Josh Berry found early trouble for the second consecutive week in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race, crunching the outside wall after contact with Chase Elliott’s car at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway and imperiling his playoff hopes.
Berry was running 15th in the 35th of 240 laps in the Enjoy Illinois 300 when his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford was bumped in Turn 1 by the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driven by Elliott. Berry scraped the left side of his car against the SAFER barrier, and he limped back to the Cup Series garage with significant damage.
Berry was evaluated and released from the infield care center, but the team was unable to repair the vehicle, ending his day prematurely. He opened the playoffs with two straight last-place results.
Berry was in the middle of a three-wide jam with fellow Ford driver Joey Logano to his outside when Elliott looked to the low side entering the first turn.
“It looked like Chase just made a late move and got a little loose and was just enough to slide up into us,” said Berry, who subbed in the No. 9 Chevy for five races when Elliott suffered a snowboarding injury early in the 2023 season. “I don’t think it was anything intentional by no means. Just an unfortunate scenario, I guess.”
Elliott drove on to finish third, marking his first top-five result in an eight-race span. He opened his post-race interview with USA Network’s crew by expressing remorse for the incident that derailed Berry’s day.
“First off, just want to apologize to Josh and the 21 team,” Elliott said. “I had no intention of getting into him. You know, I’ve known those guys my whole life, so I just hope that they at least know it wasn’t anything intentional, and I’ve known Josh for a long time, too. So just want to make sure those guys know that I feel terrible about that. Felt terrible about it right when it happened, and wish I could take it back. But yeah, unfortunately that transpired, but beyond that, really proud of our effort.”
Berry — who reached the playoffs by winning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March — also crashed on the first lap of last week’s playoff opener at Darlington Raceway, finishing last in the 38-car field. The pitfall knocked him to the bottom of the Cup Series Playoffs standings and in danger of elimination with one race left in the opening Round of 16.
That playoff fate will be decided in Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race (7:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) at Bristol Motor Speedway, where the bottom four drivers in the postseason picture will be knocked from championship eligibility. He remains last among the 16 playoff drivers, staring down a 45-point deficit below the elimination line.
“We’ve got no choice,” said Berry, when asked if he could rebound to keep his title aims intact. “It’s been a rough couple weeks, for sure, but I know these guys are working really hard and just gotta do the best you can next week.”
MADISON, Ill. — As temperatures gradually dip as summer transitions to fall, Josh Berry, too, is keeping it cool.
Such a calm mindset could prove beneficial. Following a last-place finish at Darlington Raceway last weekend to begin the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, the 34-year-old Wood Brothers Racing pilot enters the second Round of 16 bout 19 points below the playoff cutline, last among 16 title hopefuls ahead of World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
“Nothing much has changed, really,” Berry said regarding the No. 21’s playoff preparation. “I mean, we just got to go out and try to have two good weeks, really. That’s really all there is to it. You can’t worry about too much of everything else. You just need to go out and try to score as many points as you can, get a good finish. If we’re able to do that this weekend, I think it’ll give us a shot going into Bristol (Motor Speedway). And if we don’t run like we want, we’ll probably be must-win.”
After clinching a playoff berth outright via his Las Vegas Motor Speedway victory in March, Berry’s 2025 postseason campaign started off on rocky footing, with the No. 21 Ford involved in an opening-lap wreck at the “Lady in Black.” Though Berry limped his machine to the garage for repairs and returned to action afterward, the damage was done; Berry finished 38th, 128 laps down.
Enter Gateway, where, despite finishing last in only one career Cup start (36th, 2024), Berry has analytics on his side. According to NASCAR Insights, Berry ranks fourth in Passer Rating and seventh in Speed Rating, Long-Run Speed and Restart Rating at comparable tracks to St. Louis in 2025 (Phoenix Raceway, Iowa Speedway, Richmond Raceway).
Then, there’s the alliance portion of the equation. With Wood Brothers Racing aligned with Team Penske — an organization that has statistically performed well on flat race tracks and won two of the three St. Louis Cup races — the optimism to replicate such success certainly provides more positivity and clarity toward a potential rebound.
“Obviously, we have a tight alliance with those guys, and they’ve had a lot of success here, so that gives us a little extra confidence coming here, that we can go run well,” Berry said. “Obviously, it’s a little different tire, a little different time of the year compared to what they’ve had the last couple years. But you know, like I said, I still feel pretty good about all we’ve got, and we just gotta go out and execute.”
