Kyle Larson Breaks Drought in Wild Chase Race at World Wide Technology Raceway: In a cauldron of chaos, with Chase drivers wrecking and brake rotors exploding through the bodies of NASCAR Cup Series cars, Kyle Larson’s 51-race winless streak ended Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. Holding off pole winner Joey Logano and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman on a succession of late restarts, Larson won the Enjoy Illinois 300 in two overtimes to affirm his status as a contender for a third series championship.[Read More]
#5-Kyle Larson won the Enjoy Illinois 300 NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway. The win is his first win of the year, first at World Wide Technology and 33rd career win.
#48-Alex Bowman finished 2nd followed by pole winner #22-Joey Logano, #24-William Byron, #1-Ross Chastain, #3-Austin Dillon, #88-Connor Zilisch, #77-Carson Hocevar, #11-Denny Hamlin, and #2-Austin Cindric.
The race turned into a war of attrition, with a track-record 18 cautions for 87 laps and two late red flags for track cleanup. The race went to overtime twice before Larson took the checkered flag. He led 80 laps, including the final 13, second only to Logano for most laps led.
The victory ended a lengthy winless streak for Larson, whose previous Cup Series win came at Kansas Speedway in the spring of 2025.
Stage 1 was won by #22-Joey Logano. Stage 2 was won by #5-Kyle Larson. Logano also earned the bonus point for the fastest lap.
There were 11 lead changes among five drivers. The 18 cautions were the most ever in a Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway and the most in any Cup Series race this season. The race took 3 hours, 47 minutes, and 23 seconds to complete.
The average speed of the race was: 81.470mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Infraction Report.
How the Chase drivers fared at World Wide Technology Raceway:
#5-Kyle Larson — WON | Stage 1: 3rd | Stage 2: WON | 80 laps led
#22-Joey Logano — 3rd | Stage 1: WON | Stage 2: 2nd | Race-high laps led | Fastest lap
#24-William Byron — 4th | Started 24th (+20)
#77-Carson Hocevar — 8th | Stage 1: 6th
#11-Denny Hamlin — 9th | Stage 2: 6th
#2-Austin Cindric — 10th
#23-Bubba Wallace — 14th | Stage 2: 10th | Involved in late crash
#60-Ryan Preece — 17th | Stage 2: 7th
#54-Ty Gibbs — 18th | Stage 1: 9th | Involved in late crash
#20-Christopher Bell — 19th | Stage 1: 2nd | Involved in late crash
#45-Tyler Reddick — 25th | Stage 2: 8th | Early wall contact; involved in late crash
#17-Chris Buescher — 27th | Brake failure with 3 laps remaining
#7-Daniel Suarez — 29th | Involved in multiple early incidents
#9-Chase Elliott — 31st | Stage 1: 5th | Brake failure with 27 laps remaining
#19-Chase Briscoe — 32nd | Stage 1: 7th | Stage 2: 9th | Collected in Elliott’s brake-failure crash
#12-Ryan Blaney — 35th | Stage 1: 4th | Stage 2: 4th | Brake failure
Race Fast Facts – World Wide Technology:
Kyle Larson (C) won the Enjoy Illinois 300, his 33rd victory in 430 Cup Series races.
This is his first victory and 15th top-10 finish in 2026.
This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in five races at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Alex Bowman (second) posted his first top-10 finish in five races at World Wide Technology Raceway. It is his seventh top-10 finish in 2026.
Joey Logano (C) (third) posted his fifth top-10 finish in five races at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Connor Zilisch (seventh) was the highest finishing rookie.
Denny Hamlin (C) leads the point standings by 13 points over Christopher Bell (C).
