Daily Fantasy DraftKings NASCAR Forecast: 2024 Chicago Street Race

For the second time in as many seasons, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to Chicago for an event unlike any on the schedule.

The Chicago Street Race is a true spectacle to behold and promises to be yet again. Last season, Shane Van Gisbergen won in his very first NASCAR start, making bettors familiar with the Australian Supercars champion plenty of cash.

It remains to be seen as to whether SVG can pull off a repeat this weekend, but its important to keep your eye on some of the full-time Cup drivers as well. When selecting a lineup and filling out your bet slips, bet on guys who have done well on road courses in the past.

Road courses racing remains kind of a niche skill for some drivers in the series, but there’s enough available to you to make sure your rosters and slips are solid.

Coverage of the 2024 Chicago Street Race begins at Sunday (July 7) at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

Let’s recap last week’s hits and misses. There were more misses than hits to be sure. My picks and slips looked pretty good up until the need for multiple overtime periods, but that’s the nature of the beast sometimes.

RIGHT ON THE MONEY	LICK YOUR WOUNDS
Ryan Preece (Finished 4th, 58 points scored)	Ross Chastain (finished 33rd, 11 points scored)
Kyle Larson (finished 8th, 39 points scored)	Chase Elliott (finished 18th, 20 points scored)
	Josh Berry +320 to win his group

Yeah, it was pretty bad. I looked like genius when Corey Heim was flirting with a top-ten finish for a time though. I guess that’s something! But almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, as they say.

Here’s a quick rules breakdown:

Points will be awarded in their games for finishing position, position differential, fastest laps and laps led. The driver who wins the race scores 45 fantasy points, while second gets 42 points, third gets 41 points and so on, at least through the top 10. The 11th-place finisher scores 32 points, 21st gets 21 points and 31st gets 10 points.

However many spots they lose or gain on the track are added to or subtracted from their score. Then, if the driver leads a lap, they will earn 0.25 points for each lap led and 0.45 points for each fastest lap.

Fantasy Forecast

1. Shane Van Gisbergen ($10,000)

Stats that matter: Defending Chicago Street Race Winner; Two Xfinity Series wins in 2024 (both on road courses)

Could it be anybody else?

SVG took the racing world by storm this time last year by getting his first career win here. He’s continued that momentum by winning at Sonoma Raceway and Portland in the Xfinity Series earlier this year.

Let’s not forget that he also dominated Supercars on street courses. He’s won a staggering 28 times on tracks of this type in that series.

2. Tyler Reddick ($9,800)

Stats that matter: Three career Cup Series wins on road courses; Led eight laps here last season; Finished third last week at Nashville

Reddick might have been sorely disappointed last week, but I think that third-place run was a sign of good things on the horizon for him and his team.

He comes into Chicago with a stellar record on road courses in the Cup Series, and he even led laps here last season, despite a 28th place finish.

I don’t know if he can beat SVG this weekend, but I certainly think he’ll be in the mix Sunday.

3. Chase Elliott ($9,600)

Stats that matter: Seven career Cup Series wins on road courses; Finished third in this race last season

The 2020 Cup champion has finished 18th two weeks in a row now, but we’re back at a road course and you know what that means.

It’s hard to bet against the guy with the most wins on this track type currently in the series. As is well documented though, Elliott hasn’t won on a road course since 2021.

He was able to drag a backup No. 9 to third place in this race last season, so if he can keep the primary car clean, it stands to reason that he’ll be on the podium once again this year.

4. Chase Briscoe ($7,200)

Stats that matter: Two career road course wins in the Xfinity Series; Finished 20th in this race last season

In his final season at SHR, Briscoe is showing that he can win races week after week.

He finished second at New Hampshire and may well have won at Nashville if not for Joey Logano‘s insane fuel mileage. Now, he absolutely wasn’t great here last season.

He’s also had a very tough time on this track type in the Cup Series. He does have two road course wins in the Xfinity Series, so he can get it done. I’m a big believer in momentum, and Briscoe certainly has it.

5. Justin Haley ($6,700)

Stats that matter: Finished second in this race last season; Three career top-10 finishes on road courses in the Cup Series; Two top-15 finishes in his last three races

Possibly the biggest surprise of the season, Haley is proving that RWR’s No. 51 Ford Mustang can hang with any team in the field.

He returns to the site of his last top-five finish this weekend as well. The timing couldn’t be better for him to continue to breakthrough. His salary is also criminally cheap this week, and he’s worth the risk.

I do not think this team is quite ready to win yet, but they’re inching closer and closer towards being a regular mid-pack team.

6. Zane Smith ($6,400)

Stats that matter: Finished second at Nashville (best career Cup Series finish); Two career Craftsman Truck Series wins on road courses

Who saw that coming?

After having a subpar debut campaign in 2024, Smith notched a runner-up finish last week. Sure, there was some fuel strategy at play. Sure, it might never be better this season than it was last week for the rookie.

However, as I said early on, I’m big on momentum. He’s proven his talent on this track type before in the Truck Series, and who knows? Maybe I’m putting too much stock in a random runner-up finish, but it could really pay off.

Prop Bets and Locks

1. AJ Allmendinger (+1400) to win: 11 career road course wins across NASCAR’s three top series. To say that “The Dinger” should be a favorite is an understatement. The odds-makers could be delivering a huge pay day on a silver platter should you take the chance on him this week.
2. Ty Gibbs (+120) vs. Tyler Reddick (-165): What an interesting little matchup this is. They’ve both had a pretty up and down season and Reddick has a win this season. However, Gibbs has proven himself adept at road course racing in the past. It’s conceivable that he could beat the other Monster Energy Toyota this week.
3. Denny Hamlin (+1000) to be top finishing Toyota: People forget that Hamlin won the pole for this race last season. Looking at that +1000 line, I can’t believe its attached to him. I do not see him winning this race, but I do think he can absolutely beat his Toyota teammates to the finish line.

Well, that’s all for this week. Again, this race is a spectacle. No matter how you feel about it, it’s important to enjoy it and appreciate how far this sport has come. I for one, will be.

Good luck and happy betting!