Micah Roberts" Top-10 Finish Prediction: 2023 Enjoy Illinois 300

1 #45 Tyler Reddick (15/1) - You can see the progression forward this season by the Hamlin-Jordan team. They’re rising just like the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas, competing for wins, and have become a major player in recent races. Last season the No. 45 driven by Kurt Busch finished third at Gateway and Reddick turned that success into a third place at Phoenix. He won the COTA race at Austin, was runner-up in the Bristol Dirt Race, and was fifth last week at Charlotte after leading 28 laps. I bet him to win.

2 #5 Kyle Larson (9/2) - He probably should be closer to 3-to-1 odds here because he’s done nothing but dominate the short-track scene this season. How did he do at Richmond? He won after leading 93 laps. How’d he do at Martinsville? He won after leading 30 laps. How’d he do in the All-Star race at North Wilkesboro? He won after leading a race-high 145 laps. And then finally to finish off the similar track comparison, how’d he do at Phoenix back in March? He settled for fourth after leading a race-high 201 laps. I’ll have a piece of him this week.

3 #20 Christopher Bell (11/1) - He’s a 2016 Truck Series race winner at Gateway and the closest comparison to Gateway might be the 1-mile flat layout at New Hampshire which Bell happened to win at last season. He was fourth at Richmond in April after leading 26 laps and was sixth at Phoenix in March. He’s been given higher odds this week at the track he’s most suited to win at for some reason.

4 #11 Denny Hamlin (10/1) - You know how you know that Hamlin is running well despite just one win on the season? He’s led laps in his last six starts on all types of tracks. He’s showing speed in every race lately and I can see him running well like he does at Richmond where he led 71 laps. I could see him stealing this one.

5 #23 Bubba Wallace (30/1) - This is my biggest payout of the week. He’s rising with three straight top-fives, and one of them isn’t his runner-up at the non-points All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro. His team has everything dialed in and I still have no idea what Wallace said to have mild-mannered Aric Almirola shove him during a red flag last week. Bubba brings that on to himself, but I think he believes in his cockiness and attitude to give him confidence. He also won a 2014 Truck Series race at Gateway.

6 #22 Joey Logano (10/1) - He led 22 laps at Gateway last season and notched the first Cup win ever there. Another good example of why he might do well is that he was runner-up at Martinsville after leading 25 laps. He was also seventh at Richmond. This is a good track for him, but I didn’t bet him. I have to get at least 14-to-1 on him to fire.

7 #1 Ross Chastain (13/1) - He doesn’t have any wins yet in 2023 but he’s racing hard on all types of tracks and is near a win. He was seventh last season at Gateway despite getting minds games played on him by Hamlin who had a big part of having a bad race. He was third at Richmond to begin April. He also won a 2019 Truck Series race at Gateway. I have a piece of him to win this week.

8 #19 Martin Truex Jr. (8/1) - He won from the pole in a 2004 Xfinity Series race at Gateway but the reason you might bet him this week is because his JGR Toyota has been fast for the last two months and gotten better with each race. He won at Dover to kick off May, finished third at Martinsville two weeks earlier, and finished 11th at Richmond after leading 56 laps. He’ll contend for the win, but I need higher odds than Caesars offers to bet.

9 #14 Chase Briscoe (30/1) - The team has been issued an LS-level penalty for counterfeiting a NextGen part. The penalty comes with a loss of 120 drivers and owners points, 25 NASCAR Playoff points, a six-race crew chief suspension, and a $250,000 fine. It’s kind of a big deal. The question is how long they’ve been using this part and did more SHR Fords use the part. They were all really good at Martinsville. Briscoe was fourth at North Wilkesboro and fifth at Martinsville.

10 #8 Kyle Busch (10/1) - He was runner-up at Gateway last season, but that was in the JGR No. 18 Toyota. He now has to use RCR equipment that has won twice already this season. He won the 2009 Xfinity Series race at Gateway. He hasn’t fared well in the shorts tracks and 1-mile races this season, but the guy just works it. He battles. Give me 18-to-1 odds and I’d buy Busch this week.