Driver Points / Chase Standings after World Wide Technology Raceway:
Race 2 of 10 in the Chase:
1) #11-Denny Hamlin, 2168
2) #5-Kyle Larson, 2159, -9
3) #20-Christopher Bell, 2150, -18
4) #12-Ryan Blaney, 2135, -33
5) #45-Tyler Reddick, 2126, -42
6) #54-Ty Gibbs, 2117, -51
7) #22-Joey Logano, 2117, -51
8) #19-Chase Briscoe, 2109, -59
9) #77-Carson Hocevar, 2080, -88
10) #23-Bubba Wallace, 2078, -90
11) #9-Chase Elliott, 2075, -93
12) #2-Austin Cindric, 2060, -108
13) #17-Chris Buescher, 2057, -111
14) #60-Ryan Preece, 2055, -113
15) #24-William Byron, 2054, -114
16) #7-Daniel Suarez, 2049, -119
See the Driver Points Standings and Owner Points Standings.
Race updates:
Checkered flag for Larson. He wins over Bowman Logano Byron Chastain.
White flag for Larson.
Lap 246 – Green for the second overtime attempt. Larson Bowman Logano Chastain Bryon Keselowski ADillon Hocevar Zilisch Cindric.
Lap 242 – CAUTION for SVG into the wall in turn 1. Bowman grabbed second from Logano on the restart. Second overtime attempt coming.
Lap 242 – Green for the first overtime attempt. Larson Logano Bowman Chastain Byron ADillon Keselowski Hocevar SVG Zilisch.
Lap 239 – 6:59pm/et – Red flag is lifted.
Lap 239 – 6:56pm/et – Red flag is out for track cleanup.
Lap 238 – CAUTION for Buescher into the wall in turn 1. Another brake failure. Will have an overtime finish.
Lap 237 – Logano still losing ground, .6 second back.
Lap 236 – Larson’s lead up to .4 second.
Lap 235 – Larson leads on the restart. Logano still second.
Lap 234 – Green flag with 7 laps remaining. Larson Logano Bowman Keselowski Chastain Byron ADillon SVG Cindric Preece.
Lap 231 – Leader stayed out, as expected.
Lap 230 – 6:46pm/et – Red flag is lifted. Pit road will be open.
Lap 230 – 6:41pm/et – NASCAR is going to red flag the race for track cleanup.
Lap 228 – CAUTION for another wreck on the backstretch: Allmendinger Suarez Gibbs TDillon involved. Larson took the lead on the restart and was the leader at the time of caution.
Lap 228 – Green flag with 13 laps to go. Logano Larson Keselowski Chastain Bowman Byron ADillon SVG Cindric Preece the top 10.
Lap 225 – Pit road open. Leaders stay out.
Lap 223 – CAUTION again. Accident on the backstretch: Reddick Wallace Bell Berry involved.
Lap 222 – Logano to the lead. Keselowski still second, then Larson Chastain Bell.
Lap 221 – Green flag with 20 laps remaining. Keselowski Logano Bell Chastain Larson Berry Bowman Wallace SVG Byron.
Lap 217 – Pit road is open. Leaders stay out. Gibbs pits along with Hocevar Suarez Jones Custer Hill TDillon.
Lap 214 – CAUTION for Elliott and Briscoe into the wall in turn 1. Elliott had a brake failure and ran into Briscoe, sending him into the wall. Heavy damage for both of them. Briscoe gets out of the car. Elliott goes to pit road for the crew to look at the car.
Lap 211 – Thirty laps to go. Keselowski now leads Logano by 1 second. Bell is third, 1.3 seconds back. Then Chastain and Briscoe.
Lap 206 – Green flag with 35 laps remaining. The top 20:
Keselowski Gibbs Preece SVG Chastain [did not pit]
Logano Briscoe Berry [2 tires]
Bell Elliott Larson Bowman Suarez Byron Wallace Reddick Cindric ADillon Zilisch Hamlin [4 tires]
Lap 202 – Pit road is open. Most of the field pits. Staying out: Keselowski Gibbs Preece SVG Chastain. Off pit road: Logano Briscoe Berry Hocevar Bell Elliott Larson. The first three take 2 tires.