And execute Berry will have to do. According to Racing Insights, no driver has ever finished worse than 25th multiple times in the Round of 16 and advanced to the Round of 12; Berry, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman and Shane van Gisbergen all finished 29th or worse at Darlington.
“If we don’t finish well this weekend, then yeah, we’re going to be must-win, right?” Berry said regarding the urgency to rebound at St. Louis. “So that’s just how it’s going to be. So, yeah, we just got to try to do our best to score as many points on Sunday as we can, and just give ourselves a shot at Bristol.”
Consistency and speed will be key for Berry and the No. 21 team ahead of Sunday’s Gateway contest. After logging the 21st-fastest practice time during Saturday’s practice session, Berry improved with a crisper qualifying result, logging the 12th-best time. Following Gateway, the long time short-track standout will have one final shot to reclaim upward footing, with the Round of 16 finale scheduled at Bristol Motor Speedway next Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
In what is his first full-time Cup campaign under the Wood Brothers Racing banner, Berry believes there is much to be satisfied with in 2025. And while the Round of 16 started off on the wrong note, there’s plenty of reason to think greener pastures could be looming.
Keeping it cool could very well do that.
“I’m proud of a lot of things we’ve done,” Berry said. “I feel like we’ve shown a lot of potential, a lot of speed at times. [We] just need to clean things up. I mean, obviously, last weekend was super disappointing, but I don’t think, as a driver, there was much different I could have done in that situation. The car was too low, we bottomed out and it wrecked. But it’s been a lot of fun racing with these guys. Learned a lot and excited to continue.”
The overwhelming sentiment following Saturday’s practice sessions for the NASCAR Enjoy Illinois 300 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway is that passing will be very difficult today.
This means track position and pit-stall selection — both determined by qualifying results — will be extremely important for teams and drivers on Sunday afternoon.
Live NASCAR odds list Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin at +450 as race co-favorites, followed by Kyle Larson (+550), Christopher Bell (+700) and Chase Briscoe (+850).
But with so much uncertainty regarding the ability to pass, and considering this could become a track-position and even fuel-mileage race, I’m passing on outrights and am instead backing a race favorite to score a top-three finish.
NASCAR Odds, Best Bet Pick for Gateway
*Odds as of Sunday morning
Christopher Bell is known for his prowess at short, flat tracks, so I already had my eye on the No. 20 Toyota heading into Saturday’s on-track activity.
Interestingly, Bell didn’t exactly light the practice sheets on fire yesterday, but there’s often more than meets the eye when it comes to speed charts.
My Bell interest was later piqued when Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe mentioned Bell as a driver he thought was best in practice.
After consulting with Action Network’s NASCAR guru Nick Giffen, I learned that Bell topped Giffen’s proprietary practice FLAGS metric, which examines many factors, like practice grouping, track conditions and short- and long-run speed to cut through the noise and determine which drivers truly had the best cars.
I’m not necessarily against betting Bell to win outright either, but my worry is that strategy or a slower late-race pit stop could lose front-running cars track position — position that may be hard to make all the way back up.
Therefore, I’m grabbing Bell to score a top-three finish at +210.
NASCAR Pick: Christopher Bell (+210) for a Top-3 Finish — DraftKings
The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs march on to World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) with many championship contenders already at a deficit after the opener at Darlington Raceway.
Twelve playoff drivers had some sort of issue last weekend in the Cook Out Southern 500, while just four Round of 16 drivers finished inside the top 10 — the fewest to ever do so in a playoff opener. For those who struggled in the South Carolina sun, relief could be on the way as NASCAR makes its annual stop in the St. Louis area.
According to Racing Insights, Christopher Bell is projected to win at the 1.25-mile egg-shaped oval and earn his first victory since rattling off three straight in the first month of the regular season.
Bell has never finished worse than 11th in three starts at Gateway, navigating the flat track to a career-best seventh-place finish there last year. He’s always performed well at shorter, flatter ovals, registering a pair of victories at both Phoenix Raceway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway — both upcoming playoff tracks.
But while Joe Gibbs Racing has never won in St. Louis, Team Penske has. Racing Insights projects Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano to finish second and sixth, respectively, after practice and qualifying; Blaney led last year’s race before running out of fuel coming to the white flag, while Logano won the inaugural event in 2022 and has an average finish of 3.0 — his best among all tracks. Austin Cindric, the beneficiary of Blaney’s fuel miscalculation and defending winner, has never finished worse than 13th at Gateway. Like Logano, WWT Raceway is Cindric’s best track on the circuit with an average finish of 8.3.
