Gateway / WWT Raceway Enjoy Illinois 300 Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings

Carson Hocevar
Gateway / WWT Raceway Fantasy Outlook – Carson Hocevar should be solid at Gateway. Hocevar looked good here in his 2023 Cup series debut (looked mid-teens good in the #7) and over the last two his average finish is 11.5. This year at shorter-flat tracks, Hocevar hasn’t been at his best and over the combined races his best finish is 13th, he’s 4 for 5 at finishing 19th or worse, has a 24.0 average finish and ranks 20th for Speed.
Gateway / WWT Raceway History – Carson Hocevar has overall been solid at Gateway. Last year, Hocevar started 27th, had a 19.8 average running position and then finished 15th overall. In terms of speed stats, Hocevar ranked 20th for Total Speed Rankings and then 21st for Speed Late In A Run. In 2024, Hocevar ran a lot better and finished 8th. In the race, Hocevar started 20th, had a 16.6 average running position, finished 8th in Stage #2 and then finished 8th when the checkered flag waved. In terms of speed stats, Hocevar had the 16th best Total Speed Ranking but take note his speed over the segments were 21st, 27th, 5th and then 10th. In 2023 in his Cup debut in the #7, Hocevar ran well and was a legit mid-teens driver but on lap 91 while running in 16th he had a brake failure and crashed, leading to his 36th.

Ryan Preece
Gateway / WWT Raceway Fantasy Outlook – Ryan Preece is at his best at shorter-flat tracks, so look for a solid afternoon out of the #60 but by that, I think he’ll likely be about a 10th to 15th place driver. That’s how he typically stacks up on most 2026 race weekends and for the season at shorter-flat tracks over the combined races he ranks 9th for average finish (13.8) and 13th for Speed. Some good news about that is that at New Hampshire just a few weeks ago, he had his best 2026 track type performance and finished 9th.
Gateway / WWT Raceway History – At Gateway, Ryan Preece has a 19.7 average finish and ranks 28th for Speed. Some good news for Preece is that he had his best performance last summer. Last year, Preece started 32nd, had a 24.4 average running position and then finished 13th overall. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Preece ranked 29th with his speed over the segments being 28th, 27th, 33rd and then 18th. In 2024 in his old ride, Preece finished 29th, ranked 25th in terms of Driver Rating, had a 20.5 average running position and ranked 24th in terms of Total Speed Rankings. Considering SHR was basically done as an organization, I wouldn’t read into it too much. In 2023, Preece started 29th, had a 24.3 average running position and then finished 17th when the checkered flag waved. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Preece ranked 28th.

Chris Buescher
Gateway / WWT Raceway Fantasy Outlook – At Gateway, I would view Chris Buescher as a low double-digit to mid-teens driver who might be able to finish around 10th in a best-case scenario. Over his three starts at this shorter-flat track, Buescher has an 11.7 average finish (7th best) but in other Next Gen analytics, he ranks 16th for Driver Rating and 17th for Speed. This year at shorter-flat tracks, Buescher has been pretty mid, going 5 for 5 at finishing between 13th to 21st with a 17.2 average finish and ranks 18th for Speed.
Gateway / WWT Raceway History – Chris Buescher has three starts on his resume at Gateway and over them he’s 3 for 3 at finishing between 9th to 14th with an 11.7 average finish. Last year, Buescher had a solid showing. In the race, Buescher started 11th, had a 12.5 average running position and then finished 9th overall. In terms of speed stats, he ranked 9th for Speed Late In A Run and then 11th for Total Speed Rankings. In 2024, Buescher started 26th, had a 22.2 average running position, ranked 20th in terms of Total Speed Rankings and then finished 14th. Over the last segment, the #17 could run hard to the finish on fuel and he ranked 2nd for speed over the last quarter of the race. In 2023, Buescher started 27th and then raced his way to a 12th place finish. Additionally, his average running position was 20th and his Total Speed Ranking ranked 24th. To close out the race, Buescher was at his best and hovered around the low double-digits to mid-teens. In 2022, Buescher missed the race due to “covid protocols.”

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