Chris Buescher 2023 Enjoy Illinois 300 NASCAR at Gateway Picks & Predictions
The ice in the YETIs will be there until the fall. Same with the burnouts on the backroad blacktop from when we dump the clutch. Drop tops, crop tops and no place better to be than a rooftop - summertime is sweeping across the U.S.
If you live in a place like I do - the valleys of Pennsylvania - you’re ready for it. We’ve worked hard for the five months of 2023, spending a lot of weekends inside, dodging the cold. Not long ago, Saturdays were for binging movies, and Sundays, well, those have always been for racing.
The NASCAR Cup Series has kept us company with exciting finishes, fists flying and tickets cashing so far this year. As the temperatures continue to rise, I expect tempers on the track to do the same, with just 12 races remaining in the regular season.
Stock car racing’s premiere series heads to the heartland this week to run the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway), just east of St. Louis.
This is one of the newer tracks on the circuit, with the Cup Series only racing here since last season. However, that won’t stop us from handicapping this race with our select comp tracks and data sets:
- 2023 Phoenix (finishes, total speed rankings* & late-run speed*)
- 2023 Richmond (finishes, total speed rankings* & late-run speed*)
- 2022 Gateway (finishes, total speed rankings,* late-run speed* & green-flag speed*)
- 2022 New Hampshire (finishes)
- Recent performance & current standings
*via ifantasyrace.com
Let’s see what the Midwest has in store for the NASCAR Cup Series with our best bets for the 2023 Enjoy Illinois 300.
2023 Enjoy Illinois 300: NASCAR at Gateway Odds, Picks & Predictions
Odds courtesy of Barstool Sportsbook | All bet recommendations are for 1u unless noted.
Top 10: Chris Buescher (+175)
Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing (RFK) is hitting its stride, and leading the charge is 30-year-old Chris Buescher. His No. 17 Ford Mustang has finished in the top 1o in four of his last five races, positioning him in the top 12 in points, laps run and average finish (14.6) this season.
In addition, Buescher has been fast on the shorter flats (Phoenix and Richmond) in 2023, pacing with the 12th-best total speed ranking across both tracks.
Buescher missed this race last season following a positive COVID-19 test. That left Truck Series standout Zane Smith to finish 17th in Buescher’s car in what was his Cup Series debut. Buescher being in the car should be worth at least seven additional spots, putting him in the top 10 for the day.
Seth Woolcock is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more sports betting and fantasy sports analysis from Seth, check out In-Between Media and follow him @Between_SethFF.