Tales of the Turtles 400
Chicagoland Speedway
The final race of the regular season was full of just as much tension as one would think it would be. Would a new winner re-rack the field for the playoffs or would the drivers trying to get in on points have good enough runs to hold their spots? In the end the same cars as the rest of the season, ran up front most of the night and ultimately it came down to a late-race restart. Controversy abounded midway through the race as a misplaced ambulance, in the entrance of pit road, caused significant damage to Matt Kenseth’s radiator and nose and forced him out of the race at lap 255. He now needed a new winner not to be crowned if he hoped to hold his spot. Derrick Cope brushing the wall on lap 397 brought out a critical caution that allowed the leaders to come down pit road one more time. Kyle Larson beat Martin Truex Jr. off pit road and got the jump on the restart. Ultimately a mistake by Denny Hamlin ended up putting the 78-car into the Turn 1 wall and ending his night, and the race under a yellow/checkered finish, handing the win to Larson.
With the 16-driver field set for the Chas, the playoffs get underway this Sunday with the Tales of the Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. Nestled in the suburbs of Chicago, the speedway plays host just one race a year, and it has been the opening race of the Chase for the last several years. One of the newest tracks on the NASCAR schedule, it opened in 2001 as a fairly standard 1.5-mile Tri-Oval track. The turns are banked at 18 degrees and the front stretch is at 11. As a fairly standard 1.5-mile track, it generally leads to one car leading a bulk of the laps while several others split the remainders, making a laps led dominator imperative in a lineup. That being said Chicagoland also has one of the lowest eventual winner percentages of any track on the schedule at 63% starting in the top-five. Of the nearly 4,300 laps run at Chicagoland, 3,739, or 87%, have been run under green, averaging seven cautions a race, in the pre-stage era.
Again as stated in the track breakdown, just because it is the Chase doesn’t mean that the other drivers on the track can’t be used. Anyone can still win and anyone can still rack up big fantasy points any given race.
DFS PLAYBOOK
| Driver | Draft Kings | NASCAR Live | Description |
| Martin Truex Jr. | $10,700 | $27.75 | Truex Jr. has a win and 71 laps led in the last two at Chicago and has good speed again. He dominates at 1.5-mile tracks with six wins, 22 top-10s and 1,941 laps led in the last three seasons. |
| Kyle Busch | $10,600 | $28.00 | Busch has shown the fastest car, by far, this week in practice and qualifying. He has the most laps led here in the last two and is third in the last 12. He has a win and seven top-10s totlal here. |
| Kevin Harvick | $10,100 | $27.50 | Harvick has the most wins, top-fives, second most top-10s and most top-20s in the field, career-wise. He has very good speed this week, but has a shaky last couple of races here. GPP only. |
| Chase Elliott | $9,900 | $25.50 | Elliott has just one race in MENCS at Chicago but he ran third in that race and led 75 laps. Two P14 finishes is all he has in Xfinity here as well. A short, solid history, leaves him as a GPP play |
| Denny Hamlin | $9,700 | $27.75 | Denny has a win and two top-10s in the last two races here, along with the fourth highest rating and the best average finish. The only downside is the lack of laps led. Cash or GPP works |
| Brad Keselowski | $9,400 | $26.00 | Keselowski has been great at Chicago. Two top-10s in the last two races and two wins, four top-fives, and six top-10s in eight career races. A fast car and some animosity adds to his value |
| Jimmie Johnson | $9,100 | $23.50 | JJ has run P11 and P12 in the last two plus he's second in laps led with 118 in the last two and has the most in the last 15 with nearly 700. As dominant as MTJ at 1.5 mile tracks, either works |
| Ryan Blaney | $8,700 | $17.00 | Blaney is flashing his speed once more in practice running in the top-10 all week. He drove up through the field from 22nd to 4th a year ago here and could do the same from P13 Sunday |
| Erik Jones | $8,400 | $24.00 | Jones maybe a rookie in an MENCS at Chicago but has two wins in two races and 104 laps led in his Xfinity career here. He ran between P12-14 in practice and starts P24 on Sunday. Cash play |
| Kurt Busch | $8,100 | $20.50 | Kurt finished the year on a hot streak and now comes a track he has nine top-10s in 16 races. He will start P17 after running P10 and P8 in practice and has a top-five here over the last two |
| Daniel Suarez | $7,800 | $23.00 | Suarez is also a rookie in MENCS here but has three top-10s in three Xfinity races. He has shown top-five speed in practice and starts P13 in the race. Suarez is a very good mid-tier value |
| Ryan Newman | $7,500 | $23.25 | Newman has a top-five in the last two races here but has four in his career. He also has a win and nine top-10s in 15 starts at Chicago while also showing good speed at practice. Either works |
| Austin Dillon | $7,300 | $21.50 | Dillon has been a spotty driver this season, as he is at this distance. But he has shown top-10 speed this week and does have a top-10 finish here in the past two years. A mid-tier GPP play |
| Aric Almirola | $6,000 | $11.75 | Almirola ran P6 in the final practice and has a top-10 in the last two races here. While he isn't someone who is always running there, he offers big upside value at this price point this week |
| Michael McDowell | $5,800 | $10.25 | McDowell ran consistently at practice and starts worse than where he ran in the practice sessions. That's a recipe for a good PD day from a budget-friendly play. That's what he is this week |
OPTIMAL LINEUPS
| Draft Kings Cash | |
| Kyle Busch | $10,600 |
| Ryan Blaney | $8,700 |
| Erik Jones | $8,400 |
| Kurt Busch | $8,100 |
| Ryan Newman | $7,500 |
| Michael McDowell | $5,800 |
| Total | $49,100 |
The second-most expensive driver in the field in, Kyle Busch anchors the cash lineup this week. He has by far the fastest car in the field at practice and qualifying in addition to having led the most laps in the last two races. Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones, and Kurt Busch follow up Kyle in the six-driver squad. Blaney and Jones have only one MENCS start here between them but the start from Blaney was a great run up to P4 and has a top-five in Xfinity. Jones had two wins and led 104 laps in two Xfinity races and great speed this week. Busch has nine top-10s in 16 career races at Chicagoland as well as running P8 and P10 in practice. Ryan Newman is potentially the sleeper of the group but has a sparkling record at the track and ran in the top-10 in practice. Michael McDowell is my favorite budget-friendly pick this week given his practice speeds this week and his qualifying spot.
*PIVOT: Brad Keselowski in for Ryan Blaney. Keselowski has two wins, four top-fives and six top-10s in eight races here, aside from running top-five in practices. You can also put in Martin Truex Jr. for Kyle Busch in addition to Keselowski for Blaney.
| Draft Kings GPP | |
| Martin Truex Jr. | $10,700 |
| Denny Hamlin | $9,700 |
| Brad Keselowski | $9,400 |
| Daniel Suarez | $7,800 |
| Aric Almirola | $6,000 |
| Michael McDowell | $5,800 |
| Total | $49,400 |
The first GPP lineup starts with the top driver all year, Martin Truex Jr. MTJ, as his Crew Chief refers to him, has another fast Toyota and is the defending champ. He is the dominant driver at this distance with six wins and 1,941 laps led in the last 31 races at 1.5-mile tracks. Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, and Daniel Suarez are next up in the grouping of six for different reasons. Hamlin has been fast the last several weeks and is starting P2 on Sunday. He has won and finished P6 in the last two races but hasn’t led many laps, hence the GPP placement. Keselowski can be used in GPP as well as cash for the same reasons. Suarez hasn’t run at Chicagoland in an MENCS car but has three top-10s in three races in Xfinity, he does have a fast car and starts P13. Aric Almirola and Michael McDowell are the two budget-plays in this roster as Almirola has a top-10 here and a P6 in the final practice and McDowell has looked good in practice but hasn’t finished well in the past.
| Draft Kings GPP #2 | |
| Kyle Busch | $10,600 |
| Kevin Harvick | $10,100 |
| Chase Elliott | $9,900 |
| Ryan Newman | $7,500 |
| Aric Almirola | $6,000 |
| Michael McDowell | $5,800 |
| Total | $49,900 |
The second GPP lineup starts the same way the cash lineup does with Kyle Busch. Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott follow as the top-tier options. Harvick is arguably the best in the field this week given his history at the track and has shown well in practice but has a troubling last two races at Chicagoland. Ryan Newman, Aric Almirola, and Michael McDowell finish off the roster for the same reasons they were played in above lineups.
| NASCAR Live | |
| Kyle Busch | $28.00 |
| Martin Truex Jr. | $27.75 |
| Austin Dillon | $21.50 |
| Ryan Blaney | $17.00 |
| Landon Cassill | $5.25 |
| Bonus Winner | Kyle Busch |
| Bonus Manufacturer | Toyota |
| Total | $99.50 |
| Streak To The Finish | Kevin Harvick |