All four Hendrick Motorsports cars finished 17th or worse last week, but expect an improvement this weekend with Regular Season Champion William Byron, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott all projected to finish inside the top seven. Larson (plus-38) and Byron (plus-25) both sit comfortably above the cutline with two races until the first set of eliminations at Bristol Motor Speedway, but Chase Elliott (plus-9) has much more work to do. Elliott’s finished outside the top 25 in two of the last four races after starting the year with 23 consecutive top-20 results. If he can win on Sunday, the perennial most popular driver would become the fourth driver to win in his 350th series start.
But on the other side of the coin, some of the playoff drivers tighter on the bubble are at risk of continuing their postseason slide into “The Lou.” Austin Dillon, winner three weeks ago at Richmond Raceway, is projected to finish 23rd after P&Q despite coming home sixth in last year’s race. He also won Richmond, a track with similar characteristics, so it’s certainly not out of the cards to see the 35-year-old in the mix come Sunday. According to Racing Insights, Dillon will likely advance in the playoffs if he can average 30 points over the next two races. He enters Gateway eight points below the cutline.
Maybe the biggest question mark of them all is road-course ace Shane van Gisbergen, who won four times in the regular season but essentially used up his entire playoff cushion with a 32nd-place finish last weekend. SVG hasn’t been to Gateway before in any series and is projected to finish 31st after P&Q, which, at three points above the cutline, would complicate his postseason aspirations. But with long straightaways and tight corners leading to shifting and heavy braking, the Kiwi might have an advantage. To compare, AJ Allmendinger, another road-course phenom, has an average finish of 12th in two Gateway starts. Maybe SVG can follow on a similar trajectory and keep himself afloat heading to Bristol.
For some drivers, WWT Raceway provides a Gateway into the Round of 12, while others could remain arching the wrong way before the first elimination race of the playoffs.
KYLE LARSON: The 2021 series champion has never finished worse than 12th at Gateway and could use an old-school Larson performance. He’s nearly broken out of his summer rut with top 10s at Richmond and Daytona, but is winless since Kansas in May. A strong run would set him up well for Bristol, where he’s won the last two races.
DENNY HAMLIN: There are just four ovals on the current Cup schedule that Hamlin hasn’t won at, and Gateway is one of them. He finished second in two of the three St. Louis-area races, with his feud with Ross Chastain in 2022 as the exception. A win on Sunday would make him the series leader with five 2025 triumphs.
TYLER REDDICK: A runner-up to Chase Briscoe at Darlington, Reddick heads to the Midwest on one of his best stretches of the year, finishing 12th or better in six of the last 10. He scored a top five in this race last year and led 41 laps last month at Richmond before a crash took him out of contention.
ALEX BOWMAN: The No. 48 driver finished 31st at Darlington after a 40-second pit stop, but in a race with massive postseason implications, expect Bowman to show well. He’s finished 11th or better in eight of the last 12 races with a second at Richmond. While he’s yet to finish better than 13th in three Gateway starts, some of the similar characteristics from Richmond could be used to his advantage.
KYLE BUSCH: The future Hall of Famer is the only non-Team Penske driver to win at Gateway — a 2023 triumph that is his most recent trip to Victory Lane. He’s led laps in all three races, turning 202 out front to pace the series, and also won a 2009 Xfinity Series race at the track. A win Sunday would break a career-long 84-race winless drought and provide some needed momentum into 2026 as Busch sits on the outside of the playoffs for the second year in a row.
RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR THE ENJOY ILLINOIS 300
Racing Insights’ advanced statistical formula incorporates current track, track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to predict a projected winner and provide full race results. Updated on race day with practice and qualifying factored in.
MADISON, Ill. – Limping around World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway with a wounded No. 25 Ford, Harrison Burton was watching the closing laps intensely. He was aware of the possible ramifications.
Rookie drivers William Sawalich and Christian Eckes were hounding race leader Connor Zilisch. If the No. 88 Chevrolet slipped, those two drivers would be there to duke it out. Both drivers needed to secure a victory to punch their ticket to the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.
Zilisch dominated the Nu Way 200, leading 121 of 160 laps. Even with the field bunched up for a restart with 12 laps remaining, Zilisch powered out to a sizable lead. When the checkered flag dropped, Sawalich was 1.5 seconds shy of the victory. Eckes placed third. Both drivers matched the best finish of their young Xfinity Series careers.
