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MADISON, ILLINOIS – SEPTEMBER 13: Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, leads Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, and Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, to start the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at WWT Raceway on September 13, 2026 in Madison, Illinois. (Photo by Jeff Curry\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The NASCAR Cup Series post-race inspection<\/a> at World Wide Technology Raceway<\/a> brought the final check to a chaotic night. NASCAR completed post-race inspection of the field after the Enjoy Illinois 300, with no issues found and no cars sent to the R&D Center, according to reporter Dustin Long<\/a>.<\/p>\n The result made Kyle Larson\u2019s victory official and closed the record books on a race filled with cautions, crashes and late restarts. Larson beat Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman by 0.333 seconds in double overtime to end a 51-race winless streak.<\/p>\n Joey Logano finished third after leading 96 laps. The NASCAR Cup Series race featured 18 cautions, two red flags and 87 caution laps. The 247-lap race lasted 3 hours, 47 minutes and 23 seconds.<\/p>\n NASCAR Cup Series Post-Race Inspection Confirms Kyle Larson Win<\/p>\n The NASCAR Cup Series post-race inspection found no problems with the top-finishing cars. Since no cars were sent to NASCAR\u2019s R&D Center, Larson\u2019s victory remains final.<\/p>\n Larson led 80 laps and took the lead from Logano with 20 laps remaining. He survived three late restarts, including two overtime restarts, with Bowman helping him stay ahead.<\/p>\n The win ended Larson\u2019s 51-race NASCAR Cup Series winless streak, which began after his May 2025 victory at Kansas Speedway. It also gave Hendrick Motorsports its first Cup Series win at the track formerly known as Gateway.<\/p>\n Larson dedicated the win to Bowman and his dog Finn, who died days earlier.<\/p>\n \u201cJust proud of my team for working so hard and being so patient throughout the tough times and the winless streak and all of that. Thanks to the fans, my fans, for also being patient with us. How about Hendrick Motorsports! How about Alex Bowman! You can\u2019t ask for a better teammate than him. Gave me the pushes I needed to get clear. So, really wanna dedicate this win to him and his dog Finn passed away a couple of days ago.\u201d<\/p>\n World Wide Technology Raceway Race Had 18 Cautions<\/p>\n The World Wide Technology Raceway race set a track record with 18 cautions covering 87 of the 247 laps. Two red flags during the final stage extended the scheduled 240-lap NASCAR Cup Series race.<\/p>\n The average speed was 81.47 mph. The race lasted 3 hours, 47 minutes and 23 seconds.<\/p>\n Brake rotor failures and several single-car spins added to the interruptions. Logano won the pole and Stage 1 before losing the lead late.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had it won if the cautions didn\u2019t keep coming out,\u201d Logano said. \u201cIt\u2019s a bittersweet day. We scored a lot of points. We did a lot of those things right, but gosh when you think about the 25 points that were sitting there, that hurts some.\u201d<\/p>\n Logano still earned 54 points and improved his position in the standings.<\/p>\n NASCAR Cup Series Standings Change After World Wide Technology Raceway<\/p>\n The NASCAR Cup Series standings changed after the World Wide Technology Raceway race. Larson moved five places to second with 2,159 points, nine behind leader Denny Hamlin. Christopher Bell is third, 18 points behind Hamlin.<\/p>\n William Byron finished fourth, while Hamlin placed ninth. Several playoff drivers suffered damage in the late incidents with eight races remaining.<\/p>\n Larson\u2019s 33rd career NASCAR Cup Series victory was also Chevrolet\u2019s first since Shane van Gisbergen won at Sonoma in June.<\/p>\n Larson said the result restored confidence within the team.<\/p>\n \u201cNo better time to have a great day than today. So proud of it and feel like we got our swagger back a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n He also said he never lost faith in his team during the winless run.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t doubted myself. I haven\u2019t doubted our team. Maybe myself at times, but never my team.\u201d<\/p>\n The NASCAR Cup Series now moves to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race, the third event of the 10-race Chase.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDogli Wilberforce<\/a> is a writer covering NASCAR, Formula 1, and the IndyCar Series for Heavy Sports. He has also written for Sportsnaut, FanSided, Total Apex Sports, and Last Word on Sports. Wilberforce focuses on the NASCAR Cup Series, breaking down news, driver stories, and key moments with a clear, fast, and engaging style. His work connects headlines to context, helping readers understand what matters most in the sport. More about Dogli Wilberforce<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty MADISON, ILLINOIS – SEPTEMBER 13: Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, leads Kyle Larson,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":895568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-895567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=895567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/895568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}