Gateway / WWT Raceway Enjoy Illinois 300 Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks

Ryan Blaney
Gateway Fantasy Outlook – Ryan Blaney will be a driver to be reckoned with at Gateway and the road to victory lane in the Enjoy Illinois 300 likely goes thru him. Blaney’s been a standout performer at Gateway and he’s one of the premiere shorter-flat track racers in NASCAR. At Gateway, Blaney was robbed of the win last year, he was a standout performer in 2023 and over the combined races, Blaney has the best Next Gen Speed Ranking, the 2nd best Driver Rating and his average finish if you credit him with a 1st last year would be 3.6. This year at shorter-flat tracks, Blaney has the best Track Type Total Speed Ranking and at the two recent shorter-flat tracks visited, he’s come home with results of 3rd (Richmond) and 4th (Iowa).
Gateway Track History – Ryan Blaney has performed at a super-elite level at Gateway and has arguably been the best over the combined races. Over the three, Blaney ranks #1 in terms of Next Gen Speed Rankings, has the best average running position (6.8), the 2nd best Driver Rating and his average finish is an asterisk mark 11.3. Last year, Blaney had a rocket but ran out of fuel on the last lap while leading and limped home to a misleading 24th. In the race, Blaney started 3rd, finished 3rd in Stage #1, finished 3rd in Stage #2, led 20 laps and had a 6.2 average running position. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Blaney ranked 3rd. I’ll note in terms of “Performance”, I think Bell was actually the best. In 2023, the #12 was a rocket and Blaney was tough to beat. In the race, Blaney started 6th, finished 2nd in Stage #1, won Stage #2, had a 2.6 average running position, had the 2nd best Driver Rating, led 83 laps and then finished 6th overall. In terms of speed stats, Blaney ranked 2nd for Total Speed Rankings and then 3rd for Speed Late In A Run. In 2022, Blaney was impressive and finished 4th despite his race not being incident free. In the race, Blaney started 5th, led 12 laps, finished 2nd in Stage #1 but then on lap 95 while running in 3rd, Blaney had a flat tire and spun which brought out the caution. When Stage #2 ended, Blaney finished 10th. Then over the final Stage, Blaney drove hard to notch his 4th place finish. Additionally, Blaney had a 6.8 average running position and ranked 2nd for Total Speed Rankings, Green Flag Speed and Speed Late In A Run.

Denny Hamlin
Gateway Fantasy Outlook – Denny Hamlin should be on your short list of favorites at Gateway. Hamlin’s one of the premiere performers at shorter-flat tracks and over the last two races held at this mid-west track, he’s 2 for 2 at finishing 2nd, has a 3.5 average speed ranking, the best Driver Rating and the 2nd best average running position (6.8). This year at shorter-flat tracks, Hamlin finished 2nd at Phoenix which I view to have the most correlation and over the combined races, he ranks 7th in terms of Track Type Total Speed Rankings.
Gateway Track History – Denny Hamlin has performed at a high-level at Gateway and over the last two races he’s flirted with victory lane and has a pair of 2nd place finishes. Last year, Hamlin had a strong showing. In the race, Hamlin started 6th, finished 5th in Stage #1, finished 10th in Stage #2, earned the 3rd best Driver Rating, had the 5th best average running position (10.6) and then finished 2nd when the checkered flag waved. In terms of speed stats, Hamlin had the 4th best Total Speed Ranking and ranked 5th for Speed Late In A Run. In 2023, Hamlin finished 3rd in Stage #1, finished 3rd in Stage #2, had a 3.0 average running position, earned the 3rd best Driver Rating and then finished 2nd when the checkered flag waved. In terms of speed stats, Hamlin ranked 2nd for Speed Late In A run and then 3rd for Total Speed Rankings. In 2022, Hamlin was a top five contender, but he was “Chastain’ed” which led to his 34th. In the race, Hamlin finished 4th in Stage #1 but then early in Stage #2 on lap 65 while he was battling Chastain for 5th, they had contact and that led to Hamlin getting into the wall hard which dropped him three laps down. Over the first quarter of the race prior to his problem, the #11 was the 4th fastest car on the track.

Christopher Bell
Gateway Fantasy Outlook – Christopher Bell is a super-elite shorter-flat track performer who’ll be tough to beat at Gateway. Bell was the class of the field last summer; he’s been strong over all three races at this mid-west track and he’s frequently the driver to beat at shorter-flat tracks. This year at shorter-flat tracks, Bell put on a display of domination to start the year at Phoenix en route to victory lane but over the other two, he just wasn’t great. In terms of Total Speed Rankings over the combined races, he still ranks 3rd. When you go back to 2024 on this sub-track type to have a larger sample size, Bell ranks 1st. To highlight Phoenix more since I view it to have the most correlation, Bell had the best Total Speed Ranking, a 2.6 average running position, led 105 laps and earned the best Driver Rating by a huge margin. On Sunday, look for the #20 to be in Playoff form and for Bell to be a top five contender who’ll be a factor to win.
Gateway Track History – At Gateway, Christopher Bell has been elite and over the combined races, Bell has the 4th best average finish (9.0), the 4th best Next Gen Speed Ranking and the 5th best Driver Rating. In terms of the results column, Bell is 3 for 3 at finishing between 7th to 11th. Last year, Bell was the class of the field but finished an asterisk mark 7th. In the race, Bell started 4th, won Stage #1, won Stage #2, led the most laps (80), earned the best Driver Rating, had the best average running position (4.3), drove from about the mid-teens to the lead in the last Stage but once he got up to the front, the #20 engine started to fail, so finishing 7th with that issue is pretty remarkable. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Bell ranked 2nd with his speed over the segments being 1st, 1st, 3rd and then 17th. In 2023, Bell finished 11th even though his race wasn’t incident free. On lap 204 while running in 11th, Bell was spun in what was ultimately a harmless spin, but it dropped him back and forced him to rally hard at the end. In terms of speed stats, Bell ranked 11th for Speed Late In A Run and 16th in terms of Total Speed Rankings. In 2022, Bell had a strong showing. In the race, Bell started 3rd, finished 10th in Stage #1, finished 6th in Stage #2, had an 8.9 average running position and then finished 9th overall. In terms of speed stats, Bell had the 7th best Total Speed Ranking and ranked 3rd for speed late in a run.

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