MADISON, Ill. – It’s been 123 races since Kyle Busch has led the field to a green flag, but at the conclusion of Saturday’s qualifying session, he would officially earn his 33rd career NASCAR Cup Series pole at World Wide Technology Raceway.
“I haven’t been known as a great qualifier lately, apparently,” said Busch. “Being able to get a pole here with Richard Childress Racing and Team Chevy and everybody with this No. 8 car is good for us just to try to get some momentum rolling.
“Our short-track stuff hasn’t been the greatest this year so far, but this isn’t the short=track aero package here this weekend, so that might pay dividends, hopefully, for us to have a better day than what we anticipated. Just excited to have the guys pumped up and raring to go and knowing that their hard work’s paying off.”
Busch set a time of 32.802 seconds at 137.187 mph to sit atop the charts after the final qualifying round.
Last weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 winner Ryan Blaney will start on the outside of the front row at just 32.810 seconds around the non-traditional 1.25 mile oval. Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick will start in the second row; this is Harvick’s highest qualifying effort since 2020. Martin Truex Jr. concluded the top five results.
Defending Cup champion and defending Gateway race winner Joey Logano posted a time that would slot him into the sixth spot. William Byron, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick and Austin Cindric round out the top 10 starting positions. Team Penske put all their cars into the top 10 after sweeping the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 crown jewel events during Memorial Day weekend.
After Chase Elliott’s suspension, Corey LaJoie was called to fill in for Hendrick Motorsports and their No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro. Carson Hocevar received the call to make his Cup Series debut filling in for LaJoie’s vacant spot in the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro with Spire Motorsports. Hocevar (33.279 seconds) bested LaJoie (33.442 seconds) in qualifying – Hocevar will start 26th and LaJoie in 30th.
Qualifying Results for the Enjoy Illinois 300
| wdt_ID | Pos | No | Driver | Team/Sponsor | Time | Speed | Behind | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 8 | Kyle Busch | 3CHl Chevrolet | 32.802 | 137.187 | --- | --- |
| 2 | 2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford | 32.81 | 137.153 | 0.008 | 0.008 |
| 3 | 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota | 32.87 | 136.903 | 0.068 | 0.06 |
| 4 | 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Busch Light Ford | 32.903 | 136.766 | 0.101 | 0.033 |
| 5 | 5 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota | 33.001 | 136.36 | 0.199 | 0.098 |
| 6 | 6 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 33.006 | 136.339 | 0.204 | 0.005 |
| 7 | 7 | 24 | William Byron | Axalta Chevrolet | 33.03 | 136.24 | 0.228 | 0.024 |
| 8 | 8 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Moose Fraternity Chevrolet | 33.09 | 135.993 | 0.288 | 0.06 |
| 9 | 9 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | McDonald's Toyota | 33.14 | 135.788 | 0.338 | 0.05 |
| 10 | 10 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Freightliner Ford | 33.203 | 135.53 | 0.401 | 0.063 |
| 11 | 11 | 16 | AJ Almendinger | Farmsmart Chevrolet | 33.008 | 136.331 | 0.206 | 0.029 |
| 12 | 12 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet | 33.063 | 136.104 | 0.261 | 0.055 |
| 13 | 13 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Freeway Insurance Chevrolet | 33.086 | 136.009 | 0.284 | 0.023 |
| 14 | 14 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Motorcrafb'Quick Lane Ford | 33.106 | 135.927 | 0.304 | 0.02 |
| 15 | 15 | 54 | Ty Gibbs # | Monster Energy Toyota | 33.11 | 135.911 | 0.308 | 0.004 |
| 16 | 16 | 3 | Austin Dilion | Get Bioethanol Chevrolet | 33.119 | 135.874 | 0.317 | 0.009 |
| 17 | 17 | 20 | Christopher Bell | DeWalt Construction Technology Toyota | 33.148 | 135.755 | 0.346 | 0.029 |
| 18 | 18 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 33.149 | 135.751 | 0.347 | 0.001 |
| 19 | 19 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | King's Hawaiian Ford | 33.151 | 135.743 | 0.349 | 0.002 |
| 20 | 20 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Leidos Toyota | 33.191 | 135.579 | 0.389 | 0.04 |
| 21 | 21 | 34 | Michael McDowell | FR8Auctions.com Ford | 33.194 | 135.567 | 0.392 | 0.003 |
| 22 | 22 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 33.209 | 135.505 | 0.407 | 0.015 |
| 23 | 23 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 33.218 | 135.469 | 0.416 | 0.009 |
| 24 | 24 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 33.224 | 135.444 | 0.422 | 0.006 |
| 25 | 25 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Ford Performance Racing School Ford | 33.277 | 135.229 | 0.475 | 0.053 |
| 26 | 26 | 7 | Carson Hocevar (i) | Schluter Systems Chevrolet | 33.279 | 135.22 | 0.477 | 0.002 |
| 27 | 27 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fastenal Ford | 33.285 | 135.196 | 0.483 | 0.006 |
| 28 | 28 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Serial 1 E-Bikes Ford | 33.321 | 135.05 | 0.519 | 0.036 |
| 29 | 29 | 41 | Ryan Preece | HaasTooling.com Ford | 33.435 | 134.59 | 0.633 | 0.114 |
| 30 | 30 | 9 | Corey LaJoie | NAPAAuto Parts Chevrolet | 33.442 | 134.561 | 0.64 | 0.007 |
| 31 | 31 | 43 | Erik Jones | Bommarito.com Chevrolet | 33.445 | 134.549 | 0.643 | 0.003 |
| 32 | 32 | 42 | Noah Gragson # | Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet | 33.639 | 133.773 | 0.837 | 0.194 |
| 33 | 33 | 77 | Ty Dillon | NationsGuard Chevrolet | 33.778 | 133.223 | 0.976 | 0.139 |
| 34 | 34 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Circie B Diecast Chevrolet | 33.797 | 133.148 | 0.995 | 0.019 |
| 35 | 35 | 15 | Gray Gaulding (i) | Panini America Ford | 33.867 | 132.873 | 1.065 | 0.07 |
| 36 | 36 | 51 | JJ Yeley (i) | Biohaven/Jacob co. Ford | 34.061 | 132.116 | 1.259 | 0.194 |