The Enjoy Illinois 300 (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter) is a NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway (formerly Gateway Motorsports Park) in Madison, Illinois in the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area, first held in 2022. This race replaced the Pocono Organics CBD 325, one of the two Cup Series races at Pocono Raceway.

Enjoy Illinois 300
NASCAR Cup Series
VenueWorld Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway
LocationMadison, Illinois
Corporate sponsorIllinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity / Illinois Office of Tourism
First race2022
Distance300 miles (480 km)
Laps240
Stage 1: 45
Stage 2: 95
Final Stage: 100
Most wins (driver)Joey Logano
Kyle Busch
Austin Cindric
Most wins (team)Team Penske (2)
Most wins (manufacturer)Ford (2)
Circuit information
SurfaceAsphalt
Length1.25 mi (2.01 km)
Turns4

A NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, the Toyota 200 presented by CK Power, which was previously a standalone race on the series' schedule before the track received a Cup Series date, is held on the same weekend as this race.

History

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On August 21, 2021, Adam Stern from Sports Business Journal reported that NASCAR was in talks to have the track host a Cup Series race in 2022.[1] On September 8, he reported that Gateway would be on the 2022 Cup Series schedule and would replace one of the two races at Pocono Raceway.[2] The schedule was released on September 15 with Gateway on Sunday, June 5.[3]

The race length is 300 miles (240 laps).[4] The stage lengths for the race were confirmed to be 45-95-100 laps for the Cup Series. The 2022 event was the first Cup race at the track, and also the first for the new Next Gen car at the track.[5]

Past winners

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Year Date No. Driver Team Manufacturer Race distance Race time Average speed
(mph)
Report Ref
Laps Miles (km)
2022 June 5 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 245* 306.25 (490) 3:07:34 97.965 Report [6]
2023 June 4 8 Kyle Busch Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 243* 303.75 (486) 3:28:16 87.508 Report [7]
2024 June 2 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 240 300 (480) 2:48:03 107.11 Report [8]

Notes

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Multiple winners (teams)

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# Wins Team Years Won
2 Team Penske 2022, 2024

Manufacturer wins

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# Wins Manufacturer Years Won
2 Ford 2022, 2024
1 Chevrolet 2023

References

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  1. ^ "Cup to race Gateway in 2022?". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 21, 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  2. ^ "2022 Cup Schedule Released Next Week? Adding Gateway? Pocono losing a race?". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. September 8, 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  3. ^ "2022 NASCAR Cup Series Schedule". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. September 15, 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  4. ^ "2022 NASCAR Cup Series Schedule". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  5. ^ "(Twitter post)". Twitter. Bob Pockrass. January 27, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2022. Tentative stage lengths for national series. Cup stage lengths for races later in the year TBD as NASCAR sees what fuel mileage is with new car (try not to have a fuel mileage race to end of stage).
  6. ^ "2022 Enjoy Illinois 300". Racing-Reference. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  7. ^ "2023 Enjoy Illinois 300". Racing-Reference. Retrieved June 4, 2023.
  8. ^ "2024 Enjoy Illinois 300". Racing-Reference. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
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Previous race:
Coca-Cola 600
NASCAR Cup Series
Enjoy Illinois 300
Next race:
Toyota/Save Mart 350