RADIO
The NASCAR Cup Series ran a single practice session at World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway) on Saturday morning in preparation for the upcoming Enjoy Illinois 300 on Sunday.
The 36-car field was combined into one big group for this practice session (as opposed to the normal two-group practices we're used to) due to the threat of rain in the area. Practice was also moved up from the scheduled time due to the weather. Below you'll find key notes from the practice session and the practice speeds for all drivers.
It's worth noting that track conditions during practice are quite different than what the drivers will face during the race on Sunday. It was 68-degrees and cloudy during practice and, on Sunday, it is forecasted that it will be 83-degrees and sunny.
Important Practice Notes
The Rain - It briefly started raining during the middle of practice on Saturday and brought the session to a halt in the middle of many driver's long runs. NASCAR red-flagged the session and then quickly got it going again once the track was clear.
Chase Briscoe - While practicing coming down pit road, Chase Briscoe came in a little too hot and went off into the grass a bit. It may have also been a little wet on the entrance to pit road. There was no damage reported to the No. 14 Ford.
Hendrick Motorsports - As discussed in my Gateway Preview earlier this week, Hendrick Motorsports hasn't really figured Gateway out yet. That was apparent in practice, as William Byron was the fastest car in their fleet and was only 17th-fastest on the speed chart.
2024 Gateway Enjoy Illinois 300 Practice Speed Chart
Click here to download the PDF of the practice speed chart.
| Pos | Driver | Time | Speed | Fastest Lap | Laps Ran |
Behind Leader
|
| 1. | Joey Logano | 32.603 | 138.024 | 4 | 27 | ---.--- |
| 2. | Ryan Blaney | 32.604 | 138.020 | 4 | 28 | -0.001 |
| 3. | Ty Gibbs | 32.627 | 137.923 | 3 | 27 | -0.024 |
| 4. | Tyler Reddick | 32.694 | 137.640 | 4 | 29 | -0.091 |
| 5. | Bubba Wallace | 32.742 | 137.438 | 3 | 29 | -0.139 |
| 6. | Austin Cindric | 32.751 | 137.400 | 3 | 31 | -0.148 |
| 7. | Ross Chastain | 32.751 | 137.400 | 3 | 30 | -0.148 |
| 8. | Christopher Bell | 32.782 | 137.270 | 3 | 21 | -0.179 |
| 9. | Michael McDowell | 32.813 | 137.141 | 2 | 32 | -0.210 |
| 10. | Martin Truex Jr. | 32.817 | 137.124 | 4 | 15 | -0.214 |
| 11. | Justin Haley | 32.825 | 137.091 | 3 | 29 | -0.222 |
| 12. | Carson Hocevar | 32.826 | 137.086 | 4 | 33 | -0.223 |
| 13. | Brad Keselowski | 32.827 | 137.082 | 3 | 16 | -0.224 |
| 14. | Kyle Busch | 32.839 | 137.032 | 3 | 23 | -0.236 |
| 15. | Denny Hamlin | 32.852 | 136.978 | 5 | 23 | -0.249 |
| 16. | Corey LaJoie | 32.916 | 136.712 | 4 | 29 | -0.313 |
| 17. | William Byron | 32.926 | 136.670 | 3 | 27 | -0.323 |
| 18. | Chase Elliott | 32.926 | 136.670 | 5 | 33 | -0.323 |
| 19. | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 32.948 | 136.579 | 5 | 21 | -0.345 |
| 20. | Josh Berry | 32.949 | 136.575 | 5 | 28 | -0.346 |
| 21. | Daniel Suarez | 32.966 | 136.504 | 4 | 23 | -0.363 |
| 22. | Alex Bowman | 32.979 | 136.450 | 5 | 22 | -0.376 |
| 23. | Chris Buescher | 32.999 | 136.368 | 3 | 23 | -0.396 |
| 24. | Kyle Larson | 33.024 | 136.265 | 3 | 24 | -0.421 |
| 25. | Derek Kraus | 33.026 | 136.256 | 2 | 30 | -0.423 |
| 26. | Zane Smith | 33.050 | 136.157 | 4 | 30 | -0.447 |
| 27. | Todd Gilliland | 33.073 | 136.063 | 3 | 24 | -0.470 |
| 28. | Harrison Burton | 33.074 | 136.059 | 5 | 20 | -0.471 |
| 29. | Daniel Hemric | 33.107 | 135.923 | 3 | 29 | -0.504 |
| 30. | Chase Briscoe | 33.109 | 135.915 | 3 | 26 | -0.506 |
| 31. | Noah Gragson | 33.110 | 135.911 | 2 | 37 | -0.507 |
| 32. | Ryan Preece | 33.124 | 135.853 | 4 | 32 | -0.521 |
| 33. | Austin Dillon | 33.133 | 135.816 | 5 | 21 | -0.530 |
| 34. | John Hunter Nemechek | 33.177 | 135.636 | 3 | 31 | -0.574 |
| 35. | Erik Jones | 33.344 | 134.957 | 10 | 14 | -0.741 |
| 36. | Cody Ware | 33.405 | 134.710 | 7 | 28 | -0.802 |
2024 Gateway Enjoy Illinois 300 10-Lap Average Chart
| Pos | Driver | From Lap | To Lap | Avg Speed |
| 1. | Joey Logano | 1 | 10 | 136.274 |
| 2. | Austin Cindric | 1 | 10 | 136.161 |
| 3. | Ryan Blaney | 2 | 11 | 136.119 |
| 4. | Denny Hamlin | 2 | 11 | 135.964 |
| 5. | Christopher Bell | 1 | 10 | 135.872 |
| 6. | Ty Gibbs | 2 | 11 | 135.865 |
| 7. | Tyler Reddick | 1 | 10 | 135.859 |
| 8. | Ross Chastain | 1 | 10 | 135.731 |
| 9. | Michael McDowell | 1 | 10 | 135.554 |
| 10. | Carson Hocevar | 1 | 10 | 135.549 |
| 11. | Alex Bowman | 1 | 10 | 135.530 |
| 12. | William Byron | 2 | 11 | 135.345 |
| 13. | Josh Berry | 2 | 11 | 135.190 |
| 14. | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 1 | 10 | 135.172 |
| 15. | Bubba Wallace | 1 | 10 | 135.172 |
| 16. | Zane Smith | 2 | 11 | 135.134 |
| 17. | Derek Kraus | 1 | 10 | 134.924 |
| 18. | Ryan Preece | 2 | 11 | 134.874 |
| 19. | Noah Gragson | 2 | 11 | 134.762 |
| 20. | Daniel Suarez | 2 | 11 | 134.685 |
| 21. | Chris Buescher | 5 | 14 | 134.417 |
| 22. | Daniel Hemric | 1 | 10 | 134.333 |
| 23. | Justin Haley | 3 | 12 | 134.287 |
| 24. | Cody Ware | 5 | 14 | 134.085 |
| 25. | Kyle Larson | 13 | 22 | 133.662 |
| 26. | Chase Elliott | 20 | 29 | 133.505 |
| 27. | Chase Briscoe | 16 | 25 | 133.409 |
| 28. | Corey LaJoie | 19 | 28 | 133.395 |
| 29. | John Hunter Nemechek | 9 | 18 | 132.889 |
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