Enjoy Illinois 300 highlights: Kyle Busch wins in overtime at WWT Raceway
The NASCAR Cup Series' June schedule continued Sunday with the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway, and we had you covered with all the action from Kyle Busch's big win, exclusively on FS1 and the FOX Sports app!
NASCAR's top stars battled it out in Madison, Illinois over 240 laps and 300 miles on the uniquely shaped speedway, which posed a challenge for many drivers and the new Next Gen car, as it featured large degrees of banking throughout.
Chase Elliott wasn't a part of Sunday's action, as he's currently serving a one-week suspension for intentionally wrecking Denny Hamlin at Charlotte. In his place was Corey LaJoie, who moved over from the Spire Motorsports No. 7 car.
You can find a full list of winners so far this year, as well as the season's remaining schedule here.
Here are the top moments.
Green!
Three-time Olympic gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee gave the command for drivers to start their engines Sunday.
Just like that, things were underway at WWT Raceway!
Quick chaos
Pole-sitter Busch chose the inside line on the initial start, but it was Ryan Blaney who led the opening lap from the outside line. Meanwhile, LaJoie had a power issue right out of the gate that put him behind.
Things quickly went off track, as the first caution of the race came out on Lap 2 when Tyler Reddick spun trying to get to the inside of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in Turn 1.
Delayed
The race was red-flagged just five laps in after a lightning strike was reported within an eight-mile radius of the track.
Pop-up storms began to develop to the north of the racetrack, and drivers Carson Hocevar and Noah Gragson were seen playing football with some fans while waiting out the weather delay, which lasted over an hour and a half.
Back in action!
Drivers were finally loaded back into their cars, and the race resumed with Busch credited as the leader after six laps.
Full speed ahead
Busch switched up his strategy on the restart, choosing the outside line after taking the inside line at the initial start.
The green flag was back out at Lap 9 as Busch got clear of Blaney, who was followed closely by Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and a side-by-side battle between Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano for fifth.
All gas, no brakes
The battle between Logano and Harvick allowed the front four drivers to pull away from the rest of the field. Meanwhile, at the front, Busch opened up a half-second lead, while Hamlin caught Blaney for second.
Shortly after, Blaney challenged Busch for the race lead, but he wasn't able to get it done. Busch held off Blaney and opened his lead up to 1.4 seconds with 10 laps to go in Stage 1, which he ended up winning with ease.
Rumble strips cause a stumble
Busch won the race off pit road — the narrowest pit road in NASCAR — as Michael McDowell moved up into the top 10. On the other side, Austin Cindric (speeding) and Truex (removing equipment) both drew penalties and were sent to the rear.
The green flag is back out at Lap 54, but things didn't stay that way for long. The second caution of the day came out when McDowell got into the wall on Turn 1 after contact with Ross Chastain.
Follow the leader
The green flag returned at Lap 59, as Blaney overtook Busch for the lead for first time since the opening lap.
Elsewhere, Brad Keselowski, who made his 500th career start Sunday, was dealing with an apparent engine issue.
Big miscue
The caution flag was raised at Lap 92 after Hocevar, who had made his way up to 16th, crashed heading into Turn 1. The 20-year-old reported that his brake pedal was going soft just before crashing.
What's more, debris from Hocevar's car punctured the radiator on Chase Briscoe's car, sending him to the garage area.
Stage 2 in the books
Busch cut Blaney's lead to just under a second with 20 laps to go in Stage 2, but Blaney was able to extended his lead back up to nearly second to secure the stage win. They were followed by Hamlin, William Byron and Daniel Suárez.
Eyes on the prize
There was a new leader early in the third stage, as Reddick jumped 11 spots to take the top spot off pit road. The green flag was back out at Lap 149, as Byron quickly overtook Reddick and Hamlin grabbed third.
Trouble in Turn 1!
Reddick was thrown into the wall midway through Stage 3 after a wild brake-rotor explosion, bringing out the sixth caution of the day and ending his race early.
The caution was extended due to an injury on pit road to one of Erik Jones' crew members that required an ambulance. Thomas Hatcher, the front tire changer on Jones' car, was reportedly hit by Austin Dillon during pit stops.
No quit
The green flag returned with 57 laps to go, as Busch charged back to the lead spot.
Elsewhere, Bubba Wallace threw a big block on Harvick to crack the top 10.
Close call
There was another hard crash in Turn 1, this time involving Gragson on his driver's side. The incident drew a red flag due to the amount of debris on the track in the aftermath of the crash, which was caused by yet another blown brake rotor.
On the move
The red flag was quickly lifted, and the race returned to green with 37 laps to go and with Busch holding down the lead.
However, things didn't stay green for long. The caution was back out after Christopher Bell went for a spin in Turn 2.
Déjà vu
Another restart came with 32 laps to go, but once again, it was short-lived. The caution was back out after Gray Gaulding had a problem on the frontstretch and stalled at the pit road exit.
The next restart came with just 23 laps remaining, and Busch continued to do what he does best — hold off the rest of the field, namely Kyle Larson this time. However, Dillon and Stenhouse crashed in Turn 1 to bring out the caution yet again.
The race was red-flagged for the third time today after determining that repairs needed to be made to the wall's barrier.
Final stretch
The green flag was back out with 15 laps to go, as Busch continued to lead by roughly a half second.
The 11th caution of the day came out when Wallace hit the wall in Turn 1 after his car's brake rotor exploded — the fourth incident of this kind Sunday. He was running 11th at the time, putting an abrupt end to his streak of top-five finishes.
Overtime
In the end, Busch cleared Larson for the lead en route to the win, marking just the second time in seven overtimes this year that the driver who led at the end of regulation went on to win it all.
It was Busch's third win of 2023 and the 63rd win of his Cup career.
Hamlin, Logano, Larson, Truex, Blaney, Suarez, Byron, McDowell and Harvick rounded out the top 10.
