After a wild and exciting Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR shifts back to the Midwest for the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway. Both the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series head to the 1.25-mile track, while the NASCAR Xfinity Series goes to the other side of the country at Portland International Raceway.
This is the second trip to St. Louis for the Cup Series after the track made its Cup debut in 2022. Last year’s race featured an entertaining fight within the race, with Ross Chastain igniting his feuds with Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott.
In addition to the entertainment on the track, here is who you can expect to show up near The Gateway Arch this weekend.
FOX Sports Booth: Regular NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series announcer and two-time Daytona 500 champion Michael Waltrip will join Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer in the booth for the Cup race. During stage two, former Cup driver and St. Louis native Kenny Wallace will hop in for the second consecutive year.
Grand Marshal: Six-time Olympic medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee will give the command for the Cup drivers to fire their engines. Kersee will also host the JJK 5K on the track following the Truck Series.
Honorary Pace Car Driver: While he won’t be driving the official pace car, Rusty Wallace will be driving one of his most iconic cars to pace the Cup field on June 4. Wallace will drive ‘Midnight,’ a chassis that Wallace ran from 1992-1994 for Team Penske. Wallace won 13 races and recorded 30 top fives with Midnight.
Live Shows: Kenny Wallace Live! returns for the second year with Wallace hosting the pre-race show. It turned out over 5,000 fans in 2022.
Additionally, Wallace’s former colleague at SPEED TV in John Roberts will host “NASCAR’s Victory Lane with John Roberts.” Roberts currently co-hosts Sirius XM NASCAR Radio’s “Tradin’ Paint.”
Post-Race Concert: Grammy-nominated artist and CMT Music Award winner Sam Hunt will perform a post-race concert following the NXS race at Portland.
Dierks Bentley will perform a post-race concert to wrap up the weekend at WWT Raceway following the Enjoy Illinois 300.
Entering his fifth year with Frontstretch, Luken Glover is the author of The Underdog House, shedding light on the motivation and performance of NASCAR's dark horse teams as they strive to fight to the top. Additionally, Glover reports for the site at various events, and he contributes in the video editing department.
A 2023 graduate of the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is a middle school math and PE teacher, as well as a basketball coach. He is passionate about serving in his church, playing/coaching a wide variety of sports, and researching motorsports history.