OPR Staff and Fan Fantasy Picks for NCWTS, NNS and NSCS at Chicagoland Speedway

As the Sprint Cup Series kicks off their 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup, the stars get set to tackle the high banks of Chicagoland Speedway. They’ll be a pair of other races to keep a close eye on with regards to who will win and the championship as both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series are set to run as well.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Ashley McCubbin picked Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch. Busch is strong in each truck race that he runs, and Blaney is currently on a hot streak coming off wins at Bristol (NNS) and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (NCWTS).

Tayler Stiles picked Kyle Busch and Matt Crafton. Crafton currently sits second in points and has been strong all season, only posting poor finishes when bad luck bites his ThorSport Racing team.

Kreistina Blinova did not file her picks so she has Ron Hornaday and John Hunter Nemechek which becomes Ben Kennedy and Joe Nemechek. Nemechek has been top-15 in each truck start to date, while Kennedy keeps improving with each week that he puts behind the wheel.

Ronald Costigan picked Kyle Busch and Darrell Wallace Jr. While the focus is always on Busch, Darrell has done a good job representing his half of KBM in showing speed all year and posting top-five finishes on a weekly basis.

Marshal Gabell did not file his picks so he has Kyle Larson and Erik Jones which becomes Ben Kennedy and Kyle Busch. 

Justin Tucker picked Kyle Busch and Matt Crafton. 

Kyle Magda picked Kyle Busch and Matt Crafton. 

Terry Wagner picked Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton. Sauter currently leads the points standings, and is looking to keep teh streak going on a style of track that he knows how to run well on.

Christina Cordner did not file her picks so she has Alex Tagliani and Ryan Blaney which becomes Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney.  

Billy Stiles Jr. did not file his picks so he will have Ben Kennedy and Ron Hornaday which becomes Ben Kennedy and Tayler Malsam. Tayler has been strong in each of his starts this year, posting a top 10 finish in his last start with Turner-Scott Motorsports.

Robert Hill did not file his picks so he will have Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson which becomes Ryan Blaney and Ben Kennedy. 

Joni Stiles did not file her picks so she will have Erik Jones and Johnny Sauter which becomes Kyle Busch and Johnny Sauter. 

Tyler Sontag did not file his picks so he will have Erik Jones and Matt Crafton which becomes Kyle Busch and Matt Crafton. 

Jeni Harris picked Darrell Wallace Jr. and Matt Crafton.

Tim Johnston picked Ryan Blaney and Matt Crafton.

Brooke Clark picked Darrell Wallace Jr. and Matt Crafton. 

NASCAR Nationwide Series

Ashley McCubbin picked Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch. Each of these drivers have visited victory last this year and each of them has ran upfront on a weekly basis. The combination seems to be the easy combo to put together simply based on the numbers.

Tayler Stiles picked Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch. 

Kreistina Blinova did not file picks, so we will use her last week picks, which were Jeffrey Earnhardt, Landon Cassill and Elliott Sadler. Sadler has been a consistent front runner each week, while both Cassill and Earnhardt have been getting stronger, posting some solid top 15 performances.

Ronald Costigan picked Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch. Ryan Blaney has been strong in each NNS start this year, highlighted by the win earlier this year at Bristol. Did we mention the young driver is in a roll lately? He won Bristol three weeks ago, before winning the truck race at CTMP two weeks ago.

Marshall Gabell did not file his picks, so we will use his last week picks, which were Brian Scott, Kevin Harvick and Dylan Kwasniewski. Scott is a strong front runner who has been close to getting his first career win as of late, while Kwasniewski continues to improve with each passing week.

Justin Tucker picked Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch.

Kyle Magda picked Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, and Kyle Busch. 

Terry Wagner picked Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch. 

Christina Cordner did not file her picks so she has Brian Scott, Chase Elliott and Brendan Gaughan. Gaughan is looking to turn his bad luck as of late around and RCR has been improving their intermediate package as of late so a good run could be there.

Billy Stiles Jr. did not file his picks so we will use his last week picks Chase Elliott, Regan Smith and Kyle Busch. Smith is the master of being solid, consistently with just finishing inside the top 10 each week to sit second in points behind Elliott.

Billy Zardo did not file his picks so we will use his last week picks Ty Dillon, Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch. Dillon has been solid this year, posting top 10 finishes on a weekly basis.

Robert Hill did not file his picks so we will use his last week picks Paul Menard, Kyle Busch and Chris Buescher, which becomes Brian Scott, Kyle Busch and Chris Buescher. Buescher has been gaining speed with the experience each week so look for good results.

Joni Stiles did not file her picks so we will use her last week picks Regan Smith, Austin Theriault and Chase Elliott which becomes Kevin Harvick, Regan Smith and Chase Elliott. 

