by The NASCAR Cup Series makes only its second trip to the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on the outskirts of St. Louis this weekend for the Enjoy Illinois 300. The low-banking asymmetrical 1 ¼-mile speedway presents a unique challenge for both teams’ cars and drivers driving through them, resulting in eight crash-related yellow flags in 2022.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the Enjoy Illinois 300:
Enjoy the Illinois 300 TV/streaming/radio schedule
All times Eastern
Saturday
10-10:45 am: Practice (FS1, Fox Sports App, MRN)
10.45 am – 12 noon: Qualification (FS1, Fox Sports App, MRN)
Sunday
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm: Pre-Race Show (FS1, Fox Sports App)
3.30pm-7pm: Enjoy Illinois 300 (FS1, Fox Sports App, MRN)
Enjoy Illinois 300 entry list
Ross Chastain (1), Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Austin Cindric (2), Team Penske Ford
Austin Dillon (3), Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Kevin Harvick (4), Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Kyle Larson (5), Hendrick Motorsport Chevrolet
Brad Keselowski (6), RFK Racing Ford
Carson Hocevar (7), Spits Motorsports Chevrolet
Kyle Busch (8), Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Corey LaJoie (9), Hendrick Motorsport Chevrolet
Aric Almirola (10), Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Denny Hamlin (11), Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Ryan Blaney (12), Team Penske Ford
Chase Briscoe (14), Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Gray Gaulding (15), Rick Ware Racing Ford
AJ Allmendinger (16), Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Chris Buescher (17), RFK Racing Ford
Martin Truex Jr. (19), Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Christopher Bell (20), Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Harrison Burton (21), Wood Brothers Racing Ford
Joey Logano (22), Team Penske Ford
Bubba Wallace (23), 23XI Racing Toyota
William Byron (24), Hendrick Motorsport Chevrolet
Justin Haley (31), Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Michael McDowell (34), Motorsport Ford in the front row
Todd Gilliland (38), Motorsport Ford in the front row
Ryan Preece (41), Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Noah Gragson (42), Chevrolet Legacy Motor Club
Erik Jones (43), Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet
Tyler Reddick (45), 23XI Racing Toyota
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (47), JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
Alex Bowman (48), Hendrick Motorsport Chevrolet
JJ Yeley (51), Rick Ware Racing Ford
Ty Gibbs (54), Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Ty Dillon (77), Spire Motorsport Chevrolet
BJ McLeod (78), Live Fast Motorsports Ford
Daniel Suarez (99), Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Chase Elliott suspended for Gateway
NASCAR’s most popular driver will not be at Gateway this weekend as he serves a one-race suspension. Elliott was suspended in Charlotte last week for an on-track retaliation against Denny Hamlin. Midway through the Coca-Cola 600, Hamlin squeezed Elliott coming out of Turn 4, and Elliott spun into Hamlin’s right rear quarter panel, taking both out of the race.
Corey Lajoie will drive Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet this weekend. Elliott missed six races earlier this season due to injuries sustained in a snowboarding accident.
Enjoy Illinois 300 details
Track: World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (1 ¼ mile asymmetric oval) in Madison, Illinois
Length: 240 laps for 300 miles
Banking: 11 degrees into turns 1-2, nine degrees into turns 3-4.
Last year’s winner: Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford
Top drivers and best bets for the Enjoy Illinois 300
For the second weekend in a row, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson and William Byron go into the weekend as the top two favorites, according to BetMGM, as the HMS stable was absolutely dominant on non-superspeedways.
Best odds of winning
•Kyle Larson +500
•William Byron +700
•Ryan Blaney +1000
•Kyle Busch +1000
• Denny Hamlin +1000
Byron has won three of six races on intermediate circuits (between 1 and 1 ½ miles) this season and has completed 1,270 of a total of 3,943 laps this season with Larson. Blaney and Busch both finished in the top 5 in this race last year in the first Cup Series race there, while Hamlin won earlier this year at Kansas, which has a similar profile to Gateway.
We wrote earlier this week about some other bets worth taking this weekend: you can find a good mid range in Ty Gibbs (+3000) and Brad Keselowski (+3500) who have both taken wins in feeder series races at Gateway.
Weather forecast for the Enjoy Illinois 300
Summer is officially still a few weeks away, but in metropolitan St. Louis, it’s already well underway. It is expected to be hot and dry with temperatures around 90 degrees. That should lead to rapid tire wear and headaches for several crew chiefs and race strategist.
