The NASCAR Cup Series will head to Gateway for the third running of the Enjoy Illinois 300.
Only two past champions, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch, have won a Cup Series race at Gateway.
DraftKings doesn’t have either driver listed as a pre-race favorite to win.
Instead, Denny Hamlin (+550), Kyle Larson (+600) and Ryan Blaney (+850) are at the top of the list.
As the NASCAR circuit visits the St. Louis area for the Enjoy Illinois 300, here are my four favorite bets.
Christopher Bell finishes in the top five (+130, bet365)
Bell’s season has been full of ups and downs, finishing sixth or better in four of his first seven races before finishing 13th or worse in five of his next six races.
Last week at the Coca-Cola 600, he came out of nowhere to win, leading a race-high 90 laps.
I don’t expect Bell to be the first player to win back-to-back championships this season, but he should be a top contender at Gateway.
He didn’t do so well at the track (9th and 11th place finishes), but had good results at Phoenix and Richmond this season, which are the closest comparisons to Gateway.
A Charlotte win should give Bell some much-needed momentum this week.
Noah Gragson finishes in the top 10 (+290, bet365)
The crash ended Gragson’s Coca-Cola 600 race, but that shouldn’t be taken lightly of his recent speed, which has seen him record three consecutive top-10 finishes.
Gragson had low expectations heading into the 2024 season, but he showed speed.
His five top 10 finishes are tied with current playoff drivers Ross Chastain, Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace.
Gragson finished 12th at Phoenix and Richmond, and his speed rating indicated he had the seventh-fastest car at Phoenix.
The odds make it unlikely he’ll win, but I don’t think it will take long for Gragson to finish in the top 10 on Sunday.
Denny Hamlin beat Kyle Larson (-110, ESPN BET)
Two of NASCAR’s best drivers will go head-to-head on Sunday as the two favorites to win.
Hamlin has excelled on short, flat tracks, showing the fastest speed rankings across those tracks since 2023.
He’s not bad on that type of track, but he’s far from his best.
The overall speed rankings show that Larson finished outside the top ten in both of the Gateway races.
He struggled again this season at Phoenix, finishing 14th.
Hamlin was runner-up at Gateway last season and will be looking to outdo Larson and do well again this year.
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Winning manufacturer: Toyota (+140, ESPN BET)
I’m not confident enough to pick one race winner, but I love the entire Toyota team.
For me, it all comes down to their speed in Phoenix.
Toyota put in a historically dominant performance at this year’s Phoenix race.
The three combined to lead 298 of 312 laps. Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs, Martin Truex Jr. and Bell led between 50 and 68 laps.
Bell won at Phoenix, then Hamlin won at Richmond, despite a dominating performance from Truex.
Clearly, Toyotas are winning on short, flat tracks, so keep an eye out for all Toyota drivers at Gateway.