Tyler Sontag did not file his picks so we will use his last week picks Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch which becomes Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch. 

Jeni Harris picked Matt Kenseth, Dylan Kwasniewski and Chris Buescher. Kenseth has been top-10 material in each start this year, however hasn’t found that speed that Busch seems to have.

Tim Johnston picked Kevin Harvick, Regan Smith and Chase Elliott.

Brooke Clark picked Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott and Matt Kenseth.

Nationwide Series Standings

1. Ashley McCubbin, Justin Tucker and Kyle Magda – 131
2. Ronald Costigan, Tyler Sontag and Terry Wagner – 129 (-2)
3. Billy Stiles Jr. – 128 (-3)
4. Billy Zardo – 127 (-4)
5. Robert Hill – 123 (-8)
6. Tayler and Joni Stiles – 121 (-10)
7. Marshall Gabell – 111 (-20)
8. Christina Cordner – 107 (-24)
9. Jeni Haris – 102 (-29)
10. Tim Johnston, Brooke Clark and Kreistina Blinova – 78

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 

Ashley McCubbin picked Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson. Harvick and Gordon are both past winners and have been strong all year, while Johnson knows how to make magic happen in the Chase.

Tayler Stiles picked Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Keselowski has been strong on all the intermediate tracks this year – highlighted by a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Kreistina Blinova did not file her picks so we will go last week’s Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt Jr. has been strong on the intermediate tracks, showing speed week-after-week as he looks to kick off his Chase on a good note.

Ronald Costigan picked Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. 

Marshall Gabell did not file his picks so we will go last week’s Jamie McMurray, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth. JGR continues to get their program turned around with each week and as they do, Kenseth and KyBusch should get stronger. For McMurray, he has won before on an intermediate – Charlotte – as he looks to end off his season on a good note.

Justin Tucker picked Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. 

Kyle Magda picked Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Jeff Gordon. Logano has been fast all year and posting solid finishes and with victories this year, he looks to keep his best season to date rolling in a good matter.

Terry Wagner picked Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Jeff Gordon. 

Christina Cordner did not file her picks so we will go with last week’s Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Billy Stiles Jr. did not file his picks so we will go with last week’s Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Billy Zardo did not file his picks so we will go with last week’s Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Robert Hill did not file his picks so we will go with last week’s Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon and Paul Menard. Menard has been the strongest running RCR car this year with some solid top 10s this year.

Joni Stiles did not file her picks so we will use with last week’s Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. Kahne is coming off a win at Atlanta and wants to get his Chase started off on a good note while KuBusch is hoping to find that magic from the first half of the year to promote into good Chase magic. Truex – a solid top 10 would mean a lot to Furniture Row considering how his season has been going.

Tyler Sontag did not file his picks so we will use last week’s Marcos Ambrose, Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon. Ambrose isn’t known as the intermediate track driver, but could always sneak in there with some fuel strategy.

Jeni Harris picked Matt Kenseth, Kyle Larson and Kurt Busch. Larson has been on the crisp of picking up his first career victory all season long. Could this be the weekend?

Tim Johnston picked Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Jeff Gordon.

Brooke Clark picked Joey Logano, Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Point Standings

1. Terry Wagner – 126
2. Ashley McCubbin – 118 (-8)
3. Justin Tucker and Christina Cordner – 114 (-12)
4. Kreistina Blinova and Billy Zardo – 110 (-16)
5. Tayler Stiles, Robert Hill and Billy Stiles Jr. – 108 (-16)
6. Ronald Costigan – 99 (-27)
7. Tyler Sontag – 89
8. Joni Stiles – 83
9. Kyle Magda – 76
10. Marshall Gabell – 73
11. Jeni Harris, Tim Johnston and Brooke Clarke – 48

Combined

1. Terry Wagner – 129+126=255
2. (Post Leader NNS Richmond) Ashley McCubbin – 131+118=249 (-6)
3. (Post Leader NNS Richmond) Justin Tucker – 131+114=245 (-10)
4. Billy Zardo – 127+110=237 (-18)
5. Billy Stiles Jr. – 128+108=236 (-19)
6. Robert Hill – 123+108=231 (-24)
7. Tayler Stiles – 121+108=229 (-26)
8. Ronald Costigan – 129+99=229 (-26)
9. Christina Cordner – 107+114=221 (-34)
10. Tyler Sontag – 129+89=218 (-37)
11. (Post Leader NNS Richmond) Kyle Magda – 131+76=207 (-48)
12. Joni Stiles – 121+83=204 (-51)
13. Kreistina Blinova – 78+110=188
14. Marshall Gabell – 111+73=184
15. Jeni Harris – 102+48=150
16. Tim Johnston and Brooke Clarke – 150