Enjoy Illinois 300 Betting Preview
02 June 2023
While he was a preseason favorite and NASCAR fans and odds makers have him regularly among the betting favorites, Team Penske-Ford’s Ryan Blaney finally broke through, winning his first race of the season and scoring his third top-three finish in the last five races.
With Trackhouse Racing-Chevorlet’s Ross Chastain still atop the Drivers’ Championship and Blaney vaulting into second with an incredible performance in Charlotte, the focus turns to the relatively new to NASCAR, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in Madison, Illinois, for the Enjoy Illinois 300.
Will Team-Penske Ford Go Back-to-Back?
With Blaney’s first win at Charlotte being Team Penske’s first since Joey Logano won in Atlanta, the Penske crew might be poised to go on a run.
Although Logano won the inaugural race on the asphalt in Madison, we haven’t been all that impressed with Logano recently. However, we like Team Penske-Ford’s chances in Blaney’s hands (263.076) to win a second straight race this season and a second-straight race at Madison for Team Penske.
We also think that Blaney, alongside Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, who is fourth in the Drivers’ Standings, are the only two Ford chassis on the gird that have a chance to win in Madison.
Hendrick Motorsports and the Chevorlet Contigent
A NASCAR betting preview is never complete without accounting for the Hendrick Motorsports crew. While fan-favorite Chase Elliott will have his odds to win higher than they should be, we like both Kyle Larson (264.321) and William Byron (261.458) as the potential winners from Hendrick Motorsports.
Byron has three race wins this season and has four top-four finishes in his last four races. We’re fading Larson from our list of contenders, as he has one race win and two top-two finishes in his last six races but has finished no higher than 20th in the other four races.
While we’re not favoring them in Madison this weekend, Ross Chastain (268.176) is the current Drivers’ Championship leader but is coming off back-to-back sub-20th place finishes, although he has a stage win at Darlington.
The Toytotas in the Mix at Madison
We’ve liked Joe Gibbs Racing-Toyota’s Christopher Bell (267.935) throughout this season, although Bell has cooled off recently with two top-ten finishes in his last six races.
23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick (261.458) is a strong candidate to win in Madison. Reddick finished fifth last week in Charlotte but has three top-ten finishes in his previous six races.
Bell’s Joe Gibbs Teammate, Denny Hamlin (266.933), is always a threat to win. Currently eighth in the Drivers’ Championship, Hamlin has one win and three top-five finishes in his last six races but is coming off a disappointing 35th-place finish at Charlotte.
The Dunkel Index’s Pick to Win NASCAR’s Enjoy Illinois 300
By now, you know that NASCAR can be as wild and unpredictable as sports can be. However, we here at the Dunkel Index have been very impressed with Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron (261.458), who is our pick to win the Enjoy Illinois 300.
Keep up with your latest NASCAR news coverage and betting pick previews at The Dunkel Index.
All Media on this page by Associated Press.