“I was looking at the leaderboard and we had old, used tires from the spin,” Burton said, clarifying that he was aware of the potential playoff-stealing drivers. “I wasn’t really racing anybody, so I spent a lot of time watching the race for the win at the end. We left it up to chance and got lucky.”
Burton clinched a spot into the playoffs with a youthful AM Racing organization that placed 32nd in the 2024 owners standings. The revamped No. 25 team finished the regular season with a team-best nine top-10 finishes.
“I knew that the team had struggled in the past, I’m coming off of getting fired and knew that we were both hungry and eager to get ourselves into a situation like this,” Burton stated. “I felt like there were some races that we’ve thrown away, some that we’ve [run] better than we should have. I’m really proud of this team to go from [32nd] or something in points to the playoffs is a big accomplishment.”
Sawalich knew Zilisch had the superior race car. His odds of winning were low without going into desperation mode. He ended the regular season with consecutive runner-up finishes.
“It’s bittersweet,” Sawalich said of his emotions. “I can’t thank my guys enough for bringing me a good car, we just weren’t good enough as the 88. Just didn’t have the pace at the end. He definitely had better long-run speed than everyone else, but we gave him a run for their money.”
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
Eckes made a late rally to third, the best track position he had all evening. He ended the regular season with a handful of top-five efforts and 12 top 10s, the 2025 benchmark for Kaulig Racing. Yet he’s still frustrated the No. 16 Chevrolet wasn’t able to reach the front.
“I felt like we had a race-winning car, and with a restart, who knows what could happen,” Eckes said. “Disappointing not to get this team in the playoffs. They deserve being in the playoffs, but just about seven too many DNFs and a lot of problems.
“We knew we had to come here and win. We didn’t achieve that, so it is what it is, and we move on.”
Both rookie drivers had strong results down the stretch. Eckes had five top-10 finishes in the last seven races, while Sawalich the same amount in eight races. Both drivers said there is room to improve for their sophomore season.
“There is always next year,” Sawalich said. “That is how I was looking at it when we crossed the line. We had the speed no matter what and we know what it takes to win these races now. The start of the year was definitely rough, there’s no doubt about that. It shows how we can bounce back as a team and get ourselves together.”
With the reset, Burton ranks 11th on the playoff grid, only ahead of Austin Hill who lost 21 playoff points after a one-race suspension for wrecking Aric Almirola at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
With Connor Zilisch winning his series-leading ninth race of the 2025 season, Sheldon Creed, Taylor Gray and Harrison Burton clinched the last three spots in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs in Saturday’s regular-season finale at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Zilisch clinched the Regular-Season Championship, fending off JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier for the crown and the bonus payday of 15 playoff points. Zilisch entered Saturday’s 200-miler with a 20-point margin over Allgaier, then padded that advantage when Allgaier encountered a pair of issues — a pit-road speeding penalty during the Stage 2 break and a final-stage crash.
Zilisch’s fourth consecutive win — and his seventh in the last eight races — helped the talented rookie launch into the seven-race postseason with a hefty 59-point cushion above the elimination line.
Harrison Burton clinched the last of 12 playoff berths at the expense of his cousin Jeb, who was the only driver with a mathematical chance to advance on the basis of points. Jeb Burton’s quest ended after a hard crash that halted his bid 51 laps short of the 160-lap distance.
Including Zilisch, eight drivers secured playoff spots with wins earlier in the season. They are: Justin Allgaier (3 wins), Austin Hill (3 wins), Nick Sanchez, Sam Mayer, Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith and Jesse Love. Carson Kvapil clinched his spot on points last weekend at Portland International Raceway.
See the unofficial standings heading into next Friday’s Xfinity Series Playoffs opener at Bristol Motor Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The bottom four drivers will be eliminated after the first three races.
MADISON, Ill. — Connor Zilisch’s dream season continued on a track he’d never raced before.
Holding off the rest of the NASCAR Xfinity Series field over a succession of restarts late in Saturday night’s Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Zilisch achieved a litany of milestones with his ninth victory as a rookie and 10th career.
First, and perhaps most important, the 19-year-old phenom secured the Regular Season Championship and accompanying bonus of 15 playoff points, beating reigning series champion Justin Allgaier for that distinction by 53 points.
