Shane van Gisbergen spun during the first overtime finish at Gateway.
Having pitted for the final time on Lap 177, a spirited strategy call to stay out during the Lap 199 caution vaulted van Gisbergen from 18th to fourth.
The #97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Camaro remained competitive despite older tyres.
Van Gisbergen held his own until the first overtime finish. He restarted 10th before being clipped by Carson Hocevar’s #77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro into a spin.
Ultimately, the New Zealander finished 23rd.
Victory went to Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, who ended a 51-race winless streak in an extended 247-lap race mired by cautions.
It’s the first win for Chevrolet since van Gisbergen’s last triumph at Sonoma earlier this year.
“I had a good feeling but you just never know. I felt like this place is so weird,” said Larson.
“Obviously with the brake rotor failures, strategy, all that. Just proud of my team for working so hard and being so patient throughout the tough times and the winless streak.
“How about Alex Bowman? You can’t ask for a better teammate than him, giving me the pushes I needed to get clear. I really want to dedicate this win to him and his dog who just passed away a couple of days ago.”
Team Penske’s Joey Logano led the field to green and controlled the opening few minutes until Lap 6 when Riley Herbst spun out of the final turn off the nose of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s #47 Hyak Motorsports Camaro.
Racing resumed on lap 11 but it was another short green flag run to Lap 15 when Stenhouse spun on his own exiting Turn 2.
The green flew on Lap 20 but the yellow was brought out almost immediately when several cars went spinning out of Turn 2 – including van Gisbergen.
Noah Gragson spun his #4 Front Row Motorsports Mustang off the nose of van Gisbergen’s #97 Trackhouse Racing Camaro.
Gragson’s car clipped the nose of Michael McDowell’s #77 Spire Motorsports Camaro. Daniel Suarez was almost mired in the melee, hitting his teammate McDowell.
SVG suffered his second spin on Lap 28 when he got loose trying to pass AJ Allmendinger in the #16 Kaulig Racing Camaro.
Van Gisbergen slid up the track and into the side of Allmendinger, which tipped the Trackhouse Camaro into a spin.
Logano led the field to the green on Lap 33 and survived a late attack from Christopher Bell in the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Camry, bagging 10 stage points.
The top 10 was completed by Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Carson Hocevar, Chase Briscoe, Alex Bowman, Ty Gibbs and Brad Keselowski.
Van Gisbergen was 27th at the end of Stage 1.
Pit stops followed, and it was Bell who led Gibbs, Connor Zilisch and Erik Jones off pit lane having only taken two tyres. Logano was fifth in that queue and the first to take four tyres.
Keselowski led a group of 10 who elected to stay out during the stage break.
Stage 2 began on Lap 53 but by Lap 56 the yellow was back out for Jones spinning off the nose of Gibbs fighting for 15th.
The green flew on Lap 61 and on Lap 64 the yellow was drawn when Herbst came across the nose of van Gisbergen and spun himself out. Allmendinger was an innocent victim, hitting the spinning #35 23XI Racing Camry.
Pit stops followed, led by Keselowski. Ross Chastain, Jones and Ryan Preece elected not to pit while Hamlin was the best of those who had pitted in fourth.
Chastain led the field to green on Lap 70 and maintained position until Lap 82 when Larson, who restarted fifth, made his way to the front.
Larson led until 10 laps to go when Zane Smith’s #34 Front Row Motorsports Mustang suffered a brake rotor failure and slammed hard into the Turn 1 wall.
That brought out the caution and drew a premature end to Stage 2. Larson was the stage winner ahead of Logano, Keselowski, Blaney, Josh Berry, Hamlin, Preece, Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe and Bubbca Wallace. Van Gisbergen was 28th.
Stage 3 started on Lap 141 and almost immediately went yellow when de facto Toyota teammates Briscoe and Wallace clashed out of the second turn.
Logano led the Lap 146 restart, but the drama continued. Blaney was sixth when the right front rotor exploded and sent him into the Turn 1 wall.
Logano led the field to the pit lane but Larson and Berry stayed out. Keselowski leapfrogged Logano in the pits.
Larson led the Lap 163 restart. Hamlin tried to split Larson and Berry exiting Turn 4 but banged doors. Hamlin dropped back momentarily while Keselowski shot forward and to the lead by Lap 164.
A spin for Chastain on Lap 170 brought out the yellow. It was another short green flag run to Lap 177 when Herbst went rearward into the Turn 1 wall. During that yellow, van Gisbergen pitted for the final time out of 23rd
Keselowski lined up alongside Logano for the Lap 181 restart. There was green flag run until Lap 199 when 28th-placed Gragson suffered a right front brake failure.
