ENJOY ILLINOIS 300 NASCAR CUP SERIES PLAYOFF RACE FAST FACTS

  ENJOY ILLINOIS 300

  NASCAR CUP SERIES PLAYOFF RACE FAST FACTS

  WHAT: Enjoy Illinois 300, second race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 16.

  WHERE: World Wide Technology Raceway, a 1.25-mile short oval in Madison, Ill.

  WHEN: Sunday (Sept. 7) @ 2 p.m. CT.

  BROADCAST INFORMATION (All times Central):

        * Practice | Saturday @ 3:30 p.m. | TV – TruTV | Radio – MRN, SiriusXM.

        * Qualifying | Saturday @ 4:40 p.m. | TV – TruTV | Radio – MRN, SiriusXM.

        * Countdown to Green Pre-Race Show | Sunday @ 1:30 p.m. | USA Network.

        * Race | Sunday @ 2 p.m. | TV – USA | Radio – MRN, SiriusXM.

        * Post-Race Show | Sunday @ 5:30 p.m. | TV – USA Network.

  RACE LENGTH:

        * 240 laps | 300 miles.

  ENTRY LIST:

        * Click HERE [1] for the Enjoy Illinois 300 entries.

  SUPPORT SERIES EVENT:

        * NASCAR Xfinity Series Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog (Saturday @ 6:30 p.m.).

  ROUND OF 16 PLAYOFF DRIVERS:

        * William Byron, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports (4).

        * Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe of Joe Gibbs Racing(3).

        * Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano and Austin Cindric of Team Penske (3).

        * Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen of Trackhouse Racing (2).

        * Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing (2).

        * Josh Berry of Wood Brothers Racing (1).

        * Austin Dillon of Richard Childress Racing (1).

  PREVIOUS PLAYOFF RACE:

        * Darlington Raceway | Sunday, Aug. 31 | Winner: Chase Briscoe.

  PLAYOFF RACE FOLLOWING WWT RACEWAY:

        * Bristol Motor Speedway | Saturday, Sept. 13.

  PREVIOUS WWTR RACE WINNERS:

        * 2024: Austin Cindric | Team Penske

        * 2023: Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing

        * 2022: Joey Logano | Team Penske

  PREVIOUS WWTR POLE WINNERS:

        * 2024: Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports

        * 2023: Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing

        * 2022: Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing

  2024 RACE RECAP (June 2) – Sometimes it takes a little luck to go along with all that horsepower and talent to win in the ultra-competitive NASCAR Cup Series.

  Team Penske’s Austin Cindric capitalized on teammate Ryan Blaney running out of fuel heading to the white flag in Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 to snap an 85-race winless streak before a near-sold out crowd at Wide World Technology Raceway. The victory was Cindric’s first since winning the 2022 season-opening Daytona 500 when he was named the Cup Series Rookie of the Year.

  Blaney was trying to end a winless streak of his own – 15 races – and it appeared that he was in line to do so as he held a lead over Cindric as he was approaching the white flag signifying the final lap. But suddenly Blaney began to slow with no fuel remaining, unable to eke out just over a lap on the 1.25-mile short oval, and Cindric pounced.

  Cindric, who started second and led 53 laps, was in the right place at the right time to cash in on his teammate’s misfortune and give Team Penske its second win in the three Cup Series races at the venue. Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing finished second – 3.844 seconds back – and Brad Keselowski of RFK Racing took third. Rounding out the top five were 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Team Penske’s Joey Logano, respectively. Blaney would finish 24th.

  Throughout the majority of the 240-lap race, it appeared that Joe Gibbs Racing would find its way to Victory Lane as Christopher Bell was dominant. Bell won the first two stages, led five times for a race-high 80 laps and was in a side-by-side battle with Blaney for the lead in the final 20 laps. Bell grabbed the lead from Blaney on Lap 221, but lost it on the ensuing lap. It was after that that Bell began to fade dramatically, eventually victimized by a mechanical issue that led to a seventh-place finish. Race Results 

