The 2025 Enjoy Illinois 300 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 7, 2025, at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Illinois on the speedway, it was the 28th race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, and the second race of the playoffs.
Denny Hamlin won the race. Chase Briscoe finished 2nd, and Chase Elliott finished 3rd. Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano rounded out the top five, and John Hunter Nemechek, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher, and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top ten.
Report
Background
World Wide Technology Raceway (formerly Gateway International Raceway and Gateway Motorsports Park) is a motorsport racing facility in Madison, Illinois, just east of St. Louis, Missouri, United States, close to the Gateway Arch. It features a 1.25-mile (2 kilometer) oval that hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and the NTT IndyCar Series, a infield road course used by the SCCA, Porsche Club of America, and various car clubs, and a quarter-mile drag strip that hosts the annual NHRA Midwest Nationals event.
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver. (P) denotes playoff driver. (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Ross Chastain (P) Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 2 Austin Cindric (P) Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon (P) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Noah Gragson Front Row Motorsports Ford 5 Kyle Larson (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 7 Justin Haley Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 8 Kyle Busch Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 9 Chase Elliott (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Ty Dillon Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 11 Denny Hamlin (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Team Penske Ford 16 A. J. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 19 Chase Briscoe (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Christopher Bell (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Josh Berry (P) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano (P) Team Penske Ford 23 Bubba Wallace (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 24 William Byron (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 34 Todd Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 35 Riley Herbst (R) 23XI Racing Toyota 38 Zane Smith Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Cole Custer Haas Factory Team Ford 42 John Hunter Nemechek Legacy Motor Club Toyota 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Toyota 45 Tyler Reddick (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet 48 Alex Bowman (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Ford 54 Ty Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 60 Ryan Preece RFK Racing Ford 71 Michael McDowell Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 77 Carson Hocevar Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 88 Shane van Gisbergen (P) (R) Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing ChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice Ty Gibbs was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 32.898 seconds and a speed of .
Practice results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 54 Ty Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 32.898 136.786 2 5 Kyle Larson (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 33.002 136.355 3 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 33.066 136.091Official practice results
Qualifying Denny Hamlin scored the pole for the race with a time of 32.330 and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 11 Denny Hamlin (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 32.330 139.190 2 5 Kyle Larson (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 32.351 139.099 3 19 Chase Briscoe (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 32.397 138.902 4 1 Ross Chastain (P) Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 32.408 138.855 5 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Team Penske Ford 32.432 138.752 6 24 William Byron (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 32.467 138.602 7 45 Tyler Reddick (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 32.501 138.457 8 20 Christopher Bell (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 32.512 138.410 9 2 Austin Cindric (P) Team Penske Ford 32.571 138.160 10 38 Zane Smith Front Row Motorsports Ford 32.674 137.724 11 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 32.689 137.661 12 21 Josh Berry (P) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 32.698 137.623 13 22 Joey Logano (P) Team Penske Ford 32.719 137.535 14 23 Bubba Wallace (P) 23XI Racing Toyota 32.739 137.451 15 3 Austin Dillon (P) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32.757 137.375 16 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Toyota 32.760 137.363 17 16 A. J. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 32.764 137.346 18 88 Shane van Gisbergen (P) (R) Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 32.765 137.342 19 9 Chase Elliott (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 32.799 137.199 20 42 John Hunter Nemechek Legacy Motor Club Toyota 32.852 136.978 21 54 Ty Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 32.889 136.824 22 8 Kyle Busch Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32.952 136.562 23 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 32.957 136.542 24 4 Noah Gragson Front Row Motorsports Ford 32.993 136.393 25 48 Alex Bowman (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 33.005 136.343 26 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 33.038 136.207 27 77 Carson Hocevar Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 33.133 135.816 28 71 Michael McDowell Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 33.197 135.554 29 41 Cole Custer Haas Factory Team Ford 33.201 135.538 30 34 Todd Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 33.230 135.420 31 7 Justin Haley Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 33.252 135.330 32 60 Ryan Preece RFK Racing Ford 33.282 135.208 33 35 Riley Herbst (R) 23XI Racing Toyota 33.417 134.662 34 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet 33.538 134.176 35 10 Ty Dillon Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 33.635 133.789 36 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Ford 33.650 133.730 Official qualifying results
Race Stage 1 Just 45 laps long, Stage 1 was a virtual sprint to set the stage for the final two stages of the race. Denny Hamlin took the early lead at the drop of the green flag. But, it was Kyle Larson roaring into the lead looking for the maximum amount of Stage points and that single playoff point for getting a Stage win.
Kyle Busch spun off turn two on lap 27 bringing out the first caution of the afternoon. Fortunately for Kyle he was able to avoid contact with the walls sliding to a stop on the inside of the track. This will set up an interesting pit strategy call for crew chiefs. Larson pitted from the lead with most of the field following him to pit road. Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, and Michael McDowell staying on the track trying to gain as many stage points as possible.
