The NASCAR Cup Series began in dramatic fashion last week as Chase Briscoe held off a determined Tyler Reddick in the Southern 500 to clinch his berth to the Round of 12. NASCAR fans will be hoping for more of the same at World Wide Technology Raceway today at 3:00 p.m. ET on USA.
Our Enjoy Illinois 300 predictions evaluate the merits of backing race favorites like Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin, as well as some long shots in the Enjoy Illinois 300 odds.
Here are our free betting picks for the second playoff race of the season on Sunday, September 7.
Odds to win 2025 Enjoy Illinois 300
| Driver |  |
|---|---|
| Ryan Blaney | +450 |
| Denny Hamlin | +450 |
| Kyle Larson | +550 |
| Christopher Bell | +700 |
| Chase Briscoe | +850 |
| William Byron | +900 |
| Tyler Reddick | +1200 |
| Joey Logano | +1200 |
| Chase Elliott | +1800 |
| Brad Keselowski | +1800 |
| Austin Cindric | +1800 |
| Ross Chastain | +2000 |
| Bubba Wallace | +2500 |
| Kyle Busch | +2800 |
| Chris Buescher | +4000 |
| Josh Berry | +4000 |
| Carson Hocevar | +4000 |
| Austin Dillon | +4500 |
| Alex Bowman | +5000 |
| Ryan Preece | +6000 |
Odds as of 9-7.
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Enjoy Illinois 300 field
With no "open" drivers signing up for the Enjoy Illinois 300, we'll see 36 cars take to the track at Gateway this Sunday.
Ryan Blaney opened up as the co-favorite at +500 along with Christopher Bell. Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, and Joey Logano round out the options at below +1000.
Last week's winner Chase Briscoe opened at exactly +1000, while defending Enjoy Illinois 300 champ Austin Cindric opened at +1600.
Enjoy Illinois 300 expert picks and predictions
Odds listed below courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook as of 9-6.
Enjoy Illinois 300 pre-qualifying favorites
Ryan Blaney (+500)
Ryan Blaney led 12 laps in a fourth-place run in 2022 and 83 more in a sixth-place effort in 2023. He ran out of gas while leading with two laps to go last year.
Blaney finished 28th in Phoenix, 11th in Martinsville, and fifth at Darlington this spring.
Christopher Bell (+500)
While he didn’t lead a lap in either of the first two races, he led a race-high 80 last year and swept both stages. He’s also not had a Top-5 finish in any of the three with seventh last year his best result. Still, he won Phoenix this spring, was runner-up in Martinsville, and third in Darlington.
Denny Hamlin (+650)
He may have finished 34th in 2022, but Hamlin qualified sixth and was taken out early by Ross Chastain. Hamlin was runner-up the last two years.
He finished runner-up at Phoenix this spring and also won at both Darlington and Martinsville this spring, too.
Enjoy Illinois 300 sleepers
Joey Logano (+950)
Joey Logano is trending backward. He was the inaugural race winner, finished third in 2023, and fifth last year. Still, three Top-5 finishes in as many tries is too good to overlook. He’s a past Darlington, Phoenix, and New Hampshire winner.
Brad Keselowski (+1200)
He was third last year after leading 17 laps. Keselowski is also strong at Darlington.
Kyle Busch (+2000)
Kyle Busch led a race-high 66 laps in a runner-up effort in 2022. In 2023, Busch led 121 laps from the pole en route to victory. Last year he qualified 10th and led 15 laps but crashed.
Enjoy Illinois 300 fades
Kyle Larson (+850)
Kyle Larson was the top Hendrick finisher here in 2022 (12th), 2023 (fourth), and last year (10th), but that's not good enough to justify the odds.
William Byron (+1200)
William Byron finished 19th in 2022, eighth after leading 30 laps in 2023, and 15th last year.
Austin Cindric (+1600)
Can he go two straight? Cindric has struggled on like tracks this season with finishes of 19th at Phoenix, 37th at Martinsville, and 11th and 12th at Darlington.
Chase Elliott (+1800)
Chase Elliott finished 21st in 2023 and 13th last year. Darlington and New Hampshire are also not strong tracks for him.
Enjoy Illinois 300 prop pick: Briscoe Top 5 Finish
Chase Briscoe has as many wins this season (two) as he had in his entire career prior. Does he pick up two wins in as many weeks, though? I like him as a Top-5 play better.
He had five Top-5 finishes in the last eight weeks, including three runner-up results. Him being 24th, 34th and 17th, respectively, at World Wide Technology Raceway doesn’t scare me since he’s not had a car like this one.
Pick: Briscoe Top 5 Finish (+130 at DraftKings)
Popular motor sports futures odds
World Wide Technology Raceway track analysis
The closest resemblances to this track are Phoenix, Darlington, Martinsville and New Hampshire. We’ve not raced at New Hampshire this season, but we did at the other three.
One thing to note is the fact that you don’t see many fluke names win on this track. In the Indycar Series, Josef Newgarden, a two-time series champion, has won on this track five times (2017, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024). Scott Dixon (2020, 2023) and Kyle Kirkwood are the only drivers other than Newgarden to win at this course since 2020.
In the Cup Series, there are only three winners... Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Austin Cindric. Logano and Busch are both the only active multi-time champions in the sport, and Cindric won the 2022 Daytona 500.
Enjoy Illinois 300 trends
- Not much history here to base many trends off of, but trends say you want to start out front with Logano winning from seventh and Busch from the pole.
- WTT Raceway is classified as an intermediate track, and Larson has won 10 of the last 34 races held at such tracks.
Enjoy Illinois 300 info
| Location: | World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, IL |
| Date: | Sunday, September 7, 2025 |
| Start time: | 3:00 p.m. ET |
| TV: | USA |
Previous Enjoy Illinois 300 winners
Team Penske Fords have taken two of the first three NASCAR Cup Series races at WWT Raceway.
| Year | Winner |
| 2024 | Austin Cindric |
| 2023 | Kyle Busch |
| 2022 | Joey Logano |
How to make Enjoy Illinois 300 picks
NASCAR betting is a nuanced process that can take any number of factors into account, and spans several different types of bets. Fortunately, our How to Bet NASCAR guide walks you through the basics, including how to read odds, different markets that are available, and what to consider when making your bets.
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
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