2022 Enjoy Illinois 300 Explained

Type:	CUST
Description:	Race 15 of 36 in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series
Race Name:	Enjoy Illinois 300
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6]
Year:	2022
Location:	World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois
Course Mi:	1.25
Course Km:	2.01
Distance Laps:	245
Distance Mi:	306.25
Distance Km:	490
Scheduled Laps:	240
Scheduled Mi:	300
Scheduled Km:	480
Avg:	97.965mph
Pole Driver:	Chase Briscoe
Pole Team:	Stewart-Haas Racing
Pole Time:	32.544
Most Driver:	Kyle Busch
Most Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Most Laps:	66
Car:	22
First Driver:	Joey Logano
First Team:	Team Penske
Network:	FS1
Announcers:	Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer, Michael Waltrip, and Kenny Wallace (Stage 2)
Radio:	MRN
Booth Ann:	Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Ann:	Dave Moody (1 & 2) and Kurt Becker (3 & 4)

The 2022 Enjoy Illinois 300 was a NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on June 5, 2022, at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois. The 15th race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, it was contested over 245 laps – extended from 240 laps due to an overtime finish, on the 1.25-mile (2.01 km) paved oval motor racing track.

Report

Background

World Wide Technology Raceway (formerly Gateway International Raceway and Gateway Motorsports Park) is a motorsport racing facility in Madison, Illinois, just east of St. Louis, Missouri, United States, close to the Gateway Arch. It features a 1.25-mile (2 kilometer) oval that hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and the NTT IndyCar Series, a 1.6miles infield road course used by the SCCA, Porsche Club of America, and various car clubs, and a quarter-mile drag strip that hosts the annual NHRA Midwest Nationals event.

On September 15, 2021, it was announced WWT Raceway at Gateway would be added to the NASCAR Cup Series schedule for the first time for the 2022 season.^[7]

Entry list

(R) denotes rookie driver.
(i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

	Driver	Manufacturer
1		Chevrolet
2	Austin Cindric (R)	Ford
3		Chevrolet
4		Ford
5		Chevrolet
6		Ford
7		Chevrolet
8		Chevrolet
9		Chevrolet
10		Ford
11		Toyota
12		Ford
14		Ford
15	Parker Kligerman (i)	Ford
16	A. J. Allmendinger (i)	Chevrolet
17	Zane Smith (i)	Ford
18		Toyota
19		Toyota
20		Toyota
21	Harrison Burton (R)	Ford
22		Ford
23		Toyota
24		Chevrolet
31		Chevrolet
34		Ford
38	Todd Gilliland (R)	Ford
41		Ford
42		Chevrolet
43		Chevrolet
45		Toyota
47		Chevrolet
48		Chevrolet
51		Ford
77	Josh Bilicki (i)	Chevrolet
78		Ford
99		Chevrolet
Official entry list

Practice

Joey Logano was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 32.906 seconds and a speed of 136.753mph.^[8]

Practice results

Pos		Driver	Time
1	22		32.906	136.753
2	12		33.025	136.260
3	2	Austin Cindric (R)	33.063	136.104
Official practice results

Qualifying

Chase Briscoe scored the pole for the race with a time of 32.544 and a speed of 138.274mph.^[9]

Qualifying results

Pos		Driver	Manufacturer
1	14		Ford	32.528	32.544
2	2	Austin Cindric (R)	Ford	32.797	32.662
3	20		Toyota	32.703	32.713
4	8		Chevrolet	32.656	32.724
5	12		Ford	32.719	32.735
6	11		Toyota	32.762	32.760
7	22		Ford	32.605	32.820
8	10		Ford	32.814	32.820
9	21	Harrison Burton (R)	Ford	32.877	32.828
10	1		Chevrolet	32.904	32.870
11	45		Toyota	32.803	—
12	18		Toyota	32.827	—
13	19		Toyota	32.868	—
14	41		Ford	32.932	—
15	5		Chevrolet	32.939	—
16	9		Chevrolet	32.941	—
17	34		Ford	32.960	—
18	23		Toyota	32.977	—
19	7		Chevrolet	32.997	—
20	4		Ford	33.019	—
21	43		Chevrolet	33.019	—
22	38	Todd Gilliland (R)	Ford	33.055	—
23	99		Chevrolet	33.088	—
24	24		Chevrolet	33.112	—
25	48		Chevrolet	33.150	—
26	42		Chevrolet	33.285	—
27	47		Chevrolet	33.299	—
28	31		Chevrolet	33.339	—
29	3		Chevrolet	33.415	—
30	6		Ford	33.575	—
31	51		Ford	33.625	—
32	17	Zane Smith (i)	Ford	33.671	—
33	77	Josh Bilicki (i)	Chevrolet	33.744	—
34	78		Ford	34.477	—
35	16	Ben Rhodes (i)	Chevrolet	0.000	—
36	15	Parker Kligerman (i)	Ford	0.000	—
Official qualifying results

