late. He’s a core play in all formats.
Carson Hocevar ($7000): Hocevar starts 27th, so there’s place-differential potential here.
He finished eighth in this race last year and eighth at Iowa, which is using the same tire combination and is probably the best comp to Gateway (along with Phoenix).
He’s got the right combination of salary, starting spot, and projected finish to elevate your day.
Ryan Preece ($6900): Preece comes in under $7k on a flat track, his best track type, and starts 32nd. That right there is a recipe for playing him.
He was a top-half car in practice, so place differential is quite likely barring an issue. He should be in more than of 40% your lineups.
Enjoy Illinois 300 DFS Tournament Picks
Kyle Larson ($9500): It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Larson priced this low at any non-drafting oval, and it’s time to pounce on that.
Larson starts second, and with Denny Hamlin on pole, Hamlin is sure to grab a bunch of usage.
But Larson practiced better than Hamlin and tested at Gateway earlier this year, giving him and the team a strong base setup to work off of.
Larson could dominate the early laps at a small usage discount to Hamlin.
The other HMS drivers: It appears that Larson testing here has really elevated HMS based off practice FLAGS.
Larson and teammates Chase Elliott and William Byron ranked 2-3-4 in FLAGS, and Alex Bowman ranked ninth while starting 25th.
Byron also dominated at Iowa, which had the same tire combination as Gateway, and he could be a very contrarian dominator if he’s able to get to the front after starting on the third row.
Elliott starts 19th, giving him plenty of place-differential potential just like Bowman, so all four HMS cars should be on your radar.
It’s okay to be chalky: I’m looking at a pretty chalky set of drivers this week knowing Gateway in the past (and Iowa earlier this year) didn’t lead to a whole lot of small names finishing up front.
Drivers like Brad Keselowski and Michael McDowell have strong results here or at Iowa and showed speed in practice while starting in the 20s.
Hamlin and Ryan Blaney are sure to be strong.
These are four more chalky drivers you should have exposure to.
Zane Smith: Smith starts 10th and is a driver I bet for a top-10 finish early in the week. Thankfully he showed well in practice (14th in FLAGS) to back up that 10th-place starting spot.
My model gives him a 17% chance of finishing inside the top 10 and a 7% chance of ending up in the optimal lineup, which is higher than I project his ownership.
You can use him up to 10% for leverage.
Pictured: Christopher Bell
Photo credit: Jim Dedmon, Imagn