Enjoy Illinois 300 Race Analysis & Free Picks
Race: Enjoy Illinois 300, presented by TicketSmarter
Date: Sunday, June 4, 2023
Track: World Wide Technology Raceway
Time: 3:30 pm ET
Channel: FS1
What Did We Learn From Last Weekend?
If you’ve never had the opportunity to go to this track, DO IT! I had the privilege of attending the race this year courtesy of JTG Daugherty Racing, and let me tell you what amazing hospitality this group of people provided! I have a newfound respect for the JTG organization after spending a little bit of time with them and driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The entire organization was filled with nothing but joy, and that is everything. Half the battle with any sport is attitude, and this entire team had a smile, a kind word, and a handshake. I think you can see how much that means to a team with the kind of runs that Stenhouse Jr. has been having this year. It was really cool getting to talk with him before the race and hear his perspective on the track, the new-gen cars, and everything in between. I am very appreciative of the time he gave to those of us visiting with the team. I learned quite a bit just listening to him talk about the speedway, the difference in the turns, and even how something like a D-shaped oval makes driving through the turns much more technical than you’d think. Although he fought a somewhat difficult car for the race, Stenhouse Jr. came home with a very respectable 7th-place finish.
Ryan Blaney was the class of the field on MONDAY’S running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. There was really nothing that Stenhouse Jr. or any other driver was going to do to stop Blaney from getting the win. He pulled away from second place well over 2 seconds for much of his time in the lead. Tyler Reddick looked like he had something for Blaney there late in the race, but for some reason, he got squirrely off turn four and came sliding down the track through part of the grass out of turn four. He kept the car from hitting any walls and managed to stay on the track and not be the result of any of the cautions, but it cost him quite a bit. He still had a top 5 finish, but his car wasn’t the same after that situation. William Byron also seemed to be on a mission to catch Blaney, but he had troubles of his own, coming off the front stretch onto pit road, nearly missing some of the pit crews. Again, it wasn’t a catastrophic error, with a strong 2nd place finish when all was said and done. It was definitely a weird race for many. Kyle Busch was involved in a crash but still came charging through the field for a top-10 finish. Denny Hamlin didn’t have the same luck after getting into it with Chase Elliott, whom he was convinced intentionally turned into him. He called for Elliott to be suspended, and NASCAR obliged. Sad state of NASCAR if you ask me. Regardless, I tell you who had a GREAT finish, and that was Zane Smith. Zane races in the Craftsman Truck Series for Front Row Motorsports but is going to be one to watch running some in the Cup Series. He and Josh Berry are two guys that are going to be some tough contenders in the years to come, if I had to guess. Berry was subbing for Hendrick drivers for their injuries, but all signs point to him taking over the #4 for Harvick once he steps out of the car this year for the final time. Harvick had a good run there for a minute but got caught up in some smaller incidents later in the day. He finished just outside the top 10 in 11th spot. Martin Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace, and Tyler Reddick rounded out the top 5 spots. Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chris Buescher, Austin Dillon, and Zane Smith held down the back end of the top 10.
Where Are We Headed This Weekend?
This weekend, the drivers and teams are making a pendulum swing for what used to be known as Gateway. What is now known as World Wide Technology Raceway is a 1.25 asphalt oval with 11 degrees of banking in turns 1 and 2 and 9 degrees of banking in turns 3 and 4. The cool thing about this track is the unique configuration. Turns 1 and 2 are much tighter than turns 3 and 4. The reason for this is because the backstretch had to run parallel to Illinois Route 203. If you look at the track on a schematic, it’s somewhat similar to the egg shape of Darlington. The turns mimic different tracks, much like Darlington, with turns 1 and 2 similar to those of New Hampshire. Turns 3 and 4 are reminiscent of Phoenix. As you can imagine, this likely makes the car setups a little challenging. Taking care of equipment is going to be important. With not so much banking through the turns, brakes are going to be important, and the wear on these tires is going to be a little hard to manage as well. At Charlotte, we saw how important a fresh set of tires really was. Michael McDowell and a couple of others tried to use some strategy to stay out while the rest of the field got tires, but they were quickly sitting ducks in the field. This track will likely prove to have the same scenario. Although it’s not as big as Charlotte, it’s still got some length to it, and the consistency in the banking between the straights to the turns will prove to wear these tires pretty quickly.
Odds and Value Picks
When it comes to picking a winner, it’s a little bit challenging, seeing as the series has only raced here since last year. This track replaced one of the Pocono races (FINALLY!). The Truck Series has raced here, so some of the drivers have a little bit of experience but still not much. The lone winner of this race is Joey Logano. That really shouldn’t be a surprise, seeing as Logano has one of the best averages at Darlington in the last three years. With a win under his belt, 3 top fives, and 5 top tens, Logano is poised to be pretty strong here this weekend as well. Compared to Darlington, we also have Harvick and Hamlin with strong finishes at Darlington. They have both been running strong. Hamlin had a strong run going last weekend before the incident with Elliott. Assuming they bring a strong car to this track, I think Hamlin will be one to watch. Logano is coming into the weekend with a rough finish as well, although he was running in the top 5 and 10 for much of last weekend’s race before getting involved in the wreck with Logano and Ty Gibbs. We’re going to have quite a few names to watch. Here’s a look at your potential winners heading into the race at WWT with odds provided by Bovada:
- Winner: Kyle Busch +1100
- Mid-Range Pick: Tyler Reddick +1200
- Dark Horse: Aric Almirola +5000
Almirola is another driver with a pretty decent average finish at Darlington, coming in at around 15th or so. Last year’s running of this race resulted in a top 5 finish for Almirola. He seems to do better at “racier” tracks, and this is definitely one of those places. I anticipate Almirola having a strong qualifying run and an even better finish. Tyler Reddick is another driver that we need to watch. With such a strong run at Charlotte, that team is going to come into this weekend with a lot to prove. I think that their entire team will have a fire lit under them and really show up to play. Reddick has the 4th best average finish at Darlington in the last three years of racing there. His finish at this race last year was 16th, but I think this year is proving to be more promising as the races tick off each weekend. Reddick will surely be in contention. Kyle Busch, although involved in an incident on Monday’s race, showed up to win. He drove from the back of the pack to a top 6 finish. He was the runner-up at last year’s race and seems to have found his groove much more this year with RCR than he did last year with Gibbs. I think this is Kyle’s race to lose. Busch has a couple of wins already this season, but he’s certainly looking for those valuable points. Currently, sitting in 10th place isn’t good enough for him. Let’s see where the rest of the field is sitting after the big Memorial Day weekend race at Charlotte:
- Ross Chastain
- Ryan Blaney
- William Byron
- Kevin Harvick
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Christopher Bell
- Tyler Reddick
- Denny Hamlin
- Brad Keselowski
- Kyle Busch
- Kyle Larson
- Chris Buescher
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Joey Logano
- Bubba Wallace
- Alex Bowman
Christopher Bell lost a few spots after a disappointing finish at the 600. Alex Bowman worked his way back into the top 16, but he’s got some work to do to solidify his spot in the playoffs. Chastain, although fighting hard at Charlotte, is still atop the standings. Blaney was clearly the biggest winner, with five spots gained and an automatic berth into the final grid. It was a much-needed win for that team and a big confidence boost. This weekend will be interesting since we’ve only had one race here for the Cup Series. Let’s see how the points play out after the second running of the Enjoy Illinois 330 this weekend!