With four straight victories, Zilisch tied the series record for consecutive wins shared by Sam Ard (1983) and Noah Gragson (2022). His win was the 16th this year for JR Motorsports, a single-season record for the team.
Driving the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, Zilisch led 121 of 160 laps in posting his seventh victory in the last eight races and his first-ever from the pole in an oval race.
Zilisch’s triumph also made a playoff driver of Harrison Burton, who advanced to the postseason on points in the first Xfinity Series race at Gateway since 2010.
“Four in a row, seven of the last eight, that’s awesome,” said Zilisch, who enters next week’s playoff opener at Bristol Motor Speedway with 59 playoff points. “We’re going to celebrate this — and the Regular Season Championship.
“Man, this is going to be tough to keep up, honestly. It’s rare that you can go on a run like this. Every week I show up thinking, ‘Man, this is going to be the weekend that we just run eighth,’ and just aren’t great, but every weekend we show up and we’re a winning race car, and my pit crew executes, my team executes, everybody does their job, and we end up doing burnouts on the frontstretch.
“Yeah, it’s awesome to be able to do this and win this many races.”
There is one unique twist to Zilisch’s string of four victories. He broke his collarbone while celebrating in Victory Lane at Watkins Glen, started the subsequent race at Daytona on Aug.22, but gave way to relief driver Parker Kligerman, who took the checkered flag after completing 91 of the 104 laps.
Having started the race, Zilisch got credit for the win.
William Sawalich passed fellow Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver Aric Almirola for the second spot on Saturday after a restart on Lap 149 and finished 1.506 seconds behind Zilisch. Christian Eckes ran third, Brandon Jones fourth and Jesse Love fifth, as Almirola faded to sixth.
Sawalich needed a win to advance to the playoffs at Burton’s expense. Instead, he was runner-up for the second straight weekend.
“The 88 (Zilisch), he was on rails tonight,” Sawalich said. “I think he was definitely the best car all night… We didn’t make the playoffs, but we certainly gave them a run for their money.”
Jeb Burton’s long-shot hopes of securing a playoff spot ended on Lap 100. With his right-front tire suddenly losing air, Burton rocketed into the outside wall near the exit from Turn 2.
With a fire raging in the right-front wheel well of his No. 27 Chevrolet, Burton drove the car to pit road and climbed out, his race over.
“That was a hard hit,” Burton acknowledged. “It sucks, but we’re going to Bristol next week.”
That accident, combined with Zilisch’s win, sealed a playoff position for Burton’s cousin, Harrison, on points. Coincidentally, Harrison spun in Turn 2 on Lap 129 after contact from Brennan Poole’s Chevrolet.
Harrison finished 22nd and claimed the final playoff berth by 45 points over his cousin.
Allgaier’s bid for the Regular Season Championship came to an abrupt end on the subsequent Lap 135 restart. His No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet was badly damaged in an 11-car melee in Turn 1 and effectively deprived of a chance to contest Zilisch for the top spot in the standings.
Sam Mayer was eliminated in the same wreck and ended the regular season third in the standings.
The Xfinity Series’ next race is Friday’s Food City 300 at Bristol (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed without issue in the Xfinity Series garage, confirming Zilisch as the race winner. The No. 2 Chevrolet, driven by Jesse Love, was found with one lugnut not safe and secure, which will result in a monetary fine.
Mystery, parity provides plenty of Gateway clarity
MADISON, Ill. — Darlington Raceway had its fair share of in-race chaos to open the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, with only four postseason drivers finishing inside the top 10 at the “Lady in Black,” the fewest ever in a playoff opener.
Enter World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, a track with plenty of unpredictability that could create more playoff turnover.
If there is one thing to know about Gateway, it’s this: Like New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Phoenix Raceway, it’s flat. But unlike those two slightly banked tracks, Gateway’s designation as a Cup Series track has been brief. Heading into Sunday’s contest, NASCAR’s premier circuit has only raced at St. Louis three times, with 2022 being the inaugural event and 2025 marking the first time the facility has hosted a playoff contest. With a tire compound utilized at Iowa Speedway last month in play this weekend — with said tire developed from a Goodyear test at Gateway in June — there is much still to learn as the Cup Series wrangles the Midwest ropes.
Even with plenty of variables — both unique and new alike — that doesn’t mean the Cup Series hasn’t learned a thing or two already. So, what have they learned?