  SERIES NOTEBOOK

  The Round of 16 has a new look in terms of venues. The Playoffs opened this past Sunday at Darlington Raceway, which replaced EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) as the first race. World Wide Technology Raceway replaced Watkins Glen International as the second race of the round. The only venue returning is Bristol Motor Speedway, which hosts the Round of 16 finale on Saturday, Sept. 13. … Hendrick Motorsports has a series-high four drivers in the Cup Series Playoffs with 2020 series champion Chase Elliott, 2021 series champion Kyle Larson, 2025 regular-season champ William Byron and eight-time Cup Series race winner Alex Bowman. Joe Gibbs Racing (Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe) and Team Penske (Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric) are next with three Playoff drivers each. … Four of the 16 Playoff drivers are previous Cup Series champions under this format. The group is led by Logano, the defending series champion and only multiple winner (2018, ‘22, ’24) among the field. The others are Blaney (2023), Larson (2021) and Elliott (2020). … Rookie Shane van Gisbergen of Trackhouse Racing and second-year driver Josh Berry of Wood Brothers Racing are making their first appearances in the Cup Series Playoffs. Van Gisbergen is enjoying an outstanding rookie campaign with four wins, which is tied for the series lead with Hamlin. All of van Gisbergen’s wins have come on road courses or temporary street circuits with Mexico City in June, Chicago Street Race and Sonoma Raceway in July, and Watkins Glen in August. Berry made the field by securing his first career Cup Series victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. … Joe Gibbs Racing driver Chase Briscoe, who opened the playoffs as the eighth seed, is the first driver to advance to the Round of 12 by virtue of last Sunday’s victory at Darlington Raceway. He won the Cook Out Southern 500 for the second year in a row in dominant fashion, leading nine times for 309 of the 367 laps. … Two of the biggest movers coming out of Darlington were 23XI Racing teammates Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace. Reddick opened the playoffs as the No. 14 seed, but rocketed a playoff-best 10 positions to No. 4 following his runner-up finish. Reddick, still chasing his first win of the season, is three points behind third-place Larson and eight shy of second-place Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing. Wallace improved four positions from his opening No. 9 seeding to No. 5 after a sixth-place finish at Darlington. He is 10 points behind Reddick. … The biggest tumblers were van Gisbergen and Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing. Van Gisbergen finished 32nd to fall from No. 6 to No. 12 and in the final transfer position. Bell finished 29th to drop from No. 5 to No. 10. He is eight points ahead of van Gisbergen and two in front of No. 11 Elliott, who fell four spots after finishing 17th in the playoff opener.

  RACE HISTORY NOTEBOOK

  This is the fourth NASCAR Cup Series race held at World Wide Technology Raceway, but the first as part of the NASCAR Playoffs. The Enjoy Illinois 300 moves from its traditional June regular-season date to the second of three races in the opening Round of 16. A win in the Enjoy Illinois 300 by a playoff driver gives them an automatic berth into the Round of 12. … Team Penske has won two of the three races at WWT Raceway, with Joey Logano winning the inaugural event in 2022 and teammate Austin Cindric getting the other last season. Kyle Busch of Richard Childress Racing secured the other victory when he won from the pole in 2023. … The race winner has started among the top seven in all three races, including the last two from the front row. Busch started on the pole in ’23 and Cindric started second last season. … Logano is the only driver with top-five finishes in all three starts at WWT Raceway. In addition to his ’22 win, he was third in ’23 and fifth last season. The only other drivers with multiple top-five finishes are Busch and Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch has a runner-up finish in ’22 to go along with his win the following year. Hamlin has finished runner-up the past two seasons. … Busch has been dominant in the laps led category with 202 while Ryan Blaney of Team Penske is a distant second at 115. Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing is third at 80, Cindric fourth at 79 and Michael McDowell of Spire Motorsports fifth at 74. … Blaney has the best average starting position at 3.3 and is followed by Cindric (4.7) and Hamlin (5.0). Interestingly, none of those three have won a pole position at WWT Raceway. … Logano easily has the top average finishing position at 3.0 and is followed by Cindric at 8.3. Rounding out the top five are Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (8.7), Bell (9.0) and Blaney (11.3). Three of the top five positions are owned by Team Penske drivers.

  SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE (All times Central)

  FRIDAY (SEPT. 5)

        * NASCAR Xfinity Series opening practice, 4:05 – 4:45 p.m.

  SATURDAY (SEPT. 6)

        * NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.

        * NASCAR Cup Series opening practice, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.

        * NASCAR Cup Series qualifying, 4:40 – 5:30 p.m.

        * NASCAR Xfinity Series Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog race (160 laps | 200 miles), 6:30 p.m.

  SUNDAY (SEPT. 7)

        * NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 race (240 laps | 300 miles), 2 p.m.