June 4, 2023 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Kyle Busch converts pole position into NASCAR Cup win at WWT Raceway

 MADISON< IL -- Kyle Busch collected his 63rd NASCAR Cup Series victory on Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway, but the driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet had to work hard for the first-place money.

Busch, the pole winner, survived five restarts in the last 40 laps of the Enjoy Illinois 300 and beat Denny Hamlin to the finish line by .517 seconds after Bubba Wallace’s broken brake rotor caused the 11th caution on Lap 236 and sent the race to overtime. 

The victory was Busch’s first at the 1.25-mile track and the third in his debut season with RCR. It was a home game for his crew chief, Randall Burnett, who grew up in Fenton, Mo., and had family in attendance on Sunday.

“That was pretty awesome,” Busch exulted after he climbed from his car. “Man, to sit on the pole, lead a lot of laps and have my guys do such a great job today was pretty phenomenal for us. Great for RCR. Just win, baby! Thanks to Team Chevy, appreciate (sponsor) 3Chi…

“We're going to have a great time with this one. This one is pretty cool.”

Busch led five times for 121 laps, including the last 60. Neither Hamlin nor third-place finisher Joey Logano — winner of the inaugural Gateway race last year — led a single circuit.

Kyle Larson parlayed a two-tire call on Lap 178 into improved track position and a fourth-place finish. Martin Truex was fifth, followed by Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez, William Byron, Michael McDowell and Kevin Harvick.

Blaney led 83 laps and Byron 30. Byron pitted from the lead on Lap 178 but fell to fourth with an uncharacteristically slow stop and faded in traffic after the subsequent Lap 184 restart.

Corey LaJoie finished 21st in a substitute role for Chase Elliott, who was serving a one-race suspension for wrecking Hamlin in Monday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. 

Subbing for LaJoie in his usual ride — the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet — Carson Hocevar started 26th and gained 10 spots with an impressive drive through the field before a brake rotor failure on Lap 90 knocked him out of the race.

Hocevar was running 16th and chasing Austin Dillon for position when the right front rotor broke into pieces. The No. 7 Camaro made jarring contact with the Turn 1 wall to cause the fourth caution of the race, which was delayed for two hours with just seven laps complete because of lightning in the area. 

“I thought it was great,” said Hocevar, who was racing a Cup car for the first time. “I had a blast. Just so thankful for the opportunity. I don’t have a job for next year. I know Al Niece and Cody Efaw want me to run for them (in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series), and I will forever run a race or however many. 

“But man, I’m just so thankful that (Spire) gave me the opportunity — the opportunity to drive an Xfinity car (on Monday at Charlotte) and now driving a Cup car. I was running 16th… just so surreal for the first time ever. I thought we were going to have a good day and be in a good spot for the No. 7 Chevy team. Hopefully, that call for a Cup ride isn’t the only one I get in my life.”

Brake rotors weren’t an issue confined to Hocevar’s car. Tyler Reddick slammed the outside wall after his right front rotor exploded on Lap 175. On Lap 198, the same fate befell Noah Gragson, who took the hardest hit of all when his No. 42 Chevy slid up the track into the fence in Turn 1.

Bubba Wallace had the same issue with five laps left in regulation, and his contact with the Turn 1 wall set up the final two-lap run to the finish in overtime. 

Hamlin felt the lightning delay played against him and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team. 

“Yeah, I thought we were super dialed in if it was 95 degrees like it was supposed to be, (but) with those delays, it kind of took away from the advantage I thought that we had,” Hamlin said. 

“I’m proud of this whole Sport Clips Toyota team — pit crew did a phenomenal job keeping us in it and doing really good on the money stop with about 60 to go. We are going to have to wait (for) another (race) to get that 50th (win).”

