ILLINOIS — It's no surprise that Denny Hamlin is the favorite pick among four of our Pickers. However, it would be exciting to see either Joey Logano or Ryan Blaney pull off a victory and reward the Rezendes family for thinking outside the box.
It should be a fun race to watch!
Standings are based on the number of wins with points breaking any ties.
Illinois Predictions
- Len Pouncey - 0 wins, 61 points - Denny Hamlin - Superior results at Gateway with a win last year and second in the two prior races. First in points with four wins and 14 top 5s.
- Steve Poplarski - 0 wins, 58 points - Denny Hamlin - Last year’s winner here combined with no back-to-back finishes outside top 15 all year makes him a favorite.
- Cathe Rezendes - 0 wins, 47 points - Joey Logano - He has the highest average finish here of 2.8 in the last four races. Best chance for more championship points for the No. 22.
- Pete Zaagman - 0 wins, 45 points - Denny Hamlin - Look for him to bounce back from his Southern 500 performance. The regular season champ will repeat his 2025 victory here.
- Bob Patterson - 0 wins, 44 points - Denny Hamlin - He had a little hiccup last week, but he’ll be back on track now. He won here last year - he’ll get another one this week
- Jim Rezendes - 0 win, 41 points - Ryan Blaney - Recent strong finishes - Darlington, 4th and New Hampshire, 1st. Bet on this guy with a top 10 pit crew! Fair WWT 11.3 average.
Click on the PREDICTION ROW tab at the top of this page so you can keep up with the competition from race to race. Check the notes at the bottom for an explanation of scoring.