For the second time, the NASCAR Cup Series will be heading to St. Louis to race at WWT Raceway for the Enjoy Illinois 300. Last year, the event sparked the feud between Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain, with Chase Elliott playing a supporting role. Also, Joey Logano continued his run as the winner of new tracks introduced to the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. His late race battle with Kyle Busch put a nice bow on a good weekend of racing for NASCAR. This year, the Cup Series is returning with a load of drama. This week alone there has been two penalties announced against two different Chases. Chase Elliott is suspended for this weekend due to his actions against Denny Hamlin in Charlotte. Meanwhile, Chase Briscoe (and his team) got the stiffest penalty NASCAR has handed out since the introduction of the NextGen car.
With the drama leading into the weekend, will this week’s Enjoy Illinois 300 be overshadowed by the off-track storylines? Last year, that seemed to be the case. There was more conversation around Chastain and Hamlin than the racing at WWT Raceway. NASCAR will hope that the near sellout crowd and on-track action will take center stage this weekend. However, the season-long off-track drama has made that difficult.
Either way, this weekend should feature another quality race out of the NextGen car. With all of the storylines swirling around it, who are the five drivers to watch during the Enjoy Illinois 300? If you want a statistical insight heading into Sunday, check out Daniel Smith’s notable starts and statistical outlook articles.
Corey LaJoie
With the Chase Elliott suspension (and the Xfinity Series in Portland), Hendrick Motorsports has picked Corey LaJoie to drive the 9 car. LaJoie, who is currently having a career season, will be driving the best equipment in his career. While LaJoie is not likely to be moving during this round of silly season, a strong performance Sunday could open the door for the driver in the future. So far this season, LaJoie ranks nineteenth in points and has improved his best average finish by 5.2 positions. His current average finish is inside the Top-20.
While Josh Berry was able to turn a successful fill-in role into replacing Kevin Harvick, Corey LaJoie has an opportunity to turn this into playoff fortunes. Without a doubt, this will be LaJoie’s only chance of nabbing a win on a non-superspeedway. With Hendrick equipment and his driving ability, there is a realistic chance that LaJoie could pull the upset and lock himself into the playoffs. Surely, this opportunity is not lost on LaJoie. Expect LaJoie to drive a bit more aggressively than Josh Berry did. LaJoie has something to drive for (more than simply proving himself).
Carson Hocevar
With Corey LaJoie out of the 7 car this weekend, Spire Motorsports decided to let Carson Hocevar make his Cup Series debut on Sunday. This will be the second straight Enjoy Illinois 300 where a Craftsman Truck Series regular will be making their Cup Series debut. Last year, Zane Smith filled in for Chris Buescher due to COVID. Now, Hocevar will make his debut after only three starts in the Xfinity Series. In the two Xfinity Series starts with Spire, Hocevar has collected a couple of Top-10s.
What are the expectations for Carson Hocevar this weekend? Essentially, bring the car back in one piece. Unlike LaJoie’s fill-in role, Hocevar is only there to make sure that Spire earns some owners points and the car does not need to be massively repaired. At best, maybe Hocevar can provide a lead lap finish. However, his statistics from the Truck Series at WWT Raceway are less than impressive. In three starts at the track, Hocevar averages a 15.7 finish and only has one Top-10.
Chase Briscoe
Continuing the trend of talking about the mid-week news for this weekend, Chase Briscoe got slapped hard by NASCAR. After NASCAR found a counterfeit part of Briscoe’s car from Charlotte, Briscoe’s playoff hopes went spiraling down. Before the 120 point penalty, Briscoe was barely on the outside looking in. He trailed Bowman by 4 points. Now, Briscoe sits 124 points back and only leads Noah Gragson and Ty Dillon in points. While NASCAR’s change to the playoff eligibility rule keeps Briscoe’s hope for winning his way in alive, any chance of advancing seems slim to none, especially based on what tracks are in the Round of 16.
After the devastating penalty, how will Chase Briscoe and the 14 team respond? While the past few races have been poor for Briscoe, he is returning to a track where he flashed speed at last year. He won the pole and led 27 laps. While that early speed did not lead to a good finish, it is something to give the team some hope after being smacked by NASCAR. Now with a must-win attitude, look for Briscoe and his team to take big swings throughout the remainder of the regular season.
Chris Buescher
This weekend will mark Chris Buescher’s debut at WWT Raceway. Buescher has never raced a single lap at the track. As mentioned earlier, Buescher missed last year’s race when he was diagnosed with COVID. Zane Smith, who filled in for Buescher, was able to finish in the same spot as the number he was driving. With how well Buescher is running in 2023, it will be interesting to see what he can bring to WWT Raceway.
When considering last year, Brad Keselowski did not run well. Zane Smith was only tasked with keeping the car intact. Between the two drivers, RFK cars only ran 41 combined laps inside the Top-15. While that is discouraging, last year’s trends can be thrown out based on this year’s speed for the team. It would be surprising to see the two RFK cars run as poorly as they did last year. Most of the tracks that one or both RFK drivers struggled at last year have not seen the same struggles this season. Could Buescher contend for the win in his first appearance at the track? Maybe, especially after the speed flashed by RFK at Charlotte.
Bubba Wallace
At the moment, Bubba Wallace is one of the hottest drivers in NASCAR. After his third straight Top-5 at Charlotte, Wallace is slowly creeping into race winning territory. Outside of Kansas, Wallace has not been a race winning threat on non-superspeedways with the NextGen car. However, his recent stretch has been seeing his 23XI entry running in the Top-5.
While Bubba Wallace is currently sitting in the playoffs via points, it is not a comfortable spot. With the variety of winners the Cup Series has seen since the introduction of the NextGen car, it is almost expected to see at least two new winners before the playoffs begin. If those two winners are currently sitting behind Wallace in the standings, then he would be on the outside looking. There is a decent gap between Wallace and Buescher as well. With how well the drivers in front of Wallace have driven (and the hole Wallace dug himself to start 2023), a win would be Wallace’s best way to guarantee his playoff spot. With limited ovals remaining for the regular season, WWT Raceway might be a chance for Wallace to win.
