Posted 1 day ago by Jonathan FjeldCup
All three NASCAR national series are back in action again this weekend but in entirely different parts of the country.
While the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will head to the Heartland to race at the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, near St. Louis, the NASCAR Xfinity Series will race at the Portland International Raceway.
This year is only the third Cup Series race at Gateway but the track’s history of NASCAR racing dates back to 1997. Elliott Sadler won the first race, an Xfinity Series race where the pavement was coming up on the new track and people were seeking cool water and shade on a 100°-plus day.
Since then, the track has also hosted 15 Xfinity Series races and 23 Craftsman Truck Series races.
NASCAR Cup Series’ Enjoy Illinois 300
- 240 laps (Stages end on laps 45, 140, 240)
- 3:30 p.m. (All times Eastern)
- FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
- Practice and qualifying: 9:30 a.m.
Returning to the Cup Series are Cody Ware in the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing entry and Derek Kraus in the No. 16 Kaulig Racing entry. Ware last raced at Talladega Superspeedway while Kraus raced at Darlington. Kraus finished 29th at Darlington while Ware finished 24th at Talladega.
The NASCAR Cup Series field will consist of nine past Gateway winners. A few of them are at or near the top of certain Cup Series stat lines at the track near St. Louis.
Kyle Busch is the only driver in the field with wins in multiple series at Gateway. He won a NASCAR Xfinity Series race in July 2009. Then, last year in the Cup Series, he led a race-high 121 of 243 laps and won.
Joey Logano is the only other Cup Series winner at Gateway. Logano led 22 of 245 laps in 2022 and beat Busch for the win. Then, Logano finished third to Busch last year, making them the only drivers with Top-5 finishes in both Cup Series races at Gateway.
Busch also led the most laps in 2022. He leads the Cup Series with 187 laps led at Gateway.
Like Busch and Logano, Martin Truex Jr. is a former Gateway winner with a Top-10 finish in both Cup Series races at Gateway. The May 2004 Xfinity Series winner led 42 laps before finishing sixth in June 2022. Last year, he finished fifth.
Meanwhile, October 2010 Xfinity Series winner Brad Keselowski has finished 20th and 28th in those two races. Engine issues hampered Keselowski last year, while speed was an issue last year – spending just 39 of 245 laps in the top 15.
Coming into Gateway this year, Keselowski has just two finishes worse than second in the last six races. He also has a fourth-place finish earlier in the year at Phoenix Raceway, a similar track to Gateway.
Like Keselowski, a few past Craftsman Truck Series winners at Gateway are looking to improve their Cup Series stats at the 1.25-mile track.
June 2014 winner Bubba Wallace finished 26th and didn’t show much speed in 2022. Last year, Wallace spent most of the race inside the top 15 before wrecking with a few laps to go and finishing 30th.
2019 winner Ross Chastain managed to get Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin on the same side of an argument in the first Cup Series race at Gateway. Chastain flared some tempers before finishing eighth in 2022. Then, last year, he finished 22nd after picking up points in both stages.
2018 winner Justin Haley has the same average finish as Chastain, finishing 14th and 16th in his Cup starts at Gateway.
While 2017 winner John Hunter Nemechek has never made a Cup Series start at Gateway, 2016 winner Christopher Bell has finished ninth and 11th in his starts.
Bell is fresh off a win in the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600.
Among all the past winners is Ryan Blaney, who has finished Top-10 in each Cup race and is second in laps led (95) only to Kyle Busch. There is also Kyle Larson, who is the only other driver not mentioned yet who has averaged a Top-10 finish in the Cup Series at Gateway (8.0 average finish).
Enjoy Illinois 300 NASCAR Cup Series Odds
- Denny Hamlin: +550 to win, +160 for Top-3 finish, -135 for Top-5
- Kyle Larson: +600, +170, -130
- William Byron/Ryan Blaney: +850, +250, +110
- Martin Truex Jr: +850, +275, +130
- Christopher Bell: +1000, +275, +130
- Tyler Reddick/Ty Gibbs/Brad Keselowski: +1200/+350/+150
- Joey Logano: +1400/+400/+175
- Kyle Busch: +1500/+450/+200
- Chase Elliott: +1600/+450/+200
- Chris Buescher: +1800/+500/+225
- Ross Chastain: +2000/+550/+250
- Bubba Wallace/Alex Bowman: +4000/+1100/+500
- Noah Gragson/Josh Berry/Chase Briscoe: +6000/+1700+750
- Daniel Suarez: +10000/+2800/+1200
- Erik Jones: +15000/+3500/+1300
- Michael McDowell: +25000/+6000/+1800
- Austin Dillon/Austin Cindric: +25000/+6000/+3000
- Todd Gilliland/Ryan Preece/Carson Hocevar: +30000/+8000/+3000
- Justin Haley/Corey LaJoie: +40000/+10000/+5000
- Zane Smith/Ricky Stenhouse Jr/Kaz Grala/John Hunter Nemechek/Harrison Burton/Derek Kraus/Daniel Hemric: +100000/+25000/+13000
NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Pacific Office Automation 147
- 75 laps (Stages end on laps 25, 50, 75)
- 4:30 p.m.
- FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
- Practice and qualifying: 11:30 a.m.
Josh Bilicki and Ryan Truex will race the rotating Joe Gibbs Racing entries.
TransAm mainstays Austin Green and Preston Pardus are back in the No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing and No. 36 DGM Racing entries.
Former NTT INDYCAR Series drivers Ed Jones and Sage Karam will race for Sam Hunt Racing. Meanwhile, Garrett Smithley and Patrick Gallagher will fill out the JD Motorsports lineup.
Logan Bearden is back at SS-Green Light Racing after an impressive debut at Richmond Raceway.
Portland is to the Xfinity Series what Gateway is to the Cup Series – a track that is relatively new to the series but has a history dating back years in other series.
In 1999 and 2000, the Craftsman Truck Series race at Portland International Raceway. 22 years later, NASCAR made a rainy return to Portland with A.J. Allmendinger taking the trophy in the Xfinity Series.
Allmendinger will make his own return to Portland, racing there for the first time since that in 2022. He led 6 of 75 laps that day en route to the win.
Cole Custer will also make just his second start at Portland this year, returning to the track after winning last year. He led just 5 of 77 laps.
The leader of the most laps has finished seventh each year. Ty Gibbs led a race-high 42 laps in 2022 and Sheldon Creed led a race-high 47 laps last year.
Among the drivers who are entered for this weekend and made at least four Xfinity Series road course starts last season, A.J. Allmendinger has the best average finish:
- A.J. Allmendinger: 3.75 (4 starts)
Allmendinger won at Circuit of the Americas last year. 11 of his 17 Xfinity Series wins have come on a road course. Earlier this year, he led 20 of 50 laps at COTA.
- Sam Mayer 5.375 (8)
Mayer led the series with road course wins last year. He won at Road America, Watkins Glen and the Charlotte Roval.
- Parker Kligerman: 9.625 (8)
- Sheldon Creed: 10.5 (8)
- Cole Custer: 10.625 (8)
- Austin Hill: 10.625 (8)
- Justin Allgaier: 11.625 (8)
Allgaier is the only driver with Top-10 finishes in both Xfinity Series races at Portland.
- Chandler Smith: 16.75 (8)
- Riley Herbst: 17.125 (8)
- Sammy Smith: 17.125 (8)
Allmendinger will face a few newcomers. Shane van Gisbergen matched his laps-led total at Circuit of the Americas and will likely duel with him again for the win at Portland.
Meanwhile, Josh Bilicki will get his first opportunity with Joe Gibbs Racing. Bilicki has shown pace on road courses, finishing as well as eighth at Road America last year for DGM Racing.
The ARCA Menards Series West race will go green at 7 p.m. ET in Portland. The race is 57 laps.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ Toyota 200
- 160 laps (Stages end on laps 35, 70, 160)
- 1:30 p.m.
- FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
- Practice and qualifying: 6:05 p.m. on FS1
ARCA Menards Series regular Andres Perez de Lara will make his Truck Series debut with Spire Motorsports. Rising Wisconsin star and Kulwicki Driver Development program driver Luke Fenhaus will make his series debut with ThorSport Racing.
Colby Howard is back with TRICON Garage while Connor Mosack is back with Niece Motorsports. Keith McGee is in the No. 22 Reaume Brothers Racing entry.
Grant Enfinger (2023) and Corey Heim (2022) are the only past winners in the field this weekend. Heim actually hasn’t raced at Gateway since he won as he missed last year’s race due to being sick.
Stewart Friesen has never won at Gateway but has the best average finish of any driver with four or more starts (5.3). He has finished in the Top-5 in every race since 2019, following a third-place finish with finishes of fifth, fourth, fourth and third.
Chase Purdy, who showed speed at Charlotte, is second to Friesen. Thanks to three Top-10s in three Gateway starts, including a fifth-place finish last year, Purdy has averaged a seventh-place finish at the track.
ThorSport Racing is well-represented as, in terms of average finish, Ben Rhodes slots in just behind them with an 8.3 in eight starts – while Matt Crafton has a 12.7 in 20 starts.
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Cup, Feature, News, Statistics, Truck, XFINITY
Tags
2024, Jonathan Fjeld, NASCAR, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, odds, Portland International Raceway, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway
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Jonathan FjeldView All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com