Lap 199 – CAUTION for Gragson into the wall in turns 1 & 2. Brake problems for him as well. He goes to the garage.
Lap 196 – Logano still leads Keselowski. Bell is now third, 2.36 seconds back.
Lap 191 – Fifty laps remaining. Logano’s lead over Keselowski is .5 second. Hocevar has fallen 1.4 second back then Bell and Gibbs. 13 Chase drivers are in the top 17. Herbst officially done for the day.
Lap 184 – Logano leads with Keselowski and Hocevar side by side for second.
Lap 183 – Logano to the lead.
Lap 182 – Green flag with 59 laps remaining. Keselowski still leads.
Lap 177 – CAUTION for the 12th time today. Herbst backs into the wall in turn 1.
Lap 175 – Green flag with 66 laps to go. Keselowski Logano Hocevar Bell Gibbs Hamlin Reddick Cindric Elliott Bowman.
Lap 172 – Pit road is open. Larson, Berry, and a few others come down this time. They will be good on fuel the rest of the way.
Lap 170 – CAUTION out again. This time for Chastain spinning on the frontstretch after contact with Briscoe. He continues.
Lap 168 – Keselowski has cleared Berry for the lead. Logano stays third, then Hocevar and Larson.
Lap 165 – Now Keselowski to the lead. Blaney and Smith are officially done for the day.
Lap 164 – Berry to the lead over Larson Hamlin Keselowski and Logano.
Lap 163 – Green flag with 78 laps remaining. Larson Berry Keselowski Logano Hamlin Hocevar Gibbs Bell Cindric Reddick the top 10.
Lap 159 – With the track now clean, pit road is open. Larson and Berry stay out. Most everyone else pits. Off pit road: Keselowski Logano Hamlin Hocevar Gibbs Bell Cindric Reddick. Those that pitted may try to make it the rest of the way on fuel.
Lap 155 – CAUTION. Turn 1. Blaney into the wall because of a brake failure.
Lap 147 – Green flag with 94 laps remaining.
Lap 141 – CAUTION for a spin by Wallace. Briscoe also spins and Bryon makes some contact with Wallace. Everyone is able to continue on but Wallace has left front damage.
Lap 141 – Green flag for the start of the final stage. 100 laps remaining.
Lap 136 – Pit road is open. Off pit road: Logano Larson Keselowski Berry Preece Briscoe Hamlin Blaney Wallace Elliott.
Lap 132 – Stage 2 results: Larson Logano Keselowski Blaney Berry Hamlin Preece Reddick Briscoe Wallace. Smith is out of the car and being assisted by the safety crew.
Lap 131 – CAUTION is out for an accident by Smith in turn 1. He appears to have broken a brake rotor. Hard contact with the outside wall. That will end stage 2. Chastain will get the free pass and be back on the lead lap.
Lap 129 – Chastain has to pit under green. He had stayed out during the last two cautions.
Lap 128 – Keselowski gets around Chastain for third, but is 4 seconds off the lead.
Lap 126 – Fifteen of the Chase drivers are currently in the top 20. Only Buescher is outside that, currently in 30th.
Lap 121 – With this longer green flag run, drivers are starting to fall off the lead lap, including TDillon McDowell Herbst and Ware.
Lap 116 – Logano takes second from Chastain, but is 2.6 seconds behind Larson. Twenty-five laps left in Stage 2.
Lap 113 – Logano continues to lead. Chastain remains second, then Logano Keselowski and Blaney.
Lap 101 – The first 100 laps were completed in 1 hour and 26 minutes.
Lap 97 – Larson has pulled out to a 2.4 second lead over Chastain.
Lap 90 – Everyone is still on track and 35 drivers on the lead lap. Herbst is one lap down.
Lap 88 -Larson leads Chastain by 1.5 second. Then Keselowski Logano and Preece.
Lap 82 – Larson around Chastain to take the lead.
