NASCAR heads back to the streets of Chicago for one more go at the Chicago Street Course Race. Rumor has it that this third season of the course could be the final year on the streets of Chicago, with rumors of both Chicagoland returning and a potential San Diego Street Course in the works. Let’s dive in and take a look at this week’s NASCAR picks, odds, and best bets for the Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course.
Shane Van Gisbergen won the inaugural race here in 2023, and Alex Bowman picked up the win last year. NASCAR has reached its halfway point of the season, leaving just eight races remaining in the regular season. With 12 different winners in 2025, the race to make the NASCAR playoffs is quickly heating up. This will be the first Cup race since 2018 outside of the Daytona 500 with more than 40 entries. One open car will go home after qualifying.
NASCAR Picks: Grant Park 165 at Chicago Street Course Odds and Best Bets
Shane Van Gisbergen +200
Kyle Larson +750
Christopher Bell +850
Ty Gibbs +1200
Tyler Reddick +1200
Chase Elliott +1400
Alex Bowman +1900
William Byron +1900
Chris Buescher +2200
Will Brown +2200
AJ Allmendinger +2200
Michael McDowell +2300
Ross Chastain +2800
Chase Briscoe +3100
Daniel Suarez +3100
Kyle Busch +3400
Ryan Blaney +4000
Denny Hamlin +4000
Carson Hocevar +4000
Austin Cindric +5000
Joey Logano +6500
Todd Gilliland +11000
Corey Heim +11000
Ryan Preece +11000
Brad Keselowski +11000
Bubba Wallace +11000
Justin Haley +11000
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +12000
Austin Dillon +14000
Zane Smith +14000
John Hunter Nemechek +14000
Cole Custer +14000
Erik Jones +21000
Noah Gragson +25000
Austin Hill +25000
Josh Berry +25000
Riley Herbst +31000
Cody Ware +34000
Josh Bilicki +34000
Katherine Legge +34000
Ty Dillon +34000
NASCAR Picks: Grant Park 165 at Chicago Street Course Odds and Best Bets
Chris Buescher Top 10 (+140)
If I could only place one bet this week, this is the one. Chris Buescher is a top 10 machine on road courses. In 19 NextGen starts, he has 16 top 10 finishes. In both road course races this season he’s already finished in the top 10. He’s also been heating up as of late with four top 10 finishes in a row. He’s shown he can go head-to-head with the best out there and win these types of races at Watkins Glen last year, so he’s worth a shot in the outright market as well at 22/1.
Chris Buescher Over Will Brown (-150)
This one is a little hefty in the juice department, but “you only pay the juice when you lose.” And I don’t think this one will lose. We just covered how consistently good Chris Buescher is on road courses. Consistency is the biggest key to betting head-to-heads, especially at a number like this.
Will Brown is a Supercars driver just like Van Gisbergen. He had one start last year at Sonoma, where his car had troubles and finished the race off the pace. He practiced well and qualified just 24th in the #33 Richard Childress Racing car. The problem this time is he’s in the #13 car for Kaulig Racing. A car that’s struggled even with A Cup winner like AJ Allmendinger in it. I think Brown will have a fine day, but I don’t think he’s top 10 material, when I know Buescher is.
Ty Gibbs Top 5 (+220)
Ty Gibbs just showed the world at Mexico how good of a road course driver he is. He went toe to toe with Van Gisbergen and didn’t back down. An ill-timed caution and bad strategy cost him a chance at the win in that one. Now the team has put competition director Chris Gabehart on top of the box to help Gibbs’ rookie crew chief call strategy. A move that shows they want to push this young driver in the right direction.
Gibbs has the best average finish (6.0) at the Chicago Street Course of any driver who’s competed in both races. Last year, he scored a third-place finish solidly inside the top five. He also qualified well last year here, starting second on the grid. If he can put together what we saw at Mexico with a good strategy, race, and track position starting up front. Gibbs will be a contender to win this race and finish inside the top 5.
Chase Elliott to Win (+1400)
We cashed the Elliott outright at 18/1 last week, and we’re going to run it back this week. I talked on the NASCAR Gambling Podcast this week about how it’s SVG’s race to lose, but it’s hard to bet him in this one at this number. So, going a little lighter on the outright card and looking at Elliott for a possible back-to-back win. Elliott’s a streaky driver, as seen in 2020 when he went on his championship-winning run to end the season. He’s also been very consistent at road courses. He has seven wins in the previous generation car, and while he hasn’t yet won in the NextGen era, he’s always in the mix.
He has three straight top-five finishes at road courses, including third at Mexico City. In his 18 NextGen starts, 10 times he’s finished inside the top five and 12 times inside the top 10. He’s only got two finishes outside of the top 15 in 17 Cup races this entire season. Elliott’s always one to stay in the mix at this type of track.
More Racing Content
Be sure to tune into the NASCAR GAMBLING PODCAST for more bets for the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity, and Truck Series, along with F1 and IndyCar bets, Underdog picks, DFS, and more! Join the Discord here.