For starters, qualifying is critical; race winners all started inside the top 10 to begin the contest, with 2023 victor Kyle Busch starting on the pole. However, starting near the front does not necessitate leading at the front for the entire race. According to Racing Insights, the race winner took the lead with two laps to go in two of three St. Louis races (2022, 2024). As such, a collection of up-front speed and late-race maneuvering is the recipe for success.
If there’s another takeaway, it’s that one team in particular dominates here. According to NASCAR Insights, all three Team Penske drivers rank inside the top 10 in Long-Run Speed and Defense Rating at comparable tracks raced so far this season (Phoenix, Iowa, Richmond). Joey Logano, who triumphed here in 2022, is the only driver to finish inside the top 10 in all three St. Louis races, and his 3.0 average finish is his best among all tracks. Defending Gateway winner Austin Cindric — who started on the front row in 2024 and claimed the victory after teammate Ryan Blaney ran out of fuel on the penultimate lap — holds plenty of success, too, with his 8.33 average finish a personal best among all tracks.
“It just seems like for us right now, most of the time our cars are pretty fast at the flat 1-mile type race tracks, whether that’s Phoenix, Gateway, Loudon (New Hampshire), Richmond kind of falls in there, but it’s quite a bit of a different track as well, but it’s similar speed-wise,” Joey Logano said. “It seems like we have a pretty good handle on that type of thing and that type of track, so hopefully that’s the case again.
“Like I said, a lot of things happen in a year, whether it’s manufacturers or teams. The 20 (Christopher Bell) was really strong there at Gateway last year, so I would expect him to be fast again, and some others. It’s been a good one, but with that said, there are a lot of things that can happen at that race track. It doesn’t seem like we’ve had a lot of fall-off there in the past. I don’t know what this tire will bring — possibly more — but with the lack of tire fall-off that’s been there in the past, the strategy, if you get a caution that falls in the middle of a stage, it really jumbles it up like it did last year, and it can happen again.”
Even still, parity is still plenty abundant here. In three St. Louis races, three different drivers have prevailed, and while one team has won two of those contests, the sample size is still small enough that trends and tendencies could shift rapidly. Adding playoff stakes to the mix — especially after Darlington’s postseason-opening carnage — and this is magnified, especially from a points perspective. Playoff drivers averaged 25.1 points last weekend at Darlington, the fewest ever in a playoff race.
In other words, playoff drivers better continue learning here, lest they be left in the proverbial postseason dust.
What do crew chiefs have in focus to win Sunday’s race?
While Gateway may share similarities with other tracks on the circuit, crew chiefs understand that each track presents its own unique set of challenges, and St. Louis is no exception.
“It’s kind of egg-shaped, and it’s so flat and you’re on the brakes so early, it’s just a totally different set of problems,” Adam Stevens, crew chief of Christopher Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, told NASCAR.com. “There’s a fair amount of compromise between the ends, since the ends are different and the straightaways are really long, so you have to have a good exit if you’re going to be competitive.”
As crew chief of defending Gateway winner Austin Cindric, Brian Wilson recognizes the need for a blended approach.
“It’s pretty high speed. It’s a different aero package,” Wilson told NASCAR.com. “So you obviously got to blend a little bit of the short track with the intermediate notebook, you know, a lot of shifting. … It’s flat. A lot of strategy goes into this race. From a setup standpoint, I feel like, as a company, we’ve got a really good notebook, so it’s nice to lean on that, but it’s definitely a unique short track, just with the aero package that you have, the tire combination and just how the place races would be with the shifting that you have.”
Such an odd-shaped track in itself would be a tricky challenge, but a tire compound used only once in the Cup Series this season adds more intrigue.
These new left- and right-side tires, developed from a Goodyear tire test at Gateway in June and utilized at Iowa Speedway in August (with fast corner speeds in mind), create an extra layer of in-race strategy.
“The biggest thing is the construction, which resulted in roughly half the stagger, which on a flat track, as much as you’re in the gas, that’s a really, really big deal,” Stevens said. “It’s going to completely change the handling of the cars and completely change what the optimal setup is. So it’s a bit of an unknown. Iowa and this place are nothing like each other, but that’s all we have to compare to. But there’s going to be some people that hit it off the truck, and some people that miss it.”
This season’s St. Louis running comes after last year’s June contest, which saw Cindric take the victory flag thanks to taking only three stops for tires and capitalizing with enough speed to seize the race lead when teammate Ryan Blaney ran out of fuel on the next-to-last lap.
