NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: Enjoy Illinois 300
The Place: World Wide Technology Raceway
Track Length: 1.25 Mile Asphalt Oval
The Date: Sunday, September 7
The Time: 3 p.m. ET
The Purse: $9,797,935
TV: USA, 2:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 300 miles (240 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 140), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 240)
NASCAR Cup Series
World Wide Technology Raceway Storylines and Insights:
- This weekend marks the fourth running of a NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway (2022-2025).
- World Wide Technology, a market-leading technology solution provider, is the title track sponsor (World Wide Technology Raceway or WWTR).
- The track is located in Madison, Illinois, 5 miles east of St. Louis, Missouri.
- The stages at World Wide Technology Raceway: 45/140/240 (Laps = 300 miles).
- The 2025 season marks the first-time the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs’ second race has been hosted by World Wide Technology Raceway.
- World Wide Technology Raceway will be the 19th different track to host a Playoff race, each of the previous three races at WWTR took place in early June.
- World Wide Technology Raceway is the sixth different track to host the second race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs; joining Dover (2004-2010), New Hampshire (2011–2017), Richmond (2018-2021), Kansas (2022-2023) and Watkins Glen (2024).
- The race winner took the lead with two laps to go in two of the three races at WWTR (2022 and 2024).
- The final green flag stretch at World Wide Technology Raceway last year was 92 laps, the other two races there ended in overtime.
- Toyota’s next win will be their 200th in the NASCAR Cup Series but the make has never won at WWTR.
- Joey Logano finished top-five in all three races at World Wide Technology Raceway; including his win there in 2022, he is the only driver with top-10 finishes in all three races.
- Joey Logano’s average finish of 3.0 at WWTR is his best of all tracks.
- Austin Cindric’s average finish of 8.33 at WWTR is his best of all tracks.
- All three WWTR races were won by different drivers: Joey Logano (2022), Kyle Busch (2023) and Austin Cindric (2024).
- Kyle Busch’s last of 63 Cup wins came at World Wide Technology Raceway in June of 2023, he is now on an 84-race winless streak.
- Two of the three races at WWTR were won from the front-row; including 2024 when Kyle Busch won from pole, all three were won from a top-10 starting position.
- World Wide Technology Raceway is the only track Chase Elliott doesn’t have a top-10 finish.
- World Wide Technology Raceway is one of only three active tracks Alex Bowman doesn’t have a top-10 finish.
- Denny Hamlin finished runner-up in each of the last two races at World Wide Technology Raceway.
- The last seven races of 2025 were each won by a different driver.
- The driver leading the most laps won four of the last five races of 2025.
- Chase Briscoe got his 11th top-five finish of 2025 with his Darlington win last week, tied for the most with Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin.
- Only four Playoff drivers finished inside the top-10 at Darlington, the fewest to ever finish top-10 in a Playoff opener.
- In five of the last eight seasons, the winner of the opening Playoff race went on to the Championship 4 Round.
- The largest point deficit overcome to make the Round of 12 is 21 points – Chase Briscoe in 2024 and Clint Bowyer in 2019 – both after race 1 of the Round of 16.
- In every season of the stage era (2017+), at least one driver that was below the cut after the first race of the Round of 16 was able to point into the Round of 12.
- The largest gap above the cut to miss out on the Round of 12 after the first Round of 16 race is 26 points by Kurt Busch in 2021.
- Playoff drivers averaged 25.1 points last week at Darlington – the fewest ever in the first playoff race.
- No driver has ever finished worse than 25th multiple times in the Round of 16 and moved on to the Round of 12. Bell, Bowman, Shane van Gisbergen, and Berry all finished worse than 25th at Darlington.
- Shane van Gisbergen scored five points at Darlington, his worst points performance in the last 18 races dating back to Bristol (the final race of the Round of 16).
- Chase Briscoe over the last 12 races (since Mexico): 1st in Speed, 1stin average finish (11th), 1st in points per race (34.7), 1st in top fives (6), 1st in stage wins (4), 1st in laps led (536).
- In two of the last three years, the second race of the Playoffs was won by a non-playoff driver (Bubba Wallace at Kansas in 2022 and Chris Buescher at Watkins Glen in 2024).
- Three times the winner of the second race in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs has gone on to win the overall championship – 2009, 2010 (Jimmie Johnson), and 2011 (Tony Stewart).
NCS Clinch Scenarios For World Wide Technology Raceway (Playoff Race #2):
Already Clinched
- The following driver has clinched a spot in the 12-driver field of the next round: Chase Briscoe.
Can Clinch Via Points
- If there is a repeat winner or a win by a driver who cannot advance to the next round, the following drivers could clinch by being 57 points above the 11th winless driver in the standings. The same point requirements listed below would hold true if a new win comes from Denny Hamlin.
- Denny Hamlin: Would clinch with 56 points
- Kyle Larson: Could only clinch with help
- Tyler Reddick: Could only clinch with help
- Bubba Wallace: Could only clinch with help
- William Byron: Could only clinch with help
- Ryan Blaney: Could only clinch with help
- Ross Chastain: Could only clinch with help
- Austin Cindric: Could only clinch with help
- Christopher Bell: Could only clinch with help
- Chase Elliott: Could only clinch with help
- The following drivers could clinch on points with a win by Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell or Chase Elliott:
- Denny Hamlin: Could only clinch with help
- Kyle Larson: Could only clinch with help
- Tyler Reddick: Could only clinch with help
- Bubba Wallace: Could only clinch with help
- William Byron: Could only clinch with help
- Ryan Blaney: Could only clinch with help
- Ross Chastain: Could only clinch with help
- Austin Cindric: Could only clinch with help
- Christopher Bell: Could only clinch with help
- Chase Elliott: Could only clinch with help
- If there is a new winner from Shane Van Gisbergen or another winless driver lower in the standings but still eligible to advance to the next round, the following drivers could clinch by being 57 points above the 10th winless driver in the standings.
- Denny Hamlin: Could only clinch with help
- Kyle Larson: Could only clinch with help
- Tyler Reddick: Could only clinch with help
- Bubba Wallace: Could only clinch with help
- William Byron: Could only clinch with help
- Ryan Blaney: Could only clinch with help
- Ross Chastain: Could only clinch with help
- Austin Cindric: Could only clinch with help
- Christopher Bell: Could only clinch with help
- Chase Elliott: Could only clinch with help
Can Clinch Via Win
- The following drivers would clinch on their win alone:
- Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Shane Van Gisbergen, Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, Josh Berry
— NASCAR —