On Sunday, NASCAR will be racing at Gateway/ WWTR for the Enjoy Illinois 300 for race #2 of the Playoffs. Gateway is a 1.25-mile egg shaped oval which I view as a shorter-flat track. The short track rules package isn’t being used here but make no mistake it races as one, so don’t get hung up on that. (Shorter-Flat Track 2025 Total Speed Rankings, Shorter-Flat Track Total Speed Rankings Since 2024).

On Saturday, practice was held for Gateway. Teams had 25 minutes, and keep in mind teams have different agendas. Make sure you check out our Gateway Practice Notes, Gateway Group Speed Rankings, Gateway 10,15,20,25 and 30 Lap Average Speed Cheat Sheet and Gateway Practice Speeds and 10 Lap Averages.

Here’s the Gateway Starting Lineup.

Gateway Full Field Fantasy Rankings

1) Ryan Blaney
Start 5th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Gateway Outlook – Ryan Blaney is a super-elite shorter-flat track performer who’ll be tough to beat at Gateway/WWT Raceway in the Enjoy Illinois 300. Blaney’s been a standout performer at this 1.25-mile shorter-flat track and after running out of fuel while leading on the final lap last year, there’s no doubt he’ll be racing with a little extra motivation. Over the three combined Gateway races, Blaney has the best Next Gen Speed Ranking, the best average running position, the 2nd best Driver Rating and his average finish if you credit him with a 1st last year would be 3.6. Last year, Blaney had the race all but won but ran out of gas on the last lap, and limped home to an asterisk mark 24th. In the race, Blaney finished 3rd in Stage #1, finished 3rd in Stage #2, led 20 laps and had a 6.2 average running position. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Blaney ranked 3rd. In 2023, Blaney was a standout performer. In the race, Blaney finished 2nd in Stage #1, won Stage #2, had a 2.6 average running position, had the 2nd best Driver Rating, led 83 laps and then finished 6th overall. In terms of speed stats, Blaney ranked 2nd for Total Speed Rankings and then 3rd for Speed Late In A Run. In 2022, Blaney was impressive and finished 4th despite his race not being incident free. In the race, Blaney started 5th, led 12 laps, finished 2nd in Stage #1 but then on lap 95 while running in 3rd, Blaney had a flat tire and spun which brought out the caution. When Stage #2 ended, Blaney finished 10th. Then over the final Stage, Blaney drove hard to notch his 4th place finish. In terms of speed analytics, Blaney ranked 2nd for Total Speed Rankings, Green Flag Speed and Speed Late In A Run. This year at shorter-flat tracks, Blaney has the best Track Type Total Speed Ranking and at the two recent shorter-flat tracks visited, he’s come home with results of 3rd (Richmond) and 4th (Iowa). In practice, Blaney was a stopwatch standout and ranked #1 in a stacked Group 2 for 10,15 and 20-lap averages.
DraftKings $11,000/ FanDuel $14,000

Further Recommended Reading = Gateway Projected Finish Ranges, DraftKings Gateway Scoring Projections, FanDuel Gateway Scoring Projections, Gateway Quick Rankings 

2) Denny Hamlin
Start 1st / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Gateway Outlook – At Gateway, look for polesitter Denny Hamlin to be dialed in and be a factor. Hamlin’s one of the premiere performers at shorter-flat tracks and over the last two races held at this mid-west track, he’s 2 for 2 at finishing 2nd, has a 3.5 average speed ranking, the best Driver Rating and the 2nd best average running position (6.8). Last year, Hamlin had a strong showing. In the race, Hamlin started 6th, finished 5th in Stage #1, finished 10th in Stage #2, earned the 3rd best Driver Rating, had the 5th best average running position (10.6) and then finished 2nd overall. In terms of speed stats, Hamlin had the 4th best Total Speed Ranking and ranked 5th for Speed Late In A Run. In 2023, Hamlin finished 3rd in Stage #1, finished 3rd in Stage #2, had a 3.0 average running position, earned the 3rd best Driver Rating and then finished 2nd when the checkered flag waved. In terms of speed stats, Hamlin ranked 2nd for Speed Late In A run and then 3rd for Total Speed Rankings. In 2022, Hamlin was a top five contender but was “Chastain’ed” which led to his 34th. This year at shorter-flat tracks, Hamlin finished 2nd at Phoenix and over the combined races, he ranks 7th in terms of Track Type Total Speed Rankings.
DraftKings $10,700/ FanDuel $13,000

3) Christopher Bell
Start 8th/ Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Gateway Outlook – Christopher Bell is a super-elite shorter-flat track performer who’ll be tough to beat at Gateway in the Enjoy Illinois 300. Bell was the class of the field last summer; he’s been strong over all three previous Gateway races and he’s frequently the driver to beat at shorter-flat tracks. This year at shorter-flat tracks, Bell put on a display of domination to start the year at Phoenix en route to victory lane but over the other two, he just wasn’t great. In terms of 2025 Track Type Total Speed Rankings over the combined races, Bell ranks 3rd. To highlight Phoenix more since I view it to have the most correlation, Bell had the best Total Speed Ranking, a 2.6 average running position, led 105 laps and earned the best Driver Rating. At Gateway, Bell has the 4th best average finish (9.0), the 4th best Next Gen Speed Ranking and the 5th best Driver Rating. Last year, Bell was the class of the field but finished an asterisk mark 7th. In the race, Bell started 4th, won Stage #1, won Stage #2, led the most laps (80), earned the best Driver Rating, had the best average running position (4.3), drove from about the mid-teens to the lead in the last Stage but once he got up to the front, the #20 engine started going south, leading to his asterisk mark 7th. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Bell ranked 2nd with his speed over the segments being 1st, 1st, 3rd and then 17th. In 2023, Bell finished 11th even though his race wasn’t incident free. On lap 204 while running in 11th, Bell was spun in what was ultimately a harmless spin, but it dropped him back and forced him to rally hard at the end. In terms of speed stats, Bell ranked 11th for Speed Late In A Run and 16th in terms of Total Speed Rankings. In 2022, Bell had an 8.9 average running position and then finished 9th overall. In practice, Bell was happy with how the #20 performed.
DraftKings $10,500/ FanDuel $13,500