Such strengths — with playoff implications on the line — will look to be matched and surpassed, especially from Stevens’ No. 20 team, which came close to halting Team Penske’s St. Louis surge last year, finishing seventh. Bell has finished 11th or better in three career Cup starts at Gateway.
“We led the most laps and won both stages last year and broke a valve spring, so we had what we needed to compete for the win,” Stevens said. “It just wasn’t in the cards. So I feel like Bell is a short-track master, and our package, we’re able to find what suits him at these types of places. So, have high hopes for the weekend.”
To Wilson and the No. 2 team, the goal will be to maintain dominance at Gateway and improve on playoff positioning. Cindric ranks ninth in the playoff standings, 12 points above the cutline. Bell ranks directly behind the No. 2 in the table, 11 points clear.
“We were excited when it was announced that this would be a playoff race,” Wilson said of Gateway. “It was a good race for us last year. You know, I think there is added pressure, right? You’ve got to make sure that you come out of here with points. So the risk versus reward of the strategy changes a little bit. But yeah, from just a confidence standpoint, I feel like our team, we feel like we should be able to run well, we should be able to score stage points and ultimately get a good finish.”
Clocking OT is possible. Although last year’s race ended in regulation, the two previous St. Louis Cup races (2022-23) resulted in a NASCAR Overtime finish.
He may not be the favorite to win, but watch out for …
BRAD KESELOWSKI. Though the No. 6 RFK Racing pilot is not racing for the Bill France Cup in 2025, there is still plenty of reason to think that the 2012 Cup Series champion can make noise this weekend. According to NASCAR Insights, Keselowski ranks inside the top 10 in Speed Rating (fourth), Long-Run Speed (fifth), Passer Rating (sixth) and Restart Rating (10th) at comparable tracks to Gateway. Keselowski finished third in the 2024 Cup contest and was involved in the June tire test.
Fantasy update
NASCAR Fantasy Live expert Dustin Albino provides insight for your Sunday lineup.
The three powerhouse teams showed flashes of excellence on Saturday at Gateway. Denny Hamlin won consecutive Busch Light Pole Awards for the first time since 2018. Ryan Blaney topped the 10-lap average chart in practice. Even Hendrick Motorsports, at a track where it has historically struggled, showed promise with Kyle Larson starting second. William Byron and Chase Elliott showed potential over the long haul, leading the way at 25- and 30-lap averages. The outlier is Ross Chastain, with a fourth-place qualifying effort. Having used a start already on many of the top-contending cars at Darlington, I feel like my hands are tied, so I’m placing Chastain in my lineup over the likes of Hamlin and Larson.
Lineup: Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Ross Chastain.
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
•NASCAR at Gateway: Key info, qualifying reports and more from doubleheader weekend | Read more • Racing Insights: Stumbling playoff drivers could rebound at Gateway | Read more
• Bubble Watch: The Gateway name of the playoff game for postseason field | Read more
• Time to show your worth: Gateway presents critical proving ground for Hendrick Motorsports | Read more
• Column: Is it time for Hendrick Motorsports to panic? | Read more
• Playoff Pulse: Who’s hot, who’s not ahead of St. Louis | Read more • Turning Point to Gateway: Fresh title favorite emerges in postseason’s early going | Read more
• At-track photos: The best shots from World Wide Technology Raceway | View gallery
• Paint Scheme Preview: Fresh designs set for Midwest speed show | View gallery
• Power Rankings: An updated look at where playoff drivers stack | This week’s top 20
MADISON, Ill. — Without spilling secrets, Austin Dillon knows Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) is important for the No. 3 team.
“Gateway is huge for us,” Dillon said bluntly on Saturday before practice. “I think that if we can execute like we did at Darlington, this is a place where it’s tougher to pass than Darlington, and maintaining track position is a bit easier because of that.”
In recent years, Dillon has excelled at shorter flat tracks. He played the role of playoff shocker at Richmond Raceway last month, winning the penultimate race of the regular season from 28th in the championship standings. It was his first top-five finish in over a year, which also came at Richmond.
Between mastering Richmond, leading a career-high 107 laps at the 0.75-mile oval and earning finishes of 10th and 12th, respectively, at Iowa Speedway and Phoenix Raceway, the No. 3 car has averaged 36.7 points at comparable tracks to Gateway in 2025. That ranks third in the series, trailing only William Byron (41.3) and Ryan Blaney (39), according to Racing Insights.