During that sequence, Trackhouse elected to leave van Gisbergen out. Keselowski led the field ahead of Gibbs, Preece and van Gisbergen. Logano was the first of those on new tyres in sixth behind Chastain for the Lap 206 restart.
Keselowski led the restart with 35 laps to go. Gibbs immediately slipped back. Van Gisbergen held his own in fourth but began to drop towards the back end of the top 10 as those on newer tyres marched forward.
On Lap 214, Elliott was the next victim of a brake rotor failure and ploughed into the side of Briscoe, sandwiching him against the wall.
Van Gisbergen elected against pitting and restarted 10th. Keselowski led the Lap 220 restart with Logano on his inside.
The carnage continued with arguably the biggest wreck of the day on Lap 223. Exiting Turn 2, Wallace got into Berry, which sent the Wood Brothers Racing Mustang up the track and into Bell.
Bell half-spun, creating a concertina effect and left Reddick with nowhere to go. He hit the left rear corner of Berry and launched into the air.
Under the yellow, Logano led Larson, Keselowski, Chastain, Bowman, Byron, Austin Dillon, van Gisbergen, Cindric and Wallace.
Racing restarted on Lap 228 but the madness continued.
In the mid-field, Gibbs spun out of Turn 2 and collected Allmendinger, which tipped him around. Suarez was left with nowhere to go and hit the spinning Kaulig Racing Camaro.
With 11 laps to go, NASCAR elected to red flag the race.
Logano led Larson to the green flag with seven laps to go. Logano got a big bump from Bowman who cleared Logano into Turn 1.
Van Gisbergen only lost one place to ninth before the yellow came out for the 17th time when Chris Buescher’s #17 RFK Racing Mustang suffered a rotor failure entering Turn 1, setting up an overtime finish.
Larson elected to restart on the outside with Bowman behind him while Logano had Byron behind him. Van Gisbergen, meanwhile, was 10th on the outside.
On the restart, van Gisbergen went three-wide on the outside with Hocevar who clipped the Trackhouse Camaro into a spin.
Larson led the second overtime and got clear of Logano, who was left to battle with Bowman.
Ultimately, Larson stretched his legs while Bowman cleared Logano out of Turn 2 on the final lap.
Results: NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300, World Wide Technology Raceway
Pos
Num
Driver
Team
Car
Laps/Diff
Gap
1
5
Kyle Larson (C)
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
247
2
48
Alex Bowman
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
0.333
0.333
3
22
Joey Logano (C)
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
0.518
0.185
4
24
William Byron (C)
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
1.038
0.52
5
1
Ross Chastain
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
1.214
0.176
6
3
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
1.362
0.148
7
88
Connor Zilisch
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
1.641
0.279
8
77
Carson Hocevar (C)
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
1.675
0.034
9
11
Denny Hamlin (C)
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
2.271
0.596
10
2
Austin Cindric (C)
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
2.275
0.004
11
41
Cole Custer
Haas Factory Team
Ford Mustang
2.933
0.658
12
6
Brad Keselowski
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
2.953
0.02
13
43
Erik Jones
Legacy Motor Club
Toyota Camry
3.022
0.069
14
23
Bubba Wallace (C)
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
3.08
0.058
15
42
John Hunter Nemechek
Legacy Motor Club
Toyota Camry
3.328
0.248
16
16
AJ Allmendinger
Kaulig Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
3.386
0.058
17
60
Ryan Preece (C)
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
3.393
0.007
18
54
Ty Gibbs (C)
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
3.414
0.021
19
20
Christopher Bell (C)
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
3.621
0.207
20
71
Michael McDowell
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
3.769
0.148
21
33
Austin Hill
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
3.975
0.206
22
51
Cody Ware
Rick Ware Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
4.194
0.219
23
97
Shane Van Gisbergen
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
4.388
0.194
24
34
Todd Gilliland
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
4.519
0.131
25
45
Tyler Reddick (C)
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
5.362
0.843
26
47
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Hyak Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
13.625
8.263
27
17
Chris Buescher (C)
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
10 laps
28
21
Josh Berry
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford Mustang
16 laps
6 laps
29
7
Daniel Suarez (C)
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
18 laps
2 laps
30
10
Ty Dillon
Kaulig Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
20 laps
2 laps
31
9
Chase Elliott (C)
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
33 laps
13 laps
32
19
Chase Briscoe (C)
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry
34 laps
1 lap
33
4
Noah Gragson
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
49 laps
15 laps
34
35
Riley Herbst
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
71 laps
22 laps
35
12
Ryan Blaney (C)
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
93 laps
22 laps
36
38
Zane Smith
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
118 laps
25 laps