Race

Stage Results

Stage OneLaps: 45

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	2	Austin Cindric (R)	Team Penske	Ford	10
2	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	9
3	8	Tyler Reddick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	8
4	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	7
5	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	6
6	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	5
7	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	4
8	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	3
9	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	2
10	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	1
Official stage one results

Stage TwoLaps: 95

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	45	Kurt Busch	23XI Racing	Toyota	10
2	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	9
3	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	8
4	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	7
5	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	6
6	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	5
7	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	4
8	41	Cole Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	3
9	43	Erik Jones	Petty GMS Motorsports	Chevrolet	2
10	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage ThreeLaps: 100

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	7	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	245	44
2	12	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	245	46
3	11	45	Kurt Busch	23XI Racing	Toyota	245	44
4	5	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	245	43
5	8	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	245	43
6	13	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	245	40
7	21	43	Erik Jones	Petty GMS Motorsports	Chevrolet	245	32
8	10	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	245	35
9	3	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	245	34
10	35	16	A. J. Allmendinger (i)	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	245	0
11	2	2	Austin Cindric (R)	Team Penske	Ford	245	36
12	15	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	245	32
13	25	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	245	24
14	28	31	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	245	23
15	29	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	245	22
16	4	8	Tyler Reddick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	245	29
17	32	17	Zane Smith (i)	RFK Racing	Ford	245	0
18	17	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	245	19
19	24	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	245	18
20	30	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	245	17
21	16	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	245	18
22	22	38	Todd Gililand (R)	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	245	15
23	23	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	245	18
24	1	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	245	13
25	9	21	Harrison Burton (R)	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	245	12
26	18	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	245	11
27	26	42	Ty Dillon	Petty GMS Motorsports	Chevrolet	245	10
28	33	77	Josh Bilicki (i)	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	245	0
29	14	41	Cole Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	245	11
30	34	78	B. J. McLeod	Live Fast Motorsports	Ford	245	7
31	36	15	Parker Kligerman (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	245	0
32	27	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	241	5
33	20	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	235	4
34	6	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	234	10
35	31	51	Cody Ware	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	166	2
36	19	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	72	1
Official race results

Race statistics

Lead changes: 12 among 9 different drivers
Cautions/Laps: 10 for 53
Red flags: 0
Time of race: 3 hours, 7 minutes and 34 seconds
Average speed: 97.965mph

Media

Television

Fox Sports covered the race on the television side. Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer, and Michael Waltrip called the race from the broadcast booth, with Kenny Wallace joining for Stage 2. Jamie Little and Regan Smith handled pit road for the television side, and Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte. On the drive to his dealerships in Emporia, Kansas, Bowyer was involved that night in fatal crash where his car struck an impaired motorist in Osage Beach, Missouri that evening. Because of an investigation into the incident, Bowyer was on leave for legal issues and did not make the trip to Sonoma for the ensuing week's race.

Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race and was simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle, and Rusty Wallace called the race for MRN from the booth when the field raced down the front straightaway. Dave Moody called the race from turns 1 & 2 while Kurt Becker called the race from turns 3 & 4. Pit Road for MRN was manned by Steve Post Brienne Pedigo and Chris Wilner.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Chase Elliott	507
1	2	Kyle Busch	498 (–9)
1	3	Ross Chastain	490 (–17)
	4	Ryan Blaney	479 (–28)
	5	Martin Truex Jr.	470 (–37)
	6	Joey Logano	467 (–40)
2	7	Kyle Larson	444 (–63)
	8	Alex Bowman	439 (–68)
2	9	William Byron	438 (–69)
	10	Christopher Bell	434 (–73)
3	11	Aric Almirola	385 (–122)
	12	Tyler Reddick	379 (–128)
2	13	Kevin Harvick	377 (–130)
1	14	Chase Briscoe	362 (–145)
1	15	Erik Jones	353 (–154)
1	16	Austin Dillon	350 (–157)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

Pos	Manufacturer	Points
1	Chevrolet	542
2	Toyota	521 (–21)
3	Ford	506 (–36)

Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

. – Driver has clinched a position in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Notes and References

Web site: 2022 schedule . Jayski.com. . April 24, 2022.
Web site: Entry List. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. May 31, 2022. May 31, 2022.
Web site: Practice Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. June 3, 2022. June 3, 2022.
Web site: Qualifying Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. June 4, 2022. June 4, 2022.
Web site: Enjoy Illinois 300 Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. June 5, 2022. June 5, 2022.
Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. June 5, 2022. June 5, 2022.
Web site: 2021-09-15. Cup Series is St. Louis-bound with Gateway's debut in 2022 NASCAR. 2021-09-20. Official Site Of NASCAR. en-US.
Web site: Utter. Jim. Team Penske drivers dominate NASCAR Cup practice at Gateway. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Madison, Illinois. June 3, 2022.
Web site: Utter. Jim. Fords dominate Gateway Cup qualifying with Briscoe on pole. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Madison, Illinois. June 4, 2022.