Practice

Enjoy Illinois 300

Sunday, June 4th, 2023

World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, IL

  • 16 Chevrolet
  • 14 Ford
  • 6 Toyota

  • World Wide Technology Raceway
  • Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter
  • Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Kyle Busch
  • Age: 38
  • Team : No. 8 - 3CHI Chevrolet
  • Owner: Richard Childress
  • Crew Chief: Randall Burnett
  • Kyle Busch won the Pole Award for the Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter with a lap of 32.802 seconds, 137.187 mph.
  • This is his 33rd pole in 657 NASCAR Cup Series races.
  • This is his first pole and eighth top-10 start in 2023.
  • This is his first pole in two races at World Wide Technology Raceway.
  • Ryan Blaney (second) posted his 11th top-10 start of 2023 and his second in two races at World Wide Technology Raceway.
  • Denny Hamlin (third) posted his second top-10 start at World Wide Technology Raceway. It is his sixth in 15 races this season.
  • Ty Gibbs (15th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

  • Sunday, June 4th, 2023
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
Kyle Busch converts pole position into NASCAR Cup win at WWT Raceway

Kyle Busch collected his 63rd NASCAR Cup Series victory on Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway, but the driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet had to work hard for the first-place money.

Busch, the pole winner, survived five restarts in the last 40 laps of the Enjoy Illinois 300 and beat Denny Hamlin to the finish line by .517 seconds after Bubba Wallace’s broken brake rotor caused the 11th caution on Lap 236 and sent the race to overtime.

The victory was Busch’s first at the 1.25-mile track and the third in his debut season with RCR. It was a home game for his crew chief, Randall Burnett, who grew up in Fenton, Mo., and had family in attendance on Sunday.

“That was pretty awesome,” Busch exulted after he climbed from his car. “Man, to sit on the pole, lead a lot of laps and have my guys do such a great job today was pretty phenomenal for us. Great for RCR. Just win, baby! Thanks to Team Chevy, appreciate (sponsor) 3Chi…

“We're going to have a great time with this one. This one is pretty cool.”

Busch led five times for 121 laps, including the last 60. Neither Hamlin nor third-place finisher Joey Logano—winner of the inaugural Gateway race last year—led a single circuit.

Kyle Larson parlayed a two-tire call on Lap 178 into improved track position and a fourth-place finish. Martin Truex was fifth, followed by Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez, William Byron, Michael McDowell and Kevin Harvick.

Blaney led 83 laps and Byron 30. Byron pitted from the lead on Lap 178 but fell to fourth with an uncharacteristically slow stop and faded in traffic after the subsequent Lap 184 restart.

Corey LaJoie finished 21st in a substitute role for Chase Elliott, who was serving a one-race suspension for wrecking Hamlin in Monday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.

Subbing for LaJoie in his usual ride—the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet—Carson Hocevar started 26th and gained 10 spots with an impressive drive through the field before a brake rotor failure on Lap 90 knocked him out of the race.

Hocevar was running 16th and chasing Austin Dillon for position when the right front rotor broke into pieces. The No. 7 Camaro made jarring contact with the Turn 1 wall to cause the fourth caution of the race, which was delayed for two hours with just seven laps complete because of lightning in the area.

“I thought it was great,” said Hocevar, who was racing a Cup car for the first time. “I had a blast. Just so thankful for the opportunity. I don’t have a job for next year. I know Al Niece and Cody Efaw want me to run for them (in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series), and I will forever run a race or however many.

“But man, I’m just so thankful that (Spire) gave me the opportunity—the opportunity to drive an Xfinity car (on Monday at Charlotte) and now driving a Cup car. I was running 16th… just so surreal for the first time ever. I thought we were going to have a good day and be in a good spot for the No. 7 Chevy team. Hopefully, that call for a Cup ride isn’t the only one I get in my life.”

Brake rotors weren’t an issue confined to Hocevar’s car. Tyler Reddick slammed the outside wall after his right front rotor exploded on Lap 175. On Lap 198, the same fate befell Noah Gragson, who took the hardest hit of all when his No. 42 Chevy slid up the track into the fence in Turn 1.

Bubba Wallace had the same issue with five laps left in regulation, and his contact with the Turn 1 wall set up the final two-lap run to the finish in overtime.

Hamlin felt the lightning delay played against him and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team.

“Yeah, I thought we were super dialed in if it was 95 degrees like it was supposed to be, (but) with those delays, it kind of took away from the advantage I thought that we had,” Hamlin said.

“I’m proud of this whole Sport Clips Toyota team—pit crew did a phenomenal job keeping us in it and doing really good on the money stop with about 60 to go. We are going to have to wait (for) another (race) to get that 50th (win).”

