MADISON, IL, (KMIZ)\u00a0<\/p>\n
With the Gateway Arch standing tall in the backdrop, Denny Hamlin led 75 of 240 laps and punched his ticket to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hamlin crossed the finish line 1.620 seconds ahead of teammate Chase Briscoe, earning his first victory at World Wide Technology Raceway in front of a sellout crowd. The win marked the 59th of his career, leaving him just one shy of breaking into the top 10 on NASCAR\u2019s all-time wins list.<\/p>\n
Bill Murray served as the grand marshal of the race and was seen leaning inside Hamlin\u2019s number 11 car on pit road, talking to the driver.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI just told him to talk to the guys behind me and make sure they stay behind me the rest of the race,\u201d Hamlin joked when asked about the exchange. \u201cWe made that happen.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 1.25-mile track has never been an easy track for drivers. Since the Cup Series began racing there in 2022, its unique layout \u2014 two differently shaped corners, long straightaways, and one of the narrowest pit roads on the circuit has tested the best drivers in the sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s extremely narrow,\u201d Kyle Larson said when asked about pit road. \u201cIt’s just tight and dangerous.\u00a0 Dangerous for the pit crew members. The speeds are faster, but you\u2019re trying to be a bit more cautious,\u00a0 more aware of things as you’re pulling in and out of your stall. It’s a tricky one for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe passing is the difficult part here at this track,\u201d Hamlin added.\u00a0 The straightaways are long, and the corners are pretty narrow.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It certainly helps when you can start on the pole, which is exactly what Hamlin and his 11 team did after finishing runner-up during last year\u2019s race.<\/p>\n
Hamlin left St. Louis last June with a stray puppy that his family had found at the Gateway Arch by the river. The dog was later named LuLu; however, Hamlin had stated on his podcast Actions Detrimental that he believed LuLu was cursed after having an average finish of 25th over his next five races. That bad luck seems to have worn off a year later. <\/p>\n
After leading the field to green, Hamlin surrendered the lead by lap six and slid back to third by lap 45, as teammate Chase Briscoe captured Stage One and its valuable playoff point. By lap 140, Hamlin had slipped to seventh, while Bubba Wallace \u2014 driving the No. 23 car co-owned by Hamlin and Michael Jordan at 23XI Racing \u2014 grabbed the Stage Two win.<\/p>\n
Hamlin managed to claw his way back to first on lap 156 and held onto the lead for 40 laps before coming to pit road. After a well-executed stop from his crew and a caution flag on lap 210, Hamlin found himself back on the front row next to Brad Keselowski, who was on much older tires. The 44-year-old veteran wasted no time blowing past Keselowski on the restart and never looked back, leading the final 25 laps.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The victory marked Toyota\u2019s 200th victory in the Cup Series, after entering the sport in 2007.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was proud of all of our cars today,\u201d Joe Gibbs, three-time Super Bowl champion and owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, said. \u201cThey were fast and up front, and that says a lot of everybody back home that does all that work. Tomorrow we\u2019ll hang a banner and thank all of them, and it’s just become a real tradition for us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While Hamlin had a clean day, the same cannot be said for some of his fellow playoff drivers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s Enjoy Illinois 300 was the second race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Sixteen drivers entered St. Louis with championship hopes, but by the end of the day, four were in danger of elimination.<\/p>\n
The playoff format features three rounds leading up to the winner-take-all championship race. Each round consists of three races, and after the final race of each round, the four lowest-ranked drivers are eliminated from contention.<\/p>\n
Josh Berry entered the day below the cutline after wrecking on the first lap a week prior.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s definitely more intense, but I mean, you can only go out and do the best you can each and every week, right? Like you don’t prepare more, drive harder or try harder, because of the playoffs,\u201d Berry told ABC 17.\u00a0 \u201cWe’re trying to go out every week and do the best we can, and it just takes a group effort from everybody to execute at a high level to make it to these playoffs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But much like his race at Darlington a week earlier, Berry\u2019s day ended prematurely after spinning in turn two after contact with Chase Elliot. The impact destroyed Berry\u2019s left-front tire, resulting in a last-place finish.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shane van Gisbergen also came into Gateway sitting below the playoff cutline, despite collecting four wins this season. Sunday marked his first Cup Series start at the track. Earlier in the week, he joked that he “couldn’t point to St. Louis on a map”. <\/p>\n
“The track is pretty cool and the people seem pretty nice, but I went and drove through the city before, and yeah not great,” Van Gisbergen joked when asked about his first impressions of St. Louis<\/p>\n
The New Zealander, known for his road course prowess, noted that while World Wide Technology Raceway shares some traits with a road course, that wouldn\u2019t make up for his lack of experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s still a lot of flow and flow-based corners rather than stop and go, so there is a lot of break pressure at one, and you go down two gears. But the way the cars are set up and how they’re set up for just lefts, I don’t think it’s a real advantage,\u201d Van Gisbergen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Van Gisbergen would be proven correct, finishing 25th after spinning on lap 157 in turn four, and damaging the front of his car.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the end of the race, Berry, Van Gisbergen, Alex Bowman, and Austin Dillon found themselves on the brink of elimination heading into Bristol.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bowman fell victim to pit road woes, finishing 26th, while Dillon spun out his brother Ty to bring out the fifth of ten cautions on the day, coming home 18th. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think that there probably will be a couple of guys below the cut that are just praying that something bad happens to the guys in front of them,\u201d Hamlin said before the race.\u00a0 That’s really the only shot.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After winning the inaugural race, Joey Logano earned a fifth-place finish, which was enough to put him 22 points above the cutline. However, the three-time champion said he still isn\u2019t comfortable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone in the playoffs would say it\u2019s comfortable,\u201d Logono said. \u201cI remember Jimmie Johnson said it\u2019s ten weeks of hell. He\u2019s about right.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n