NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 Odds & Favorites: Busch and Larson the Favorites

The 15th race of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season will take place in Madison, Illinois. It will be the inaugural running of the Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway.

The NASCAR Cup Series will be visiting the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway for the first time in its history. The facility opened in 1967, but has only hosted the Truck Series and Xfinity Series to this point.

Gateway is a smaller version of Darlington. It is a 1.25 mile oval that has wider turns and banking on one end. The layout is tricky, but can lead to some great racing with exciting finishes.

The race on Sunday will be 300 miles, which is equivalent to 240 laps. It will be half the distance of last week’s race at Charlotte. This is a new adventure for the Cup Series, but one that is many years overdue.

NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway Betting Odds

Odds are via BetUS.

• Kyle Busch +800
• Kyle Larson +800
• Chase Elliott +900
• Denny Hamlin +900
• Ross Chastain +900
• Martin Truex Jr. +1000
• William Byron +1000
• Ryan Blaney +1000
• Christopher Bell +1400
• Joey Logano +1500
• Tyler Reddick +1600
• Alex Bowman +1800
• Kevin Harvick +2200
• Chase Briscoe +2200
• Kurt Busch +2800
• Daniel Suarez +3300
• Aric Almirola +4000
• Austin Dillon +6000
• Erik Jones +6000
• Austin Cindric +6000
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +8000
• Bubba Wallace +8000
• Brad Keselowski +8000
• Cole Custer +20000
• A.J. Allmendinger +20000
• Zane Smith +20000
• Justin Haley +20000
• Michael McDowell +35000
• Harrison Burton +40000
• Ty Dillon +50000
• Todd Gilliland +50000
• Parker Kligerman +75000
• Corey LaJoie +100000
• B.J. McLeod +150000
• Cody Ware +150000
• Josh Bilicki +150000

Kyle Busch +800

Kyle Busch has experience at Gateway from his time in the Xfinity Series. He is the favorite in the odds this weekend, following his second place finish at Charlotte last weekend.

Busch has four Top 5s in his last seven races, including a win on the dirt at Bristol. Since that victory, he has picked up the pace and increased his point total in the standings. He is currently 3rd in points and his odds to win the title have improved drastically.

He will be looking for a second straight Top 5 finish, and his second win of the season. At +800, it is an easy bet to take Busch in victory lane at this unfamiliar track.

Kyle Larson +800

Larson seems to be on the list every week, but there is a reason. He is always a threat to be running up front late in races. His average start of 10th has a big part in that.

Larson is qualifying well, and will look to continue the trend this weekend. He is another driver who has raced at Gateway before in the Xfinity series. His team is good at making adjustments, as we saw last week when he had a bad start at Charlotte. He ended up 9th after all of the chaos.

He is tied at the top of the odds this week, but has just as good of a chance to pull out his second win of the year.

Denny Hamlin +900

Denny Hamlin has had a very up-and-down season. He has finished in the Top 5 three times, but other than that, his best finish is 13th at Phoenix.

Two of those Top 5s have come in the last two races, including the win last week in the Coca-Cola 600. It was his second win of the year, but he still sits 17th in the standings.

Hamlin is very all-or-nothing this year, but he is still a threat given his recent Top 5 finishes. +900 is not a bad spot for bettors to give Hamlin a shot this weekend. If he continues the hot streak, you’ll want to have thee bet slip in hand.

NASCAR at Gateway Prediction and Pick

This week, the pick goes to Kyle Busch. Since his win at Bristol, he has been a constant threat at the front of the pack, and he has some of the best experience at this new track. Look for Busch to be celebrating in victory lane for the second time this season.