Lap 75 – Larson now up to second.
Lap 71 – Chastain continues to lead. Preece up to second.
Lap 70 – Back to green. Chastain Jones Preece Hamlin Larson the top 5.
Lap 66 – Pit road is open. Chastain and Jones stay out but most everyone else is in. A mix of strategies. Off pit road: Hamlin Larson Berry Keselowski Zilisch Byron Logano Blaney
Lap 64 – CAUTION for Herbst and Allmendinger in turn four. Herbst spun after cutting across the nose of SVG and Allmendinger could not avoid him.
Lap 61 – Back to green. Keselowski Nemechek Suarez Bryon Hamlin the top 5.
Lap 56 – CAUTION when Jones spins in turn 1 after contact from Gibbs.
Lap 53 – Green flag for the start of the second stage.
Lap 49 – Staying out to move up front: Keselowski Nemechek Suarez Byron Hamlin Gilliland ADillon Cindric Custer Buescher. Bell will restart 11th.
Lap 48 – Pit road is open. Leaders are in. Off pit road: Bell Gibbs Zilisch Jones Logano Larson Smith Blaney. The first four only took two tires.
Lap 46 – CAUTION for the end of stage 1. Logano wins it over Bell Larson Blaney Elliott Hocevar Briscoe Bowman Gibbs Keselowski.
Lap 41 – Five laps remaining in stage 1. Logano leads Bell by .27 seconds. Then Larson Blaney Elliott Hocevar Briscoe Bowman Gibbs and Nemechek.
Lap 33 – Green flag with thirteen laps remaining in stage 1. Logano continues to lead. Bell reports to his team that his brake pedal seems soft.
Lap 29 – Several drivers pit for service now and will plan to stay out at the stage break. They include: Cindric Hamlin Byron Jones Allmendinger Stenhouse Ware SVG Zilisch ADillon Preece Custer.
Lap 28 – CAUTION for a spin by SVG in turn 2. McDowell will get the free pass.
Lap 25 – Back to green. Logano Bell Blaney Larson Hocevar the top 5. Gragson and McDowell are a lap down now. Suarez is the last driver on the lead lap.
Lap 21 – Pit road is open. Suarez and McDowell on pit road for repairs.
Lap 20 – CAUTION is back out for SVG Suarez Ware McDowell and others on the backstretch. Everyone is able to drive away.
Lap 20 – Back to green. 26 laps left in stage 1.
Lap 15 – CAUTION is out for a spin by Stenhouse on the backstretch. He doesn’t hit anything. Herbst is the free pass.
Lap 11 – Back to green. Logano Bell Larson Hocevar Blaney the top 5. Herbst is a lap down.
Lap 8 – Pit road is open. Everyone but Herbst and Reddick stay out.
Lap 6 – CAUTION is out for a spin by Herbst on the frontstretch. He gets into the inside wall.
Lap 4 – Reddick got into the outside wall. He continues but says the wheel is off.
Lap 2 – Logano leads the first lap.
• 3:15pm/et – Green flag.
• 3:01pm/et – Engines are fired.
• 2:52pm/et – Pre-race ceremonies are underway.
• 2:30pm/et – USA now has pre-race coverage.
• 1:10pm/et – NASCAR says Nemechek will drop to the rear for unapproved adjustments.
• No cars to the rear for the start as of the close of the garage on Saturday.
• No weather issues today: Partly sunny, with a high near 89. Calm wind becoming north 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon.
Race details:
Broadcast: USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 240 laps / 300 miles
Stages: 45 / 140 / 240
Average time of race: 3:06:30
Pit road speed: 40 mph
Caution vehicle speed: 50 mph
Fuel Window: 78 laps
Timing (all times local & subject to change)
- Driver Introductions will begin promptly at 1:25 p.m.
Invocation: 1:52:20 p.m.
National Anthem: 1:53:00 p.m.
Command: 2:00:00 p.m.
