2025 NASCAR Predictions at Gateway Today: Enjoy Illinois 300 Odds, Prop Bets & Expert Picks

The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs have arrived, and I'm offering my 2025 NASCAR predictions and odds at Gateway 2025.  

My featured picks for today's Enjoy Illinois 300, which start at 3 p.m. ET (USA) from Madison, Ill., headline Ryan Blaney, Josh Berry, and Michael McDowell, along with two appealing prop picks.

📊 2025 NASCAR odds & favorites at Gateway

Here are the latest Enjoy Illinois 300 odds and favorites at Gateway via BetMGM for Sunday's race.

🥇 Enjoy Illinois 300 betting favorites 🥇

• Denny Hamlin, +400 ($10 to win $40), (odds shortened from +600)
• Ryan Blaney, +500 ($10 to win $50), (odds lengthened from +425)
• Christopher Bell, +600 ($10 to win $60), (odds lengthened from +500)
• Kyle Larson, +600 ($10 to win $60), (odds shortened from +800)
• William Byron, +700 ($10 to win $70), (odds shortened from +800)
• Chase Briscoe, +800 ($10 to win $80), (odds shortened from +1000)
• Chase Elliott, +1400 ($10 to win $140), (odds shortened from +1600)
• Joey Logano, +1400 ($10 to win $140), (odds lengthened from +1100)
• Tyler Reddick, +1400 ($10 to win $140), (odds didn't change)
• Brad Keselowski, +2000 ($10 to win $200), (odds shortened from +2200)
• Ross Chastain, +2000 ($10 to win $200), (odds shortened from +3000)
• Austin Cindric, +2500 ($10 to win $250), (odds lengthened from +1600)
• Kyle Busch, +3000 ($10 to win $300), (odds lengthened from +2200)
• Chris Buescher, +3000 ($10 to win $300), (odds didn't change)
• Josh Berry, +4000 ($10 to win $400), (odds lengthened from +2500)
• Bubba Wallace, +4000 ($10 to win $400), (odds lengthened from +2500)
• Carson Hocevar, +5000 ($10 to win $500), (odds lengthened from +3000)

Claim our BetMGM bonus code, SBRBONUS, to receive up to $1,500 in bonus bets by placing a wager of any amount on the Enjoy Illinois 300 or any other market!

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🏁 NASCAR predictions, expert picks & best bets at Gateway

World Wide Technology (WWT) Raceway, also known as Gateway, is a flat “short” track. At 1.25 miles in length, it’s not quite a traditional short track, but, as a flat track, it races far more similarly to a flat short track than an intermediate track of comparable length like Darlington.

Like Darlington, Gateway is also oblong, but instead of 25-degree banking in the corners, we have 10-degree banking. That severely limits the speed drivers can carry into the corners and forces them to use the brakes – the best average green flag speed here last year (131.5 mph) is well below last week’s (157.1).

The two favorites for this weekend’s event, Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell, have proven their ability to dominate at these types of venues often throughout their careers. It’s close, but ultimately, I predict Blaney will win the Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway.

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🏆 Pick to win Enjoy Illinois 300: Ryan Blaney (+500) ⭐⭐⭐

I’m keeping Blaney to a three-star pick for this weekend’s Enjoy Illinois 300 simply because we aren’t getting enough value to be more excited. Blaney’s maximum implied odds of 16.67% at DraftKings aren’t great. They’re much worse at other books, like FanDuel, where his implied odds are 19.2%.

Still, speed aside, Blaney’s disappointing showing at Darlington and need for more playoff points in later rounds make him a great target for this race.

The three longer flat short tracks we’ve seen this year (so, excluding Martinsville) have been good to Blaney. He ranked third by average green flag speed at Phoenix, third at Richmond, and third at Iowa. He posted finishes of 28th, third, and fourth in those races. Importantly, no other driver posted top five average green-flag speed in all three of those events. William Byron and Austin Cindric were the only other drivers to even do so twice.

Finally, Blaney’s resume at Gateway is notable. He ranks second by average driver rating (110.9) and laps led (115), behind only Kyle Busch in both metrics. He also leads all drivers in average starting position (3.3). With every Gateway winner starting the race in the first four rows, qualifying performance will matter, and I have faith that Blaney will start in the first few rows on Sunday.

A $10 bet will score you a solid if unspectacular profit of $50 at DraftKings if Blaney wins at Gateway.

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💎 Best value bet to win Enjoy Illinois 300: Josh Berry (+2800) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Josh Berry, a longtime short-track ace, is a more intriguing bet to win Sunday’s race - with a much better return at these +2800 odds via ESPN BET.

Like Blaney, Berry drives a Ford for Team Penske (well, technically for its affiliate, Wood Brothers Racing, but that’s essentially the same thing). Also like Blaney, Berry has been consistently fast on the longer flat short tracks. He ranked sixth by average green-flag speed at Phoenix, eighth at Richmond, and 13th at Iowa. He finished fourth, eighth, and 13th in those races, respectively.

But unlike Blaney, Berry now faces an uphill battle to advance in the playoffs. He crashed on the opening lap of the Southern 500 last week despite starting near the front. The performance hasn’t ended his season, but it has made it much more difficult for him to keep his season alive without a win.

As a result, if Berry gets a car with, say, top-five or top-10 speed, he is likely to make an aggressive strategy call to get the win. With all other books charging a worse price than these +2800 odds at ESPN BET, lock him in at that site to end up in Victory Lane.