Visit Sportsline.com for the complete Gateway write-up

Denny Hamlin is 10/1 to win 2023 Enjoy Illinois 300

Denny Hamlin / No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry TRD Preview

Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway

 

No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry TRD News and Notes

• HAMLIN AT WWTR: Denny Hamlin started sixth and finished 34th in last year’s inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway. After finishing fourth in stage one, Hamlin had trouble early in the second stage that relegated him to a disappointing finish. In two NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the track, Hamlin finished 11th and third and claimed the pole award in 2006.
• CHARLOTTE RECAP: Hamlin finished 35th in Monday’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. After starting fourth, he rocketed to the lead on lap 14 before ultimately finishing sixth in stage one. Hamlin continued to battle inside the top 10 before a crash on lap 185 ended his race prematurely.
• SPORT CLIPS: Sport Clips will be featured as the primary sponsor for Hamlin this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway. The sports-themed haircutting franchise based in Georgetown, Texas is a longtime supporter of Joe Gibbs Racing dating back to 2009 and has more than 1,850 stores in the United States and Canada.
• JGR AT WWTR: Joe Gibbs Racing earned three top-10s finishes in last season’s inaugural race at World Wide Technology Raceway, including a runner-up result. The team combined to lead 108 of the race’s 245 laps.
• TUNE IN: Coverage of this weekend’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway begins Sunday, June 4, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1, MRN Radio, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

 

Denny Hamlin, Driver of the No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry TRD

Talk about going back to World Wide Technology Raceway this weekend…

“They did a really good job getting the track ready and having a great place for us to race last year, so I’m definitely looking forward to going back. It’s a great track and has different grooves to where you can work different lanes if you are trying to make a pass, especially in turns 1 and 2, so that makes it fun for the drivers just having the ability to move around.”

 

Hamlin NASCAR Cup Series Stats at World Wide Technology Raceway

Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
1	0	0	0	0	0	6.0	34.0

 

Hamlin 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Season Stats

Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
14	1	3	5	1	222	11.9	13.9

 

Hamlin NASCAR Cup Series Career Stats

Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
628	49	211	326	37	13,576	12.0	13.2

 

Micah Roberts' Top -10 Finish Prediction: 2023 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte

1 #19 Martin Truex Jr. (8/1) - He’s got momentum and he’s got three Charlotte wins in his back pocket. And he’s got JGR power. The momentum angle is as real as the Nuggets sweeping the Lakers. Truex went an entire season with the NextGen car without a win but the drought ended when the calendar turned to May. He won at Dover after leading 68 laps, then he finished seventh at Kansas after leading 79 laps, and then he was involved in an accident at Darlington but he was old Truex dominating like the old days and led a race-high 145 laps. Truex is back and he’s going to use all his skills coupled with JGR’s improved set-ups to make up for the lost time of figuring out the NextGen car. I think his team has it figured out.

2 #5 Kyle Larson (9/2) - He notched his first Charlotte win in 2021 in dominating fashion winning the first two stages and closing out for the win. He led 327 of the 400 laps. He was ninth last season in the first year using the NextGen car. Both his wins this season have come on short tracks. He was runner-up at both Las Vegas and Kansas this season. He’ll be in the lead pack racing for the win.

3 #9 Chase Elliott (7/1) - He won the first stage of last year’s Coca-Cola 600, led 86 laps, then had issues and finished 33rd. That ended a four-race run of finishing fourth or better at Charlotte, which includes two runner-ups and his only win in 2020. This would be an ideal spot for him to get his first win of 2023. Shop around for a much better price than what Caesars is offering.

4 #1 Ross Chastain (10/1) - He’s got five top-fives and a series-leading 429 points accumulated over the first 13 races. But no wins yet after winning his first two races last season. He’s competing hard and battling for solid positions weekly. He’s not making any friends, either, but I don’t think he cares. He cares about winning. Last season he led a race-high 153 laps before finishing 15th.

5 #11 Denny Hamlin (13/2) - He started from the pole last season and won his first career Cup race at Charlotte. That’s racing in his adopted hometown since 2006, twice a year until recently, in NASCAR’s hub, and he didn’t win until starting 30 Charlotte races. He won at Kansas to kick off May and those winning set-up notes will help him here. Why not go back-to-back with Coca-Cola 600 wins?

6 #24 William Byron (6/1) - He leads NASCAR with three Cup wins and two of them can be used as a good comparison to Charlotte with Las Vegas and Darlington wins. And he was third at Kansas. His best at Charlotte was a fourth-place in 2021. He was involved in an accident last season there,

7 #8 Kyle Busch (12/1) - He’s had 16 top-fives in 34 starts at Charlotte while leading an incredible 1,486 laps, but only one win. The win came in 2018 when he led an amazing 377 of 400 laps. This is where he raised his family. This is home for him, and yet, just one win. Jimmie Johnson was hogging all the wins with his eight wins over the years. He’ll have a good race.

8 #4 Kevin Harvick (17/1) - This will be his final Coca-Cola 600 and he brings three Charlotte wins in 40 starts, along with 10 top-fives, and 605 laps led. He has been a top-10 finisher in his last five Charlotte starts and he was third last season. Do you know why I placed a small bet on him to win? Because I liked his fight to get runner-up at Darlington two weeks ago. Because I can visualize him getting the win, counting down the laps to go with him in the lead, and it being an emotional win for his family, friends, and fans. I’m a sucker for the storybook ending. If you like Harvick, shop around for the best price.

