The NASCAR Cup Series is set for the Enjoy Illinois 300 on Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois. This is the only stop for the premier series at the racetrack for 2024.
Kyle Busch won last year's race at Gateway by holding off Denny Hamlin by 0.517 seconds following a late-race caution from Bubba Wallace's broken brake rotor forcing the race into overtime. Joey Logano won the 2022 race, the series' inaugural event at the track.
Last week, Christopher Bell won the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. The prevailing storyline coming out of the weekend is the yet-to-be-determined status of Kyle Larson's playoff waiver after the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver missed the race to drive in the rain-delayed Indy 500 in pursuit of the double foiled by weather.
Follow along with our live race updates, with green flag set for after 2:30 p.m. CT on Sunday.
STARTING LINEUP:NASCAR Cup Series at Gateway: Starting lineup, TV schedule for Sunday's race
SUNDAY'S PICKS:NASCAR Gateway predictions 2024: Expert picks for Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway
NASCAR Cup Series race at Gateway: Live updates, highlights, live leaderboard
LIVE LEADERBOARD:Full field leaderboard of NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway
Austin Cindric wins at Gateway!
Career victory No. 2 for Austin Cindric, who wins at Gateway benefitting from his teammate's misfortune. Crazy circ*mstances throughout the final 20 laps.
Ryan Blaney finishes 24th as the final car on the lead lap. Stunning.
Ryan Blaney is OUT OF GAS!
Ryan Blaney is out of fuel as he crosses the start-finish line on the white flag. Austin Cindric leads!
What a shift in this race again!
Lap 234: Austin Cindric tries to cut into Ryan Blaney's lead
Austin Cindric is within 1.5 seconds with six laps to go. Is there still a battle to be had here?
Lap 222: Christopher Bell cedes the battle to Ryan Blaney: 'Blowing up'
Christopher Bell says on the radio that he is "blowing up" and backs off of the battle with Ryan Blaney. He falls well back of Blaney and will likely fall outside of the top five if he can make it to the finish.
Blaney's lead over Austin Cindric is 3 seconds.
Lap 216: Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell battle for the lead as pit cycle finally complete
Kyle Larson is the final car to pit among the leaders, which paves the way for a Ryan Blaney vs. Christopher Bell duel to the finish. The gap is gone. 24 laps to go.
Lap 206: Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott lead group of cars stretching out this fuel run
Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs and Ryan Blaney are all stretching out the fuel run, with a stop still needed. Ryan Blaney leads Austin Cindric and Christopher Bell among the leaders of the already-stopped drivers. Cindric and Bell are battling for position.
Lap 193: Christopher Bell comes down pit road
Christopher Bell stops from the lead with 47 laps to go. Four-tire stop, and Bell shakes out well behind Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric, who are the leaders among those who have stopped.
Lap 182: Christopher Bell regains the lead, but there's a catch...
Christopher Bell is now the leader, though he will need to pit again. Most of those who stayed out after Stage 2 have pitted. Bell can get this down to a splash-and-go stop and benefit on track position, one would think.
Lap 176: Leaders will pit
Carson Hocevar and Ryan Blaney pit from the top five, which triggers the final pit stops of the day. How will it shake out?
Lap 171: Christopher Bell back in the top five
Christopher Bell drives into the top five with 69 laps to go. Everyone will need to stop again. Austin Cindric continues to lead.
Kudos to Carson Hocever, who is in fourth.
Lap 149: Austin Cindric leads the Fords after staying out
Austin Cindric leads a group of Fords who stayed out on the restart. Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano and Chase Briscoe are in range too.
Christopher Bell restarts outside the top 10. Kyle Larson is still on the lead lap but toward the back of the field.
Christopher Bell wins Stage 2
Christopher Bell wins Stage 2 under caution after the Larson-Busch crash.
The top 10:
- Christopher Bell
- Austin Cindric
- Ryan Blaney
- Chase Elliott
- Brad Keselowski
- Joey Logano
- Chase Briscoe
- Carson Hocevar
- Austin Dillon
- Denny Hamlin
Kyle Busch is done for the day. Kyle Larson's radio is not happy with Busch squeezing Larson into the corner.
Lap 140: Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson crash on final lap of Stage 2!
Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson spin in turn 1 on the final lap of the second stage, and both get into the wall. Busch has noticeable damage. Larson also has damage, but Busch got the worst of that as the car on the outside.
Lap 119: Christopher Bell stays out, goes back to the lead
Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson all stayed out. Bell pushes to the lead on the restart.
Lap 113: Josh Berry crashes
Josh Berry has something go wrong as he drove into turn 3, and he spins and crashes into the wall. Berry continued to look at his left front tire before going to the infield care center.
There are 27 laps left in the second stage, with Austin Cindric in the lead though in need of a stop.
