NASCAR returned to Worldwide Technology Raceway this weekend for the second rendition of the Enjoy Illinois 300! This race wasn’t short of action but in all of the wrong areas. With 11 cautions, three red flags, a lightning delay of two hours, and blown brake rotors left and right, it was a mess. But a race was completed, and we must discuss it.
As usual, let’s go stage by stage and break down the action. Then go over a driver that was worth watching, and what drivers made me look smart, or dumb, in my preview from Friday. So, without further delay, here is my 2023 Enjoy Illinois 300 notebook.
STAGE ONE
#8 Kyle Busch dominated the practice and qualifying on Saturday to open this race at the top of the pole. Last week’s Coca-Cola 600 winner #12 Ryan Blaney followed in second place. #11 Denny Hamlin, #4 Kevin Harvick, and #22 Joey Logano finished the top five on the opening lap.
Early caution as Tyler Reddick goes around in St. Louis. Here's what happened: https://t.co/qETe6VY9OK pic.twitter.com/MlaOzTrsL8
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 4, 2023
The race wouldn’t go uninterrupted for long. #45 Tyler Reddick would go spinning on lap two after contacting #6 Brad Keselowski. After four yellow laps, a red flag would fly after lightning strikes landing within eight miles of the race track. This would go on for two hours before the show would go on.
The #9 of Corey Lajoie, filling in for Chase Elliott, struggled all race long, unable to escape the 20s for more than a brief moment. Teammate #5 Kyle Larson also struggled early but came back later in the day. Reddick was able to salvage some track position by climbing to the 19th spot by the stage’s end.
Kyle Busch would take the first of three stages here at the Enjoy Illinois 300. Blaney would claim second, with Hamlin, #19 Martin Truex Jr, and Logano making up the leaders of the first 45 laps.
STAGE TWO
After the stage break pit stops, Busch and Blaney reclaimed their spots on the front row. Hamlin and Harvick also returned to the top five with the addition of #24 William Byron. #2 Austin Cindric and Truex were sent to the back for penalties on pit road. Cindric for speeding and Truex for leaving pit road with the gas can attached to the car.
Michael McDowell goes around after contact with Ross Chastain. #NASCARonFS1 https://t.co/XzmPz3JEwz pic.twitter.com/c5tX4MOljs
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 4, 2023
On the restart #34 Michael McDowell would get sent spinning after contact with #1 Ross Chastain. Shortly thereafter when the race went green again it became obvious that #6 Brad Keselowski had some sort of mechanical troubles. On the straights of the track, he couldn’t reach maximum speed and dropped like a rock down the standings. Quickly getting two laps down.
Heartbreaker for Hocevar.
— NASCAR on TSN (@NASCARonTSN) June 4, 2023
Running 17th in his Cup Series debut, the No. 7 suffers a brake failure into Turn 1 ending his race.
A very impressive run by the 20-year old.#NASCAR #EnjoyIllinois300 pic.twitter.com/HzUl6xzjuU
The next caution would be on lap 87 from Lajoie’s substitute in the #7 car Carson Hocevar, the first of many brake rotors that would break off of cars at the Enjoy Illinois 300. It would be the only caution of its kind the rest of the way.
Kyle Larson would fight his way back into the top 10 at the end of stage two, and Ryan Blaney would take the stage win. Busch would remain in the top two, preceding Hamlin, Byron, and #99 Daniel Suarez.
STAGE THREE
This is where things get messy, so try to keep up readers… Tyler Reddick inserted himself into the front row. Byron alongside him, followed by Blaney, Hamlin, and Busch. Reddick would not lead for long, as he suffers the same brake issue as Hocevar and gets sent to the garage.
Byron inserted himself into the lead by this caution and coming out of it his teammate Kyle Larson claimed the position. Michael McDowell also found his way to fifth.
A violent brake-rotor explosion for Tyler Reddick. He's done for the day. pic.twitter.com/JT81Mu5w0i
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 4, 2023
Unfortunately, on this pit stop, Thomas Hatcher, a pit crew member of #43 Erik Jones would be injured among the racecars. An ambulance would come and ship him off to the hospital where he would be alert and awake. A member of Reddick’s crew would join the #43 team for the remainder of the race to help out.
