Stock car racing’s premiere series makes its way to the Windy City of Chicago. Make the most of the 2024 Grant Park 165 with our NASCAR DFS picks and tiers.
We reveal our “Tire Tiers” and betting cards live every Thursday at 8:30 p.m. EST on our YouTube series, “The Backroad.” Be sure to tune in, enjoy the race and reach out if you have any questions.
(DFS prices are courtesy of DraftKings and Fantrax)
NASCAR DFS Picks, Tiers & Rankings: 2024 Grant Park 165
Driver As | The Elites
This week, we head to a street course, which could be classified as a road course. In Tier-A, we see three drivers as the clear best. Shane van Gisbergen (SVG) is your 2023 winner and continues to be one of the top drivers on road courses. In last year’s race, he was the fastest in green flag speed and had consistent top-three speed among all four segments. In his lone cup race in 2024, SVG would finish 20th even after overcoming a speeding penalty and losing first gear.
The other two drivers who were equally fast as SVG were Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick. Bell arguably had the fastest car in the field but could not make his way up the field as he restarted for the final stage in 14th and would make his way up to 11th before overshooting turn one and spinning out. He would spend the rest of the race recovering to 18th, but before that, he had top-two speed and ended the race as the sixth-fastest car. Reddick had the third-fastest car just by eye and the fourth-fastest on paper.
Reddick, with 18 laps to go, would also overshoot turn one while running fourth and could only recover for a 28th-place finish. Both drivers are top five in speed and finishing position at the two road courses we have run this year. You’re paying up for them, but for good reason.
Driver Bs | Point-Getters
These are other drivers who could factor into your NASCAR DFS lineup. Outside of the two expensive drivers in Chase Eliott and Kyle Larson, most of these competitors are within the $8-9K range. Michael Mcdowell is someone who I never count out on road courses. His lone win last year came on the Indianapolis Road Course, and he was the second-fastest car at Sonoma this year. That’s great value for someone who is only $8,600 on DraftKings and $15.33 on Fantrax.
Ty Gibbs and A.J. Allmendinger will also join Larson and SVG in the Xfinity Series race, and both have shown speed on road courses this year, with Allmendinger finishing in sixth place in both races. Gibbs finished third at Cota and 37th at Sonoma. Gibbs is more approachable on DraftKings for $600 less than “Dinger,” but the Kaulig Racing driver is a must-play on Fanrax at just $7.28.
Driver Cs | In the Mix
The C-Tier of this week’s NASCAR DFS rankings has a mix of elite drivers and other weaker road course drivers. Of those elite drivers, Martin Truex Jr. is my favorite. Truex Jr. was a top-10 contender last year at Chicago until the final stage, where he spun twice and could not recover. The New Jersey native this year on road courses would have two T10s if he had not run out of gas at Sonoma. In both races, he was top 10 in the total speed rankings, courtesy of ifantasyrace.com, and long-run speed.
Justin Haley was an incredible sleeper play last year and showed tremendous speed in the Kaulig Racing car. He is in a Rick Ware Racing (RWR) car this year, which could be better equipment than last year’s. In 2024, he hasn’t shown a ton of speed at the road courses, but at his price tag of $6,700 on DraftKings and $12.52 on Fantrax, he is affordable to get to.
Kyle Busch is in this category because if there’s one track type I could consider him at right now, it’s road courses. “Rowdy” has been an excellent road racer since moving to Richard Childress Racing (RCR). He has the eighth-best total speed ranking on road courses since 2023. This year on road courses, Busch has spun at both but has gone on to finish in the top 12. In his career before RCR, the 39-year-old was hit or miss at road courses, but if there is a weekend they could turn it around, it could be here at the Chicago Street Course.
Driver Ds | Could Do Worse
Daniel Suarez ran great last year until the final stage when he would get into the wall and cut a tire down to finish 27th. In 2024, he hasn’t shown much either with sub-par top-20 speeds, but he is running the Xfinity Series race, which could gain him valuable experience for the Sup Series race.
Joey Logano is also someone who could be hit or miss on road courses. At Circuit of the Americas (COTA), he would start 35th and race to an 11th-place finish. At Sonoma, he won the polepole and would lead the first few laps. However, he would try some strategy before getting caught up in a wreck with some major damage. From that point on his car was not very fast and could only recover to a 21st-place finish. Logano is also running the Xfinity Series race and could build upon his momentum from last week’s win at Nashville to return value to your NASCAR DFS lineup.
Bubba Wallace is here because of his price tag ($6,200 on DraftKings and $19.62 on Fantrax), given his ride is a 23XI car. The North Carolina native’s performances at road courses may not be something to write home about, but he has finished inside the top 20 in six of the eight road courses since 2023. With a cheap price tag, if you need to save some salary and get a driver who has a high chance of finishing in the top 20, Wallace could be your man.
Driver Fs | The Junk Drawer
You’ll need dart throws if you’re trying to fit several A-Tier drivers in your NASCAR DFS lineups like I am this week. I am inclined to give Joey Hand a look. While his price tag is high, Hand is a pretty decent driver on the road courses. His best finish was 20th at Sonoma in 2022. However, he was not too hot in the rest of the races. Those races were in an RWR car; this time, he is in a better Roudh Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing car.
The cheapest drivers I like in this tier would be Ryan Preece and John Hunter Nemechek. With Preece, he seems to finish better than where he has qualified (supplying valuable differential points) and his price tag is affordable to fit into lineups. Nemechek is another driver running the Xfinity Series race; that experience could transfer to the Cup Series race. In his two road course races, he has run better than where he has qualified, but not by much. At 5,500 on DraftKings, he’s the cheapest driver on that platform I feel comfortable rostering.
Check out all of our content for the 2024 Grant Park 165:
- PropKings: 2024 Grant Park 165
- Between Bets: 2024 Grant Park 165 Outrights
- NASCAR DFS Picks, Tiers & Rankings: 2024 Grant Park 165
Thanks for reading our NASCAR DFS picks and tiers for the 2024 Grant Park 165. Check out more of our racing content and other written work here at In-Between Media, or head over to our YouTube channel to get your fix via video.
For more fantasy NASCAR content, find me on Twitter @NASINF1Fantasy.
*Photo Credit: Mike Dinovo – USA TODAY Sports*
