Enjoy Illinois 300 Picks, Predictions, Odds 2023: Back-to-Back Wins for Ford?

A wild week off the NASCAR track concludes with the Enjoy Illinois 300. Read on for our NASCAR picks and predictions for the Enjoy Illinois 300.

It has been a wild week in the world of NASCAR. The Coca-Cola 600 was pushed to Monday due to inclement weather. As a result, drivers and teams will have to contend with a tighter turnaround from the longest race of the year to Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300.

There has also been plenty of drama both on and off the track this week. The sport’s most popular driver, Chase Elliott, is set to miss this weekend’s event at World Wide Technology Raceway after intentionally wrecking Denny Hamlin at Charlotte. In addition, Chase Briscoe and his team were levied a massive points penalty for running with a counterfeit part last week.

In addition to all of this, WWTR remains relatively unknown as far as the NASCAR Cup Series is concerned. This will be only the second time that the series has run at Gateway. Joey Logano took the checkered flag in the debut race last year. A familiar name tops the odds board as the favorite and the NASCAR Cup Series Championship odds, but bettors have limited data to utilize when it comes to this track.

Here are our best bets and 2023 Enjoy Illinois 300 picks for Sunday’s action at World Wide Technology Raceway (odds via DraftKings, SuperBook and Caesars; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Enjoy Illinois 300 picks

• Outright winner: Kevin Harvick (+2000 via DraftKings) ⭐
• Head-to-head matchup: Bubba Wallace (-130 via SuperBook) vs. Chase Briscoe ⭐⭐⭐
• Top 10 finish: Austin Cindric (+400 via Caesars) ⭐⭐

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Enjoy Illinois 300 odds

Enjoy Illinois 300 predictions

Outright winner: Kevin Harvick (+2000 via DraftKings) ⭐

For the better part of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season to date, Ford has been a step or more behind its Chevrolet and Toyota counterparts. Needless to say, Ryan Blaney’s victory in last week’s Coca-Cola 600 provided the manufacturer with a major shot in the arm. Kevin Harvick could very well deliver Ford another win this weekend in the Enjoy Illinois 300.

Although there is only one race’s worth of data to go off when handicapping Sunday’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway, there are actually several reasons for bettors to consider Harvick to win. First and foremost is his strong performance in qualifying that has him set to line up fourth on the grid for the race.

Next, it’s worth noting that Ford and the Stewart-Haas Racing organization actually ran quite well in the first edition of this race last year. Harvick was actually the lone exception to this as he qualified poorly and struggled throughout the entire race. Teammate Chase Briscoe qualified on the pole and Aric Almirola scored a fifth-place finish.

As Harvick has qualified on the second row this year, it’s clear that the No. 4 car is already in better shape to contend than in last year’s race. The unique shape of the track and non-existent banking both figure to play into Harvick’s hands as a driver as well. DraftKings’ 20-1 odds also offer considerable value with other shops sitting as low as 13-1.

Head-to-head matchup: Bubba Wallace (-130 via SuperBook) vs. Chase Briscoe ⭐⭐⭐

Bubba Wallace has quietly been one of the steadiest drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in recent weeks. A fourth-place finish at Charlotte was simply the latest in a string of successful runs for the No. 23 team. Prior to that, Wallace scored finishes of second in the All-Star Race, fifth at Darlington, and fourth at Kansas, an impressive four-week run, to say the least.

Fast forward to Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 and Wallace will have his work cut out for him. A lackluster qualifying run has him slated to line up 20th on the starting grid. Despite this, he is still a -130 favorite in this head-to-head matchup against Briscoe, who has been the polar opposite of Wallace lately in terms of results. 

Briscoe will be starting 25th at WWTR on Sunday and he is coming off of a tumultuous week at Charlotte. Briscoe and the No. 14 team were levied a major points penalty for running with a counterfeit part in the Coca-Cola 600. Making matters worse, cheating didn’t even produce a strong result in the race, a clear indicator of just how much this team is struggling.

Combine the groove that Wallace has been in of late with the struggles of Briscoe and it would be a shock to see the former not prevail in this head-to-head matchup. Despite needing to lay some extra juice, Wallace makes for a sensible play.

Top 10 finish: Austin Cindric (+400 via Caesars) ⭐⭐

Austin Cindric kicked off his full-time Cup Series career in grand fashion last year by winning the Daytona 500. He hasn’t returned to victory lane since then, and he has been running particularly poor this season. To date in 2023, Cindric has as many top-10 finishes (2) as he does DNFs. As such, it’s easy to see why Caesars has him priced at 4-1 to crack the top-10 on Sunday.

So, why on Earth are we recommending that bettors pursue this prop ahead of the Enjoy Illinois 300? Well, Cindric has actually proven to have a pretty solid handle on things at World Wide Technology Raceway. Last year, he qualified second, won the first stage of the race, and came home with an 11th-place finish.

Of course, that was last year. The way Cindric has been running so far in 2023, one would be right to expect some regression at all tracks. The catch here is that he had another strong run in qualifying that will see him start 10th for Sunday’s race. In other words, we are getting a +400 price on a driver who is already lined up to start the race inside the top 10.

Cindric may have no finish better than 19th spanning the last nine races, but this is still a Team Penske outfit we are talking about. After Blaney’s win last week, perhaps that organizational shot in the arm carries over to the No. 2 team as well. After bringing everything into consideration, the return on this top-10 prop is simply too good to pass up.

Enjoy Illinois 300 info

Date: Sunday, June 4, 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, IL
How to watch: FS1
Defending winner: Joey Logano

Enjoy Illinois 300 picks made 6/3/2023 at 2:30 p.m. ET

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