Denny Hamlin won Sunday’s (Sept. 7) Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, earning his fifth win of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Hamlin held off Chase Briscoe over the race’s final run to score the 59th win of his career and advance to the second round of the NASCAR playoffs.
He also earned Toyota’s 200th Cup Series win. Joe Gibbs Racing has been the winner of 166 of those victories.
“Big for everyone at Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing,” Hamlin told USA Network. “My dad’s not feeling well; shout-out to him.”
Hamlin took the lead with 25 laps to go and didn’t relinquish it for the remainder of the race.
Briscoe, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, John Hunter Nemechek, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher and Ty Gibbs completed the top 10.
“Our strength was our speed,” Briscoe said. “Our weakness was the sloppiness. Great recovery, (crew chief) James (Small) did an awesome job to get us back up there. Just was at a tire deficit there (at the end).”
Blaney and Larson tangled on Lap 134, with both drivers giving their sides of the story.
“I just wanted to know what I did to deserve it,” Blaney said. “It’s fine, you make mistakes, but at the end of the day, I still got turned.”
“I just told him I messed up,” Larson said. “Just misjudged… and clipped him. Wasn’t intentional at all. I hope he understands that.”
Logano earned a much-needed top-five finish and climbed above the playoff cut line.
“It was another solid day here in St. Louis,” Logano said. “Had a shot at it. I thought I lost control on the restart there to (Hamlin). We just weren’t able to cycle ahead of him. Overall, I’m proud of the team.”
Josh Berry crashed on lap 36, and for the second straight week, suffered an early exit with a 36th-place finish. Daniel Suarez finished 35th after his No. 99 Chevrolet sustained damage in stage three.
Briscoe won stage one, with Wallace winning stage two.
Enjoy Illinois 300 Results
The Cup Series will conclude the Round of 16 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sept. 13. Coverage will begin on USA Network at 7:30 p.m. ET.
A member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA), Samuel also covers NASCAR for Yardbarker, Field Level Media, and Heavy Sports. He will attend the University of Arkansas in the fall of 2025.