The Cup Series will travel to the World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway) this week for the third time. The first two races were dominated by Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney. Will they be able to lead all of the laps again Sunday, or will we see the Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing drivers dominated another race in 2024? It will be fun to see who finds the speed this weekend. The Enjoy Illinois 300 can be seen Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
Be careful when you look at the Fantasy Live picks because they have been as hot as the sun this year. The goal each week should be to score 200 Fantasy Live points. The picks this year are averaging 208 points per race. That is good enough to be ranked 160th out of 352K entries. I will do my best to keep us climbing up the leader boards in our Fantasy Live leagues this week.
CUP SERIES PRACTICE
The Cup Series had their normal practice session at Gateway this weekend. The teams had 30-minutes to shake down their cars before they lined up for qualifying. It only takes 32 seconds to turn a lap at Gateway so most of the teams were able to make some long runs in practice. Track position is the most important thing to consider for our picks this week, but we need to look at the drivers who start up front and have good long-run speed in their cars.
Here are the practice speeds for the Enjoy Illinois 300 …
FANTASY LIVE PICKS FOR GATEWAY
DENNY HAMLIN (3): Hamlin has dominated the short tracks this year. He won at Bristol, Richmond and Dover. He was also good at Gateway last year. Hamlin qualified 3rd, finished 3rd in Stage 1, 3rd in Stage 2 and 2nd in the race. The No. 11 car looks fast again this week. Hamlin posted the fourth-fastest speed long run speed and qualified sixth for the race. I am not worried about using another allocation with Hamlin, because I have it mapped out for the rest of the regular season.
CHRISTOPHER BELL (5): Bell broke out of his slump with a win in the Coca-Cola 600. So, can he start a hot streak with a win at Gateway? I am not sure, but a top-five finish in not out of the question. Bell tested at Iowa Speedway earlier this week. It is obvious that the team hit on something that should work at Gateway. Bell posted the fifth-fastest long run speed in practice and qualified fourth for the race. I will take my chances with Bell Sunday in Illinois.
RYAN BLANEY (4): Blaney was one of the best drivers in the first two races at Gateway. He led 12 laps and finished fourth in 2022. Blaney led 83 laps and finished sixth last year. The No. 12 car is fast again. Blaney posted the third-fastest long run speed in practice and qualified third for the race. He has a good shot to win at Gateway Sunday.
JOEY LOGANO (6): There is a lot to like about Logano this week. He won the race at Gateway in 2022 and he finished third at this track last year. The No. 22 team hit on something during the tire test at North Wilksboro. They took that information to Richmond and the No. 22 car finished second. They brought it back to the All-Star Race at North Wilksboro and Logano nearly lead every lap in the race. The Enjoy Illinois 300 is a good race to take a chance with Logano in your lineup.
BRAD KESELOWSKI (9): Keselowski has been on a hot streak over the last month. He finished second at Texas, second at Talladega, won at Darlington and finished second at Charlotte. Keselowski was not very good in the two races at Gateway, but the No. 6 team is red hot right now. Keselowski just tested at Iowa Speedway and the extra track time should give the No. 6 car something to work with at Gateway. I will use Keselowski before he cools off.
(GARAGE PICK) KYLE BUSCH (7): It has been hard to trust Busch this year, but if he cannot get it done this week at Gateway, he may not get to Victory Lane at all in 2024. Busch led 121 laps, scored 19 Stage Points and won the race at Gateway last year. He also finished second in 2022. Gateway is the best track for Busch, so I will have the No. 8 car in the Garage just in case he does what he did in 2022 and 2023 at Gateway.
Good luck and be sure to follow me on X (Twitter) @MrFantasyNASCAR. I will send out a Tweet during the race to let you know if I plan to swap out one of my drivers for my Garage pick.