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🎯 Best long shot to win Enjoy Illinois 300: Michael McDowell (+25000) ⭐⭐

Last year, Michael McDowell qualified on the pole for this race. He led 40 laps and finished the first stage in second before his No. 34 Ford was relegated to the back of the field. But as McDowell struggled, Spire Motorsports’ own Carson Hocevar fought his way up from 20th to eighth.

With McDowell now in a Spire car, the combination of his qualifying prowess and better long-run equipment could make things spicy.

McDowell’s resume here is surprisingly impressive. His average starting position (13) is 10th-best among all drivers on the entry list. More impressively, he ranks fifth in laps led (74). McDowell’s experience on road courses serves him well with the limited banking and tight corners at this track, and with a better car under him this year, I like his chances more than the market does.

Last year, Austin Cindric opened at +25000 and won the race. This year, McDowell could do the same thing. Don’t bet your life savings on it, but with a $10 bet returning a $2,500 profit, why not get some exposure?

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💰 Best NASCAR prop bets & picks at Gateway

We’ll be revisiting two of the drivers discussed above with our best NASCAR prop bets and picks for Sunday’s action at WWT Raceway: We’re locking Berry in for a much-needed top 10 result - as well as McDowell, albeit for a much better price.

🔥 Best prop bet for Enjoy Illinois 300: Josh Berry top 10 (+140) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

After crashing out early last weekend, Berry needs to have a good performance on Sunday. He may not need to win – he is 19 points below the cut line, which two good results could correct – but he does need to get it together quickly. Shane Van Gisbergen (+3) is one driver he could pass with just a solid result. Austin Dillon (-8) and Alex Bowman (-19) are in play, too.

The downside is that while Berry runs well on flat short tracks, he hasn’t made a start at Gateway in the top divisions of the sport. Still, with his experience at comparable venues – including a pair of top 10s in three events on the longer flat short tracks – his odds should probably be shorter than the +140 at bet365. Perhaps that’s why he is just +100 (50%) for a top 10 on DraftKings.

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🚀 Best long-shot prop bet for Enjoy Illinois 300: Michael McDowell top 10 (+750) ⭐⭐⭐

McDowell may not unload with race-winning speed this weekend, but he should be live enough for a top-10 result.

His No. 71 Chevrolet has shown much more speed than his No. 34 Ford did last year. McDowell put himself on the pole for this race last year and managed to cling on to second place by the end of the first stage. If he can manage a similar performance in qualifying, he’ll have an easier job staying near the front than he did last year.

It also helps that we’ve seen McDowell post top 10s on short flat tracks before. He did so here in 2023, at Phoenix in 2023 and 2024, and at Richmond in 2023.

Although McDowell turned 40 last December, the old dog has learned some new tricks late in his career, and he should have odds much shorter than +750 at FanDuel to score a top 10 on Sunday. That's especially true with 36 cars on the entry list, which means any driver has a raw chance of 27.7% of scoring a top 10.

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📈 NASCAR trends & Gateway history

Here are a few Enjoy Illinois 300 trends to consider before betting on Sunday's race at WWT Raceway.

🏎️ Start up front, finish up front. Over the three Cup Series races held at Gateway, the eventual winner has started from within the first eight rows every time. Two of the three drivers who led the most laps also started within the first two rows.

🏎️ Expect Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch at the front. They may not have the same quality results as Logano, but Blaney and Busch have led at least 12 laps in every race at Gateway. Busch even led the most laps here en route to a win in 2023.  

🏎️ This is Joey Logano’s playground. Even though Gateway hasn’t been a playoff race until this season, known playoff ace Logano has finished inside the top 10 in each race here, leading active drivers in average finish (3) – although he trails Busch and Blaney in average driver rating (105.9). 

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💡 How to bet on NASCAR at Gateway

When betting on flat short tracks in the playoffs, here are two strategy tips to keep in mind:

• Don’t forget about those pesky Penskes! Team Penske has won the last three championships – all the ones in the NextGen Era – largely due to dominance at this style of track. Since 2022, Phoenix Raceway, another short flat track, has seen Penske Fords win the title each year, either with wins or runners-up. Team Penske has won two of the three races here, too.
• Look at the comparator tracks. NASCAR races at plenty of flat short tracks, and this season, we’ve seen four such events (three on longer venues). Look to Phoenix, Richmond, Iowa, and, to a lesser extent, Martinsville when handicapping this race.

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🏆 Past Gateway winners

Here is a look at the last three Gateway winners entering Sunday's race. The Cup Series has run three races at this track, each in June of the respective season; this year’s event is the first held in the playoffs and the month of September.

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📺 How to watch the 2025 Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway

• Date: Sunday, Sept. 7
• Start time: 3 p.m. ET
• Track: World Wide Technology Raceway (Madison, Ill.)
• TV: USA Network

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❓ Enjoy Illinois 300 FAQs

Who is favored to win the Enjoy Illinois 300?

Ryan Blaney is the favorite to win the 2025 Enjoy Illinois 300 with odds of +425 at BetMGM, which feature a 19.1% implied probability and return $42.50 in profit on a $10 bet.

What are the odds for the Enjoy Illinois 300?

Ryan Blaney (+425) is the favorite followed by Christopher Bell (+500), Denny Hamlin (+600), and Kyle Larson (+800).

What time is the 2025 Enjoy Illinois 300?

The 2025 Enjoy Illinois 300 starts at 3 p.m. ET (USA) on Sunday, Sept. 7, from WWT Raceway.

How to watch the 2025 Enjoy Illinois 300

You can watch the Enjoy Illinois 300 on USA.

Who won the Enjoy Illinois 300 last year?

Austin Cindric won the Enjoy Illinois 300 last year with raceday odds of +2800 after opening at odds of +25000.

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