  • Drivers Entered: 36
  • Laps Scheduled: 240
  • Laps Actual: 243 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
  • Margin of Victory: 0.517 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 3 Hours 28 Minutes 16 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 87.508
  • Cautions: 11 for 67 laps
  • Lead Changes: 10
  • Green Flag Passes: 1,778 (10.1 passes per green flag lap)

  • World Wide Technology Raceway
  • Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter
  • Race Winner: Kyle Busch
  • Age: 38
  • Team : No. 8 - 3CHI Chevrolet
  • Owner: Richard Childress
  • Crew Chief: Randall Burnett
  • Kyle Busch won the Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter, his 63rd victory in 657 Cup Series races.
  • This is his third victory and eighth top-10 finish in 2023.
  • This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in two races at World Wide Technology Raceway.
  • Denny Hamlin (second) posted his first top-10 finish in two races at World Wide Technology Raceway. It is his sixth top-10 finish in 2023.
  • Joey Logano (third) posted his second top-10 finish in two races at World Wide Technology Raceway.
  • Ty Gibbs (20th) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • Ryan Blaney leads the point standings by 13 points over William Byron.
Actor Chris Tucker shakes hands with Bubba Wallace
Madison, Illinois - June 4, 2023 : Actor Chris Tucker shakes hands with Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 Leidos Toyota, on the grid prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at WWT Raceway.
Jonathan BachmanGetty Images
Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway Practice results
# DRIVER MAKE RNK SPD TME BHND LAP LAPS 5- 10- 15- 20- 25- 30- 10-LAP FRM TO
16 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet 25 134.767 33.391 0.510 5 21 33.453 33.560 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
10 Aric Almirola Ford 9 135.898 33.113 0.232 5 22 33.302 33.406 33.470 33.527 0 0 0.000 0 0
6 Brad Keselowski Ford 10 135.681 33.166 0.285 4 13 33.232 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 6 136.322 33.010 0.129 5 29 33.082 33.128 33.161 33.196 33.246 0 0.000 0 0
51 JJ Yeley Ford 32 134.120 33.552 0.671 4 13 33.803 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
22 Joey Logano Ford 1 136.857 32.881 0.000 3 22 33.001 33.451 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
4 Kevin Harvick Ford 27 134.686 33.411 0.530 6 27 33.533 33.646 33.689 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
8 Kyle Busch Chevrolet 7 136.285 33.019 0.138 3 20 33.111 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
19 Martin Truex Jr Toyota 11 135.673 33.168 0.287 4 22 33.506 33.583 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
34 Michael McDowell Ford 4 136.517 32.963 0.082 3 20 33.075 33.179 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 20 134.900 33.358 0.477 5 21 33.473 33.550 33.623 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Chevrolet 28 134.678 33.413 0.532 7 24 33.508 33.554 33.567 33.588 0 0 0.000 0 0
5 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 2 136.811 32.892 0.011 3 15 33.323 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
48 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 14 135.534 33.202 0.321 3 24 33.284 33.396 33.449 33.505 0 0 0.000 0 0
12 Ryan Blaney Ford 18 135.172 33.291 0.410 15 25 33.399 33.466 33.479 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
9 Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 30 134.316 33.503 0.622 5 20 33.569 33.638 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
77 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 34 133.385 33.737 0.856 6 19 33.928 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
17 Chris Buescher Ford 12 135.616 33.182 0.301 3 14 33.453 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
43 Erik Jones Chevrolet 13 135.554 33.197 0.316 5 16 33.278 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
78 BJ McLeod Chevrolet 35 133.191 33.786 0.905 8 8 34.041 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
41 Ryan Preece Ford 22 134.860 33.368 0.487 4 21 33.515 33.579 33.658 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
15 Gray Gaulding Ford 36 131.791 34.145 1.264 10 17 34.406 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
99 Daniel Suarez Chevrolet 24 134.791 33.385 0.504 7 23 33.417 33.586 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
1 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 15 135.428 33.228 0.347 7 26 33.349 33.383 33.421 33.755 0 0 0.000 0 0
23 Bubba Wallace Toyota 19 135.099 33.309 0.428 4 24 33.390 33.473 33.548 33.580 0 0 0.000 0 0
24 William Byron Chevrolet 3 136.558 32.953 0.072 3 22 33.140 33.443 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
45 Tyler Reddick Toyota 5 136.459 32.977 0.095 4 25 33.259 33.375 33.424 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
31 Justin Haley Chevrolet 29 134.642 33.422 0.541 10 21 33.503 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
20 Christopher Bell Toyota 23 134.803 33.382 0.501 5 20 33.494 33.563 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
2 Austin Cindric Ford 26 134.755 33.394 0.513 3 15 33.539 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
14 Chase Briscoe Ford 8 136.252 33.027 0.146 4 20 33.091 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
21 Harrison Burton Ford 31 134.188 33.535 0.654 5 21 33.708 33.774 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
42 Noah Gragson Chevrolet 33 133.587 33.686 0.805 7 21 33.904 33.931 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
54 Ty Gibbs Toyota 17 135.184 33.288 0.407 5 30 33.410 33.477 33.537 33.592 33.667 0 0.000 0 0
38 Todd Gilliland Ford 21 134.892 33.360 0.479 6 21 33.440 33.566 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
7 Carson Hocevar Chevrolet 16 135.416 33.231 0.350 4 24 33.332 33.634 33.706 0 0 0 0.000 0 0