NASCAR DFS Picks – Enjoy Illinois 300 Projections, Lineup & Strategy

• DraftKings is offering $100,000 to first place on a $20 entry for the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway
• Two Team Penske drivers headline the build, with William Byron supplying double-digit place-differential potential from 24th
• Below, see our NASCAR DFS picks, projections, lineup, and strategy for the Enjoy Illinois 300

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World Wide Technology Raceway is basically two different racetracks connected by straightaways. Turns 1 and 2 are tight. Turns 3 and 4 are wider and faster. The brakes spend 240 laps wondering what they did to deserve this.

Those 240 laps also create enough dominator points that we want two potential lap leaders. Joey Logano should control the race early from the pole, while Ryan Blaney has the long-run speed to take over later.

We will pair the Penske drivers with William Byron’s place-differential ceiling and three cheaper options that make the salaries cooperate.

Enjoy Illinois 300 Expert DFS Lineup and Projections

DraftKings salaries as of race week. Build your Enjoy Illinois 300 NASCAR DFS lineup at the best DFS apps before the green flag drops at Gateway.

Enjoy Illinois 300 DFS Strategy

Ryan Blaney ($10,700) | Starting Position: 3rd

Blaney starts third and ranks first in our model.

The No. 12 Ford posted the best SpeedwaySteve2 practice metric in the field. That speed is backed by his history across the 16 comparable races in our sample.

Blaney has produced a 6.49 average running position while spending 93.6% of his laps inside the top 15. He has averaged 33.88 fastest laps and 58.38 laps led per race.

Those are the numbers of a driver who can ruin everyone’s afternoon while quietly making ours much better.

Blaney finished fourth at Gateway last season and is projected to finish third Sunday. Kyle Larson starts between the Penske teammates, but Blaney displayed enough sustained speed in practice to become the primary dominator as the race develops.

The Chase races through the Midwest!

Watch all the action at @WWTRaceway, live on @NASCARonUSA. pic.twitter.com/ggtC1mRKrs

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 8, 2026

Joey Logano ($10,200) | Starting Position: 1st

Logano was the only driver to break the 33-second barrier in qualifying. He won the pole by 0.276 seconds over Larson, which is approximately six years at a track this short.

The speed did not appear out of nowhere. Logano ranked third in our practice metric and has averaged 46.56 laps led across the 16 comparable races.

He also owns four top-five finishes in four Gateway starts, including a victory in the inaugural Cup race in 2022.

Our model projects Logano to finish approximately seventh, so there is obvious place-differential risk from the pole. His early dominator potential makes that risk acceptable.

Logano gets clean air, the best pit stall and the first opportunity to lead. If he controls the opening stage and collects fastest laps, he can build a large portion of his score before Blaney arrives to ask whether he is finished borrowing the lead.

William Byron ($9,000) | Starting Position: 24th

Byron starts 24th and supplies most of the lineup’s place-differential upside.

The No. 24 Chevrolet ranked only 19th in our practice metric, but Byron’s comparable-track history is much stronger. He has a 9.48 average running position across the 16-race sample and has spent 83% of his laps inside the top 15.

He also averages 16.06 fastest laps, 38.38 laps led and 40.75 quality passes per race.

Our model projects Byron to finish approximately 12th. Reaching that number would produce 12 place-differential points before we add his finishing-position score. That single-driver finishing range is also the kind of number you can play on a pick’em app if you grab the latest PrizePicks promo code.

Byron finished 11th at Gateway last season. Another afternoon near that result would make him an easy value at $9,000.

St. Louis starting positions are locked. 🔒

Presented by @mobil1racing. pic.twitter.com/pTnDVXp2M7

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 12, 2026

NASCAR DFS Picks: Value Plays

Carson Hocevar ($7,400) | Starting Position: 6th

Hocevar is where the lineup gets a little spicy.

He starts sixth, while our model projects him to finish approximately 16th. That creates plenty of negative place-differential risk.

The current speed tells a more encouraging story. Hocevar ranked fourth in our practice metric and backed it up by qualifying sixth. The No. 77 Chevrolet looked strong across both short and extended runs.

His comparable-track numbers are not nearly as attractive. Hocevar has a 17.91 average running position and has spent only 46.6% of his laps inside the top 15 across the sample.

We are siding with what we saw Saturday. A top-10 finish would make Hocevar useful at $7,400, while a few fastest laps or stage points would push him toward the ceiling we are chasing.

It is uncomfortable. That is usually where tournament lineups begin getting interesting.

Ross Chastain ($7,100) | Starting Position: 20th

Chastain starts 20th and is projected to finish in nearly the same position.

He ranked 16th in our practice metric and has a 16.71 average running position across the comparable races. Chastain has also averaged 33.19 quality passes, which gives him a reasonable chance to work forward from the middle of the field.

The No. 1 team struggled at Gateway last season, finishing 24th after starting fourth. Beginning 20th this time gives us considerably less room to fall.

A move into the top 15 would provide enough place differential to pay off the salary. Chastain also gives us stronger equipment than most of the drivers available in this price range.

Sometimes the exciting DFS pick is the driver who starts 20th and finishes 14th without setting anything on fire.

Todd Gilliland ($5,300) | Starting Position: 34th

Gilliland starts 34th and allows the rest of the lineup to exist.

Our model projects him to finish approximately 29th, but his practice speed suggests there may be more available. Gilliland ranked ninth in the SpeedwaySteve2 practice metric before producing a qualifying lap that went roughly as well as a screen door on a submarine.

The comparable-track results remain ugly. Gilliland has a 22.28 average running position, has spent only 23.6% of his laps inside the top 15 and has not led a lap across the 16-race sample.

Fortunately, we are not paying him to lead.

A clean race and a finish in the high 20s would create useful value at $5,300. If the practice speed translates and Gilliland reaches the low 20s, he could become one of the most important salary-saving drivers on the slate.

Starting 34th creates the floor. Saturday’s long-run speed gives us a path to something better.

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