A new era begins Sunday for World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway as the 1.25-mile oval near St. Louis becomes the 19th track to play host to a NASCAR Cup Series playoff race.
The Round of 16 opened at Darlington Raceway with Chase Briscoe’s second consecutive Southern 500 victory and trouble for several championship contenders. Only four playoff drivers finished in the top 10 at Darlington
Gateway becomes the sixth track to hold the middle race of the first round, joining Dover (2004-10), New Hampshire (2011-17), Richmond (2018-21), Kansas (2022-23) and Watkins Glen last year. The previous three races at Gateway were held in June, and twice the winner took the lead with two laps remaining — Austin Cindric last year and Joey Logano in 2022.
Logano has finished in the top five in every Cup race at Gateway and is the only driver to have finished inside the top 10 at the track in Madison, Illinois, since its addition to NASCAR’s premier series three years ago. Cindric, his teammate at Team Penske, has an average finish of 8.33 at Gateway, his best on the circuit.
Kyle Busch is the other Cup winner at Gateway. The Richard Childress Racing driver is on an 84-race winless streak since that June 2023 victory.
Austin Cindric seeks to repeat his 2024 win at the 1.25-mile track.
Details for Sunday’s Cup race at WWTR Gateway
(All times Eastern)
START: The green flag is scheduled to wave at 3:05 p.m.
PRERACE: The Cup garage will open at noon. … The drivers meeting will be at 2 p.m. .. Driver introductions will be at 2:25 p.m. … The national anthem will be performed at 2:48 p.m. by Kennedy Holmes, recording artist and finalist of NBC’s “The Voice.” … Bill Murray is scheduled to give the command to start engines at 2:55 p.m.
DISTANCE: The race is 240 laps (300 miles) on the 1.25-mile oval in Madison, Illinois.
STAGES: Stage 1 ends at Lap 45. Stage 2 ends at Lap 140.
PURSE: $9,797,935
ENTRY LIST: Click here for the 36 cars entered at World Wide Technology Raceway Gateway.
TV/RADIO: USA Network will broadcast the race starting at 2:30 p.m. … Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will have radio coverage.
FORECAST: WeatherUnderground — Abundant sunshine all day. A high of 76 degrees with a 4% chance of rain and winds from the north at 5 to 10 mph. It’s expected to be 74 degrees with a 0% chance of rain at the start of the Cup race.
LAST TIME: Team Penske’s Austin Cindric led the final two laps for the June 2, 2024 victory, inheriting the lead when teammate Ryan Blaney ran out of fuel.