Green Flag: 2:10:00 p.m.
Paint Schemes
Cars to the rear: #42-Nemechek (unapproved adjustments)
Pre-race inspection in the Cup Series garage is complete.
The No. 17 of Chris Buescher failed twice and will lose pit selection for this event, car chief Joshua Sisco was ejected.
The No. 51 of Rick Ware failed twice and will lose pit selection for this event, car chief Dave Jones was ejected.
Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Enjoy Illinois 300 NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway have been made.
Pole winner #22-Joey Logano chose pit stall 1.
Outside pole sitter #5-Kyle Larson took the 6th stall, with an opening in front of it.
See all pit choices on the World Wide Technology Pit Stall page.
#22-Joey Logano won the Busch pole for the Enjoy Illinois 300 NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway with a speed of 137.124mph for his second pole of the year, 2nd at World Wide Technology and 35th of his career.
#5-Kyle Larson will start second followed by #12-Ryan Blaney, #20-Christopher Bell, #19-Chase Briscoe, #77-Carson Hocevar, #23-Bubba Wallace, #9-Chase Elliott, #54-Ty Gibbs, and #11-Denny Hamlin.
See the complete qualifying results and the Enjoy Illinois 300 Starting Lineup.
World Wide Technology Raceway – Qualifying Fast Facts:
Joey Logano (C) won the Pole Award for the Enjoy Illinois 300 with a lap of 32.817 seconds, 137.124mph.
This is his 35th pole in 643 NASCAR Cup Series races.
This is his second pole and 12th top-10 start in 2026.
This is his first pole in five races at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Kyle Larson (C) (second) posted his 18th top-10 start of 2026 and his second in five races at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Ryan Blaney (C) (third) posted his fifth top-10 start at World Wide Technology Raceway. It is his 18th in 28 races this season.
Connor Zilisch (19th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
Qualifying Order
Practice for the Enjoy Illinois 300 NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway is over. The results:
#12-Ryan Blaney 135.664
#22-Joey Logano 135.513
#21-Josh Berry 135.501
#88-Connor Zilisch 135.370
#45-Tyler Reddick 135.297
Slowest: #35-Riley Herbst 132.723
Most laps run: #12-Ryan Blaney, 72 laps.
Best 10 consecutive lap avg (of 36 drivers): #12-Ryan Blaney, 134.236mph
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the Enjoy Illinois 300 Practice speeds page.
Crew Rosters
The entry list for the Enjoy Illinois 300 NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway is posted, 36 teams/drivers [for 40 spots] are listed.
No Open teams are entered.
See the full entry list on the Enjoy Illinois 300 Entry List page.
Goodyear Fast Facts — World Wide Technology: NASCAR Cup Series teams will run the same Goodyear Racing Eagles at World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR) this weekend that they used in last year’s race at the St. Louis-area track. This is the first time Cup Series teams will use this left- and right-side tire combination this season, however the right-side Goodyear Racing Eagle was raced at Iowa Speedway last month.
Statistical Advance: Analyzing the Enjoy Illinois 300: A look at some of the top statistical performers at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, going into the Enjoy Illinois 300 this Sunday.
The NASCAR Cup Series Chase continues this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., with the Enjoy Illinois 300 this Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network. Pre-race coverage on USA Network begins at 2:30 p.m. ET.
| Enjoy Illinois 300 on USA Network |
| Date |
Game |
Time (ET) |
| Sun., Sept. 13 |
Pre-Race Show
- Marty Snider (host)
- Jeff Burton (analyst)
- Steve Letarte (analyst)
|
2:30 p.m. |
| |
Enjoy Illinois 300
- Leigh Diffey (pxp)
- Jeff Burton (analyst)
- Steve Letarte (analyst)
- Dale Jarrett (pit box)
- Marty Snider, Kim Coon, Dave Burns (pit reporter)
|
3 p.m. |
| |
Post-Race Show |
Post Race |
Race rules and information:
