Chicagoland eero 400 Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks

Denny Hamlin
Chicagoland Fantasy Outlook – At Chicagoland in the eero 400, the road to victory lane likely goes thru Denny Hamlin. Hamlin’s been the premiere performer at high-speed intermediate tracks in 2026, he’s an elite driver at high-tire wear tracks and on top of that, he’s also a former Chicagoland winner. There’s nothing to not like about him. This year at high-speed 1.5’s plus Darlington, which is a grouping I like for correlation, Hamlin’s been a contender to win 4 of the 5 races, has 1-win, a series best 4.2 average finish and has the best Speed Ranking (2.8). At high-tire wear tracks going back to 2024 (Homestead and Darlington), Hamlin has a series best 5.4 average finish and ranks 3rd in terms of Track Type Total Speed Rankings. At Chicagoland, Hamlin raced his way to victory lane in 2015 and over the last six races, he’s 5 for 6 at finishing in the top 7 and has a 6.5 average finish. Earlier this year, Hamlin took part in testing at Chicagoland, so he’ll have an edge on the competition.

Kyle Larson
Chicagoland Fantasy Outlook – Put Kyle Larson on your short list of favorites to win at Chicagoland. Larson has thrived at high tire-wear tracks (Homestead and Darlington), and he’s already had success at Chicagoland, having back-to-back runner ups (2019 and 2018) and a 6.2 average finish over his six starts. This year at high speed 1.5’s + Darlington, Larson has a 6.0 average finish minus Texas. At Kansas which I view to be the singular best comp track, Larson finished 2nd and ranked 3rd for Total Speed Rankings. At high-wear intermediates going back to 2024, Larson ranks 5th for Speed.  Also take note, Larson took part in testing at Chicagoland earlier this year, so he’ll have an edge heading into the weekend.

Tyler Reddick
Chicagoland Fantasy Outlook – Tyler Reddick will be tough to beat at Chicagoland. The #45 is fast, week in and week out and I think the odds he’ll disappoint are extremely low. This year at high-speed 1.5’s + Darlington, Reddick has 2-wins, ranks 2nd for average finish (4.6) and ranks 2nd for Speed. I’ll also note, those two wins have come at Kansas and Darlington, and that’s a great duo of tracks that have correlation to Chicagoland. At high-wear tracks going back to 2024, Reddick has the best Speed Ranking and the 2nd best average finish (8.3). At Chicagoland, Reddick has never made a Cup start. In the O’Reilly Series, Reddick has two starts at Chicagoland and in 2019 he finished 9th.

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