Another major weekend of motorsports is here, with four races across ARCA, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, INDYCAR and the NASCAR Cup Series. This week’s schedule brings four completely different challenges, from the dirt at Springfield to the streets of Washington, D.C., and picking winners means looking beyond who simply has the fastest car.
Calypso 100 — ARCA Menards Series
My Pick: Max Reaves
The ARCA Menards Series makes its first trip to the dirt this season with Sunday’s Calypso 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, and I’m taking Max Reaves to come out on top.
Reaves has continued to establish himself as one of the top young drivers coming through the ARCA ranks. The Joe Gibbs Racing prospect already has multiple national ARCA victories on his résumé, and the speed of the JGR program makes him difficult to overlook regardless of the type of track.
Dirt racing introduces another variable, and experience will matter against some of the veterans in the field. Still, I’m betting on pure talent and equipment here. If Reaves can keep the car underneath him early and adapt as the track changes, I think he’ll have enough speed to put himself in position late.
EJP 175 — NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
My Pick: Gio Ruggiero
I’m switching my pick for the EJP 175 to Gio Ruggiero, and there are plenty of reasons to like the No. 17 TRICON Garage Toyota at New Hampshire.
Ruggiero already has experience at the Magic Mile, finishing fourth in last year’s EJP 175. Now he returns to a track that means a little more to him than most. The Seekonk, Massachusetts native grew up racing Bandoleros at New Hampshire, giving him plenty of familiarity with the facility as he looks for a big performance in Saturday’s regular-season finale.
He’s also already locked into the 2026 Truck Series Chase, allowing Ruggiero and his team to focus on going after the win rather than worrying about the cutoff line.
Track position will be huge. Fourteen of the 21 Truck races at New Hampshire have been won from the front row, and the driver who led the most laps has won 10 of the last 11. If Ruggiero can put the No. 17 near the front in qualifying, I think he has a real chance to control this race.
With his previous success here, his New England roots and the speed TRICON has shown, Gio Ruggiero is my pick to win the EJP 175.
Freedom 250 — NTT IndyCar Series
My Pick: Christian Lundgaard
The inaugural Freedom 250 might be the most difficult race of the weekend to predict.
INDYCAR is heading onto a brand-new 1.7-mile, seven-turn street course in Washington, D.C., meaning nobody enters the weekend with years of previous race data to fall back on. That puts an even bigger emphasis on adapting quickly throughout practice and qualifying.
That’s a situation where I like Christian Lundgaard.
Lundgaard has proven himself to be a serious threat when INDYCAR heads to street and road courses. On a new circuit where braking confidence, qualifying speed and avoiding mistakes could determine the winner, his driving style should give him an opportunity to contend.
Alex Palou and Kyle Kirkwood enter the weekend among the obvious drivers to beat, while Lundgaard sits behind those two among the notable contenders in the pre-race odds. I’m willing to go slightly outside the top favorites.
Dollar Tree 301 — NASCAR Cup Series
My Pick: Denny Hamlin
For Sunday’s Cup Series race at New Hampshire, I’m going with one of the most accomplished drivers in the field at this style of racetrack: Denny Hamlin.
The Dollar Tree 301 comes with only two races remaining in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, making every point and every opportunity to win increasingly important.
New Hampshire has always been a track where drivers need to be disciplined. Passing can be difficult, track position matters and being able to consistently rotate the car through the center of the corner is critical. Those are areas where Hamlin has traditionally been strong.
Hamlin also enters the weekend as one of the top-performing drivers in the Cup Series standings, giving the No. 11 team plenty of reason to be viewed as a legitimate threat Sunday.
There are several drivers I expect to challenge him, especially Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell, but when NASCAR heads to a flat track like New Hampshire, Hamlin is almost always somebody I have near the top of my list.