“I feel comfortable with whatever we’re doing with the cars and just confident,” Dillon said of recently flourishing on flatter track surfaces. “Giving good feedback, the guys are giving me good race cars and it’s probably a strong suit for us right now at RCR.”
Execution was the motto the No. 3 team adopted to begin the playoffs. Before kickstarting the postseason at Darlington Raceway, Dillon was emphatic that he could bust playoff grids and advance to the Round of 12. After placing 23rd in the Southern 500 and earning only 14 points, he trails the elimination line by eight points entering Gateway.
Confidence remains high for Dillon, though, as RCR cars have had recent success at Gateway. The No. 3 car finished sixth in 2024, and St. Louis is the host of Kyle Busch’s most recent victory, some 84 races ago, after leading 121 circuits from pole position.
“I feel like we should be above the cutline because of all the stuff that went down last week, and we didn’t,” Dillon stated. “Execution was the main word that I used at [Cup Series Playoff] Media Day. We executed partly, half of it. Getting through that race, we’re only eight away from the cutline, so it’s not insurmountable. I feel really good about these two races.
“You have to do a good job with strategy and different things. I think the past history of Kyle running really well here and winning the race. Last year, we had a fast car and were able to take advantage of that and finish sixth and score stage points. Some stage points would be good and a top 10 and I feel like we’re going into Bristol just above the cutline, and then we’ve got to go do the same thing there.”
Dillon was the caboose of the field, over three-tenths of a second slower than 35th-place AJ Allmendinger in practice. However, the No. 3 driver rebounded in qualifying and will roll off 15th for Sunday’s race.
MADISON, Ill. — Denny Hamlin is perfect for the 2025 Playoffs — at least when it comes to qualifying.
With a lap at 139.190 mph (32.330 seconds) on Saturday at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Hamlin claimed the pole position for the second time in two playoff races and will lead the field to green in Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
Hamlin’s No.19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was 0.021 seconds faster than the No. 5 Chevrolet of Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson (139.099 mph), the only Playoff driver to participate in a Goodyear tire test at the 1.25-mile track in June.
The Busch Light Pole Award was Hamlin’s first at Gateway — and the first for Toyota — his third of the season and the 46th of his career, tying him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Junior Johnson for 11th all-time.
Coincidentally, Hamlin is also 11th on the career victory list with 58 but has converted only six of his pole-position starts into wins.
Hamlin enters the second race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs second in the standings behind Darlington winner Chase Briscoe, who qualified third on Saturday at 138.902 mph. After a seventh-place finish from the pole at the “Lady in Black,” Hamlin is 43 points above the current elimination line for the Round of 12.
“We were able to, very similarly to last week, make some great adjustments from where we were in practice,” Hamlin said. “And again, there is so much that is different from practice to qualifying when you’re going for one lap. Air pressures at a track like this are dramatically different, certainly, the intensity from which I drive is a lot different in practice than qualifying. They gave me all of the adjustments that I needed to have a really good-handling car there, and we were able to capitalize on it.”
Ross Chastain (138.855 mph) was fourth in time trials in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. Ryan Blaney, who won at Iowa last year on the same tire combination in use this weekend at Gateway, qualified fifth at 138.752 mph in the fastest Ford.
With playoff drivers accounting for the top nine starting positions, William Byron qualified sixth, followed by Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell and Austin Cindric. Tenth-place Zane Smith was the fastest non-playoff driver in the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford.
Josh Berry, 19 points below the cutline after finishing last at Darlington, will start 12th, followed by 2022 Gateway winner Joey Logano, who comes to the second playoff race three points below the elimination line.
Other playoff drivers qualified as follows: Bubba Wallace 14th, Austin Dillon 15th, Shane van Gisbergen 18th, Chase Elliott 19th and Alex Bowman 25th.
Ty Gibbs sets early pace in Gateway practice
Ty Gibbs topped the leaderboard in NASCAR Cup Series practice at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Gibbs posted a best lap of 136.786 mph in the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at the 1.25-mile track. Kyle Larson was second-fastest in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet at 136.355 mph, 0.104 seconds behind Gibbs.
Brad Keselowski, Carson Hocevar and Todd Gilliland completed the top five.
The practice session, which split the field into two groups running 25 minutes each, was completed without major incident. Defending Gateway winner Austin Cindric scraped the right side of his No. 2 Team Penske Ford in Group B, but was able to return to the track with mostly cosmetic damage. He was 27th on the practice board.