Cindric, Ryan Blaney, RFK Racing and Carson Hocevar should benefit from this caution in the long run. Could be a one-stop race from here for those drivers.
Lap 109: Martin Truex Jr. has a tire go down
Martin Truex Jr. pits again after a flat left rear tire. That will be a big impact to his day, especially if this continues to go green for a while. He had been inside the top five before green flag stops.
Josh Berry penalized for too fast exiting pit road
Josh Berry has to come back down to pit road and serve a pass-through penalty for going too fast exiting pit road.
Those with newer tires are starting to come down for stops, including leader Christopher Bell.
Lap 92: Green flag stops begin
Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon stayed out during the stage break and are the first cars in, all but splitting the second stage in half. Josh Berry and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. follow from the top 10.
Lap 70: Christopher Bell goes back to the lead
Christopher Bell drives past Kyle Busch for the lead.
Earlier, Chase Elliott smacked the wall and complained about the toe, but he's moved up to 6th place and in striking distance of the top 5. He's been very solid so far.
Lap 60: Older tires holding up against new tires
Christopher Bell is the highest running driver with four new tires, in 4th. Chase Elliott is the second highest, in 8th. Something to note for later on. Track position > New Tires.
Lap 55: Kyle Busch leads after staying out
Todd Gilliland leads a group of cars who pitted earlier and didn't pit during the stage break. Ryan Preece took two tires, as did Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Briscoe. Christopher Bell will restart 7th.
Kyle Busch also stayed out, restarted alongside Gilliland and jumped to the lead on the restart.
Christopher Bell wins Stage 1
Christopher Bell wins the first stage, which didn't even last a full fuel run. Michael McDowell held his ground well from the pole and is second, with Ryan Blaney third.
The top 10:
- Christopher Bell
- Michael McDowell
- Ryan Blaney
- Austin Cindric
- Denny Hamlin
- William Byron
- Ty Gibbs
- Tyler Reddick
- Joey Logano
- Chase Elliott
Lap 42: Christopher Bell takes the lead after a long battle with Michael McDowell
Christopher Bell spends about 10 laps trying to work Michael McDowell over and finally does, with Ryan Blaney close by in third.
The track has at least two grooves, which is good to see. Still going to be difficult to pass given tire falloff and the momentum the outside car can carry while defending the spot.
Brad Keselowski struggling early with loose wheel
Brad Keselowski started 7th, fell out of the top 10 during the first green flag run and now is outside the top 30 after pitting for a loose wheel. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also makes an error on pit road, too fast. He also starts toward the back of the field.
Lap 17: Cody Ware again involved in a spin
Derek Kraus and Cody Ware spin off of turn 2. Caution is out. A portion of the field will pit, but most of the leaders stay out. Remember, Stage 1 is 45 laps.
Lap 10: Christopher Bell vs. Michael McDowell for the lead
Michael McDowell holds off Christopher Bell on the restart, but Bell is lingering close.
Lap 3: First caution is out at Gateway for John Hunter Nemechek, Cody Ware
John Hunter Nemechek and Cody Ware collided coming out of turn two and brought out the first caution of the race. Nemechek spun coming out of the corner. Cody Ware got caught up in the spin. Both appear to be able to continue.
Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway is underway for NASCAR Cup Series
The green flag is out. Time for 240 laps around Gateway.
Michael McDowell on the pole; full NASCAR Cup Series in Gateway starting lineup
Michael McDowell won the pole for Sunday's race, his third Cup Series pole of the season.
The top 10:
- Michael McDowell, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
- Austin Cindric, No. 2Team Penske Ford
- Ryan Blaney, No. 12Team Penske Ford
- Christopher Bell, No. 20Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
- Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
- Denny Hamlin, No. 11Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
- Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
- Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
- Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
- Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Find thefull starting lineuphere.
NASCAR race radio coverage: How to listen to NASCAR Cup race at Gateway
The Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway will be aired on the radio by the Motor Racing Network. MRN has affiliates all across the country, and their feed can also be streamed onMRN.comand onNASCAR.comas well as the NASCAR app. The race can also be heard on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
NASCAR Cup Series Gateway race TV schedule, start time
- Green Flag Time:Approx. 2:30 p.m. CT on Sunday, June 2
- TV coverage: FS1 (coverage begins at 1 p.m. CT Sunday)
- Radio: MRN (102.5 FM in Nashville)
- Streaming:FUBO(free trial available); FOX Sports app (subscription required); MRN.com and SiriusXM for audio (subscription required).
The Enjoy Illinois 300 will be broadcast nationally on FS1. Streaming options for the race include the FOX Sports app andFUBO, which offers afree trialto potential subscribers.
Recent NASCAR Cup Series winners at Gateway
- 2023:Kyle Busch
- 2022:Joey Logano
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