Tyler Reddick had difficulty on his pit stop. His crew failed to get the left rear wheel tight on his race car. Reddick had to stop in a competitors pick for help in getting the wheel secured properly. Pitting outside of his pit stall resulted in a penalty sending to the rear of the field for the restart.
The restart came with 13 laps to go, but did not stay green for long. Josh Berry got a tap on the left rear quarter panel of his race car from Chase Elliott sending him spinning into the outside wall on lap 10. The impact destroyed the left front of the car and sent the Wood Brothers Ford Mustang to the garage. For the second race in a row, Josh Berry will finish dead last on the field, sending him to Bristol in a must win position if he hopes to advance in the postseason.
Restarting this time with just four laps to go, Briscoe was out front. Larson, who did pit, was back to second racing on the fresh tires he got during his stop. The two drivers came to the flag stand side-by-side with one lap to go in Stage 1. It was Briscoe who won the sprint to the green and white checkered flag. His fourth stage win in a row after sweeping all three in his victory last week at Darlington.
Chase Elliott squeezed past Shane van Gisbergen for the final stage point in 10th place.
Stage 2 The drivers that did not pit during the Kyle Busch caution came in for service to their race cars during the stage break. Larson inherited the lead with William Byron lining up beside him on the front row. With several fast cars back in the pack the racing was very aggressive.
Larson and Byron led the field back to green again, followed by Elliott, Reddick, and Smith. Two and three wide racing back through the field swapped positions everywhere behind the leaders.
On lap 77, Ty Dillon spun off the front bumper of his brother, Austin Dillon, in turn one. Austin said his car just got loose and he could not avoid the contact. Not what you want to do to a family member, he apologized on the radio. The caution allowed teams who thought they might be short on fuel to come in for a splash of Sunoco Racing Fuel.
With 57 laps to go in the second Stage, green flag racing resumed with some different cars at the from of the pack. Bubba Wallace and Joey Logano sat on row one. Hamlin and Alex Bowman lined up behind them. With Team Penske drivers Cindric and Blaney restarting in row three.
After the initial rush of position swaps, drivers seemed content to settle in and log laps during this stage. Possibly due to some cars still needing to conserve fuel. With 20 laps to go in the stage, the longest green flag run of the race was achieved.
With 10 laps to go in the stage, Wallace still led and Logano followed. Bell, Hamlin and Blaney followed. The closest battle for position was Larson trying to overtake Blaney.
With six laps to go Larson drove too deep into turn three, slid up the banking, and tapped Blaney sending the #12 car into a spin bringing out the caution flag. Almost everyone came to pit road, not wanting to get trapped behind a large number of cars that might have stayed out to grab Stage points.
After a bad pit stop cost them dearly last week at Darlington, Alex Bowman’s crew had another mishap this week. The jack dropped early before the left rear tire was fully seated. The crew had to jack the car up again and finish the stop, sending Bowman far back into the pack for the restart.
Brad Keselowski and Austin Dillon stayed out hoping for a top five finish. Wallace and Logano were first off pit road. Wallace passes for the Stage win, Logano couldn’t get around Keselowski and settles for third.
Final stage Wallace and Logano remain the leaders and sit on the front row with Larson and Bell restarting behind them. The field had formed up into three-wide racing down the backstretch. No sooner than the race had restarted than the field was back under caution for debris on the backstretch. A track marker had flown off the catch fence and settled into the racing groove.
This time the leaders line up with Wallace and Logano out front, Larson and Hamlin follow. During the caution. several cars from the rear of the field came to pit road to top off their fuel tanks. With 87 laps to go, they will have to really stretch their fuel mileage to finish without another opportunity to fill up.
Wallace’s car was stuck in gear on the restart and Logano runs off into turn one with the lead. Hamlin tried to grab the top spot but Logano held him off. As the cars at the front scrambled to sort out the jumble that Wallace caused, SVG, running well back in the pack, got loose and spun to the top of the track. This caution brought most of the field to pit road for fuel. Larson had trouble on is stop with the rear diffuser dropping down due to being hit in the rear on the Wallace slow start. This caused an extended delay and second stop to for the crew to rectify the problem.
Back to green flag racing with 78 laps to go, Hamlin and Logano sat on the front row. John Hunter Nemechek and Elliott restarted in row two. The driver on the move was Ty Gibbs making an appearance in the top five for the first time today.
With a variety of fuel and tire strategies being used everyone it trying to conserve something. Another caution would free up drivers to get more aggressive for the final laps of the race.
Alex Bowman recovered from his difficulties to run 11th. Bubba Wallace’s troubles had him running back in 17th with 60 laps to go. Larson sat 19th, and Tyler Reddick was the lowest running Playoff driver in 31st.