Man, glad to hear @NoahGragson is okay after this massive hit into the Turn 1 wall. Sheesh. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/BpDhv50jBj
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) June 5, 2023
#42 Noah Gragson would see trouble in this stage himself, slamming hard into the wall come lap 198. This ended his day and brought about the yellow and red flags again to clean the track of fluid. Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson led at this point, with Hamlin, Blaney, and Logano closely following. Five laps later #20 Christopher Bell, after battling to push through the field all race long took a spin after the restart. Two laps after the ensuing green flag, Gray Gaulding would take a spin himself.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is done for the day after this one. https://t.co/zS0GIfQPqN pic.twitter.com/Q4gpAqMHzd
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 5, 2023
Come lap 217, Austin Cindric would contact #3, Austin Dillon. Hitting his right rear quarter panel on accident, which sent him into #47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr, who was pushing the top 10 all race long. An unfortunate ending to a fantastic day at the Enjoy Illinois 300. The race would see a red flag with 18 to go to fix the wall which saw tons of contact over the course of this race.
Bubba Wallace's name has been added to the list of drivers with brake issues today. https://t.co/MK47tYb1Ij pic.twitter.com/vn4b8qSyNO
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 5, 2023
With five laps to go, #23 Bubba Wallace would see his streak of good racing end as his brake rotor would explode as well, sending him into the wall in a hurry. He’d get his car back to pit road but once these rotors were done, there was no return. Wallace was almost certainly destined for another solid finish inside the top 10, but the heat and constant changing of temperatures had different plans for these rotors. This set up the overtime finish…
THE FINISH
Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson went side-by-side for the final go-around. Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, and Joey Logano rounded out the top five. In the restart zone, the #8 got a great jump again. This was a common theme for the 2x champion at this year’s Enjoy Illinois 300. Once he got that hot start he wouldn’t look back. Busch would take home his third victory of the season at St. Louis. Larson and Hamlin get the next spots, with Logano and Truex closing the leaders.
DRIVER SPOTLIGHT: #19 Martin Truex Jr
Truex faced an early penalty in this race but overcame it beautifully. He scraped together a top-five finish out of it and navigated the field in all stages. He deserves a ton of credit in this race, and basically all season for overcoming obstacles that were out of his control. When he has everything go well, Truex is an unstoppable force. Unfortunately, he hasn’t had that opportunity too often yet, but he’s in the playoffs after winning at Dover. We’ll see how he fares at Sanoma next weekend. But he gets the driver spotlight for his efforts on Sunday.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Per usual, I gave you all five drivers to look out for this race. So, let’s revisit and see who made me look smart, and who let me down here at the Enjoy Illinois 300.
#9 Corey Lajoie
I was intrigued to see Lajoie in some of the best equipment NASCAR has to offer. Unfortunately, he didn’t do a whole lot with it. Largely getting outperformed by his own replacement Carson Hocevar. Up until his brake rotors went out, Hocevar looked like a racer to keep an eye on. He would’ve been Hendrick Motorsports’ worst driver on the day if #48 Alex Bowman’s transmission didn’t blow on the final restart. We’ll see a return to normalcy for the #9 team and Lajoie next week. But a disappointing outing for this trial run.
#12 Ryan Blaney
Blaney matched his great performance last week with another. Finishing sixth, after running inside the top five all race long. #12 has run quality races throughout this season and has a ton of momentum. With the snakebite seemingly ridden after winning a crowned jewel event last week, I doubt this is the last of Blaney. We’ll see how he fares at Sonoma next weekend.
#22 Joey Logano
Logano finally put it all together again this weekend. He didn’t quite get the win, but nobody ever complains about a top-five finish. After winning this race last year, he was an immediate favorite coming in and didn’t disappoint. It’s been a tough run for the Fords this year, but Logano and Blaney have been bright spots for the manufacturer, collecting both of their wins on the year.
#24 William Byron
As expected, #24 was among the front runners for the majority of the race. Byron led 30 laps and collected 40 points from the event. The Hendrick drivers had their struggles with Lajoie unable to perform, Bowman collapsing late, and Larson overcoming some early obstacles. But Byron was a bright spot, even overcoming some adversity of his own falling a huge chunk of spots at one point. Another top-10 finish for Byron, who continues to insert his name in the best driver of the year conversation.
#45 Tyler Reddick
Reddick didn’t disappoint in this race. Well, not until his brake rotors disappointed him in stage three. Reddick has been great all year, and despite finishing 35th and collecting a DNF, he led four laps and collected two stage points. So it wasn’t a total no-show. Wrecking is never ideal, but Reddick would have had a solid day if he had been able to finish. He’s a road course warrior, winning at COTA earlier this year. He’ll be good again at Sonoma if he stays out of trouble.
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