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NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 15
Race Results for the Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter - Sunday, June 4, 2023
World Wide Technology Raceway - Madison, IL - 1.25 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 243 Laps - 303.75 Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 6/4/2023 @ 09:40 PM Eastern

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 1 8 Kyle Busch 3CHI Chevrolet 243 1 2 59 Running 4 121 6
2 3 11 Denny Hamlin Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota 243 3 3 51 Running
3 6 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 243 5 7 44 Running
4 22 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 243 10 34 Running 1 5
5 5 19 Martin Truex Jr. Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 243 4 39 Running
6 2 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford 243 2 1 50 Running 3 83 1
7 13 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Insurance Chevrolet 243 10 5 37 Running
8 7 24 William Byron Axalta Chevrolet 243 7 4 40 Running 1 30
9 21 34 Michael McDowell FR8Auctions.com Ford 243 28 Running
10 4 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Light Ford 243 6 8 35 Running
11 17 20 Christopher Bell DeWalt Construction Technology Toyota 243 26 Running
12 27 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 243 25 Running
13 10 2 Austin Cindric Freightliner Ford 243 9 26 Running
14 11 16 AJ Allmendinger Farmsmart Chevrolet 243 23 Running
15 28 38 Todd Gilliland Serial 1 E-Bikes Ford 243 22 Running
16 23 31 Justin Haley LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 243 21 Running
17 29 41 Ryan Preece HaasTooling.com Ford 243 20 Running
18 31 43 Erik Jones Bommarito.com Chevrolet 243 19 Running
19 24 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 243 18 Running
20 15 54 Ty Gibbs # Monster Energy Toyota 243 17 Running
21 30 9 Corey LaJoie NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 243 16 Running
22 8 1 Ross Chastain Moose Fraternity Chevrolet 243 8 9 20 Running
23 14 21 Harrison Burton Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 243 14 Running
24 36 51 JJ Yeley(i) Biohaven/Jacob Co. Ford 243 0 Running
25 33 77 Ty Dillon NationsGuard Chevrolet 243 12 Running
26 18 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 243 11 Running
27 34 78 BJ McLeod Circle B Diecast Chevrolet 243 10 Running
28 19 6 Brad Keselowski King's Hawaiian Ford 243 9 Running
29 35 15 Gray Gaulding(i) Panini America Ford 242 0 Running
30 20 23 Bubba Wallace Leidos Toyota 236 7 Accident
31 16 3 Austin Dillon Get Bioethanol Chevrolet 223 6 Accident
32 12 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet 219 6 10 Accident
33 32 42 Noah Gragson # Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet 197 4 Accident
34 25 14 Chase Briscoe Ford Performance Racing School Ford 193 3 Running
35 9 45 Tyler Reddick McDonald's Toyota 174 2 Accident 1 4
36 26 7 Carson Hocevar(i) Schluter Systems Chevrolet 91 0 Accident

 Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 28 Mins, 16 Secs. Average Speed: 87.508 MPH Margin of Victory: .517 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 8, 12, 11, 19, 22, 4, 24, 1, 2, 99
Stage 2 Top 10: 12, 8, 11, 24, 99, 47, 22, 4, 1, 5

 Caution Flags: 11 for 67 laps; Laps: 3-8 (#45 and 47 Incident in Turn 1 [Red Flag: 1:45:09] [None]); 47-53 (Stage 1 Conclusion [77]); 55-58 (#1 and 34 Incident in Turn 2 [51]); 92-102 (#7 Incident in Turn 1 [78]); 142-148 (Stage 2 Conclusion [15]); 176-183 (#45 Incident in Turn 2 [15]); 199-203 (#42 Incident in Turn 1 [Red Flag: 9:19] [6]); 206-209 (#2 and 20 Incident in Turn 2  [6]); 214-217 (#15 Stalled on the Frontstretch [14]); 220-225 (#2, 3 and 47 Incident in Turn 1 [Red Flag: 4:37] [15]); 237-241 (#23 Incident in Turn 1 [15]).

 Lead Changes: 10 among 5 drivers; R. Blaney 1; K. Busch 2-60; R. Blaney 61-98; K. Busch 99; R. Blaney 100-143; K. Busch 144; T. Reddick 145-148; W. Byron 149-178; K. Larson 179-183; K. Busch 184-243.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: June 11, 2023 - Sonoma Raceway
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