9 #48 Alex Bowman (18/1) - This is his first race back after missing a few weeks, but I like him to run well despite it being a grueling race, the longest race of the season. He won a 2017 Xfinity Series race at Charlotte and finished 10th last season in Cup and fifth in 2021. He was third at Las Vegas this season, a similar layout to Charlotte.

10 #99 Daniel Suarez (28/1) - Charlotte hasn’t been a good place for him traditionally, but he performed well at similar types of tracks this season at Fontana (4th), Las Vegas (9th), and Kansas (15th).

Read the Top-20 Predictions on Sportsline.com

Ty Gibbs is 60/1 to win at Charlotte

Ty Gibbs / No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD Preview

Coca-Cola 600

 

No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD News and Notes

• FIRST SEASON: Ty Gibbs is competing in his first full NASCAR Cup Series season driving the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD.
• 2023: Gibbs is 19^th in the NASCAR point standings and scored four consecutive top-10 finishes in March and April at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, Richmond (Va.) Raceway and Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
• Gibbs has finished in the top-20 in eight of the 13 Cup Series events.
• CHARLOTTE: Gibbs has never started a NASCAR Cup race on the Charlotte oval, but has started two NASCAR Xfinity Series races. He won in May 2021 and finished second in May 2022. He also started on the pole and won the ARCA race in May 2021.  
• ONE OF THIRTY-SEVEN: Gibbs made his first career NASCAR Cup Series start in July 2022 at Pocono Raceway for 23XI Racing. Gibbs is the 37^th driver younger than 20-years old to make a Cup Series start. Gibbs started at the rear of the field, but completed all 160 laps and finished an impressive 16^th. He has competed in 15 Cup races with a best finish of 10^th at Michigan International Speedway.
• NEW RECORD: Gibbs is the youngest driver ever to reach 11 victories in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at age 20 years, one month and one day old. The previous record was held by Joey Logano.
• 2021: Gibbs completed in only 18 Xfinity races in 2021, but won four races and finished 13^th in the Xfinity Series final driver point standings. That earned him the Xfinity Rookie of the Year award.
• WHAT A DEBUT: In Gibbs’ Xfinity Series debut in February 2021 at the Daytona Road Course, he led 14 of the 56 laps en route to his first career Xfinity Series win. Gibbs became the youngest driver to win a Xfinity road course race at 18 years, 4 months, 16 days. The Charlotte, N.C., native also became the second-youngest winner in Xfinity Series history after Joey Logano who won in June 2008 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta when he was 18 years and 21 days old.
• IN GOOD COMPANY: Gibbs is the sixth driver to win in his Xfinity Series debut, joining Dale Earnhardt, Joe Ruttman, Ricky Rudd, Terry Labonte and Kurt Busch. Those five drivers had already driven in the NASCAR Cup Series before racing in the Xfinity Series.
• ARCA CHAMPIONS: Gibbs became the 2021 ARCA Menard Series Champions on the strength of 10 wins, plus one win each in ARCA West and ARCA East.
• ATOP THE PIT BOX: Veteran crew chief Chris Gayle will oversee the No. 54 team’s efforts in the 2023 season. Gale, who is from Little Rock, Arkansas, has led his drivers to two NASCAR Cup Series victories and 37 Xfinity Series wins. He was also the crew chief of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship with Gibbs. The list of drivers Gayle has visited victory lane with includes Gibbs, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Sam Hornish Jr., Erik Jones, Elliott Sadler, Christopher Bell and John Hunter Nemechek.
• JGR AT CHARLOTTE: Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) has 146 total starts at Charlotte in Cup competition with eight wins, 57 top-five and 87 top-10 finishes. The team has led 3,818 laps.
• RACE INFO: The NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte is scheduled for 6 pm EDT on Sunday, May 28 and will be broadcast on FOX, SiriusXM Channel 90 and PRN.

 

Ty Gibbs, Driver of the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD

“I’ve never done the 600, but am looking forward to it. It’s a historic race and it’s one of the big races on the calendar. We’ve run well at Charlotte in ARCA and Xfinity so hopefully we can keep doing well. I like Charlotte and it’s the home race. The team has done a great job and the pit crew won the competition last week at North Wilkesboro. I’m sure we’ll bring a good Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD. I’m also ready to run the Xfinity race with the He Gets Us Toyota GR Supra. Should be a fun weekend.”

 

 

Gibbs 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Stats

Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
13	0	0	4	0	4	17.1	18.5

 

 

Gibbs 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Stats

Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
15	0	0	1	0	2	17.0	22.9