Motorsport photo

NASCAR heads just outside of St. Louis for the 28th round of the 2025 season, and the middle race in the Round of 16. Team Penske are the defending winners of this race, with Austin Cindric claiming victory over teammate Ryan Blaney when he ran out of fuel. This will be the first time Gateway has appeared in the Cup Playoffs.

Playoff picture

Chase Briscoe is the only driver locked into the Round of 12 after earning a historically dominant victory in the Southern 500.

Shane van Gisbergen is on the bubble in 12th, just three points clear of three-time and defending series champion, Joey Logano. Austin Dillon is eight points below the cutline, followed by Alex Bowman and Josh Berry — both sitting at minus 19.

News of the week

This week, the Haas Factory Team announced plans to switch to Chevrolet in 2026, while also forming a technical alliance with Hendrick Motorsports.

In the ongoing legal drama off the track, the courts ruled against 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports in their request for injunction relief. They found some middle ground, where NASCAR will hold new charters for the teams in case they ultimately win the lawsuit.

Kaulig announced that they will run ARCA points leader Brenden Queen at Bristol in his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut.

Austin Cindric also confirmed plans to compete in the Supercars finale on the streets of Adelaide, piloting a wildcard entry for Tickford Racing.

Friday, September 5th

5:05pm — NASCAR Xfinity Series practice — THE CW APP

Saturday, September 6th

3pm — NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying — THE CW APP

4:30pm — NASCAR Cup practice and practice — TRUTV

5:40pm — NASCAR Cup practice and practice — TRUTV

7:30pm — NASCAR Xfinity Series race (160 laps) — The CW

Sunday, September 7th

3pm EST — NASCAR Cup race at Gateway (240 laps) — USA NETWORK

Photo by: Logan Riely via Getty Images

How can I watch the NASCAR Cup Series at Gateway?

Date: Sunday, September 7th
TV start time: 2:30 p.m. ET
Green flag: 3:05pm EST
Laps/Miles: 260 laps / 300 miles
Stages: 45 / 90 / 100
TV channel: USA NETWORK | TSN (Canada) | Other international viewing optionsLive stream: In-car cameras on HBO MAX
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Who is racing the Enjoy Illinois 300 at WWT Raceway

There are 36 teams entered for this weekend’s race with no part-time entries. There are no changes to the usual driver rosters as the 2025 playoffs continue in Illinois.

^{*Playoff drivers in bold}

No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet
2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford
3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
4	Noah Gragson	Front Row Motorsports	Ford
5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford
7	Justin Haley	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet
8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
10	Ty Dillon	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet
11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford
16	AJ Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet
17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford
19	Chase Briscoe	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
21	Josh Berry	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford
22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford
23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota
24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
34	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford
35	Riley Herbst	23XI Racing	Toyota
38	Zane Smith	Front Row Motorsports	Ford
41	Cole Custer	Haas Factory Team	Ford
42	John Hunter Nemechek	Legacy Motor Club	Toyota
43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	Toyota
45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Toyota
47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Hyak Motorsports	Chevrolet
48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
51	Cody Ware	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet
54	Ty Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
60	Ryan Preece	RFK Racing	Ford
71	Michael McDowell	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet
77	Carson Hocevar	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet
88	Shane van Gisbergen	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet
99	Daniel Suarez	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet