The second leg of the Round of 16 playoffs heads to Gateway with the 2025 Enjoy Illinois 300 on Sunday. Chase Briscoe won the opening playoff race last week, with Denny Hamlin second at +43 and Kyle Larson third at +38 to lead the 16 drivers in the postseason, which is comprised of four rounds over the final 10 races of the season. Four drivers are eliminated in each of the first three rounds, which consist of three races each. The remaining four drivers compete for the title in the season-ending championship race. 

Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell are the +500 co-favorites (risk $100 to win $500) in the 2025 Enjoy Illinois 300 odds, while Hamlin is at +650, Larson at +850 and Joey Logano at +950. Other NASCAR at Gateway contenders include Briscoe (+1000) and William Byron (+1200). Sunday’s race is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET. 

Before making any Enjoy Illinois 300 picks, you NEED to see what CBS Sports NASCAR writer Steven Taranto has to say.

Taranto, who moonlights as a sim racer and has 20 career wins in iRacing, is the lead NASCAR writer for CBSSports.com. Taranto was red-hot for SportsLine in 2024 as he nailed 17 winners, including 16-1 longshot William Byron at the Daytona 500 and 14-1 longshot Chase Elliott at Texas. Anybody following his NASCAR picks could have seen HUGE returns!

For the 2025 Enjoy Illinois 300, Taranto is high on Christopher Bell (+500). He also has a head-to-head prop bet, with Joey Logano (+100) to finish ahead of Denny Hamlin (-135). “The aforementioned strength of the Penske cars at Gateway starts with Joey Logano, as he won the inaugural Cup race at World Wide Technology Raceway in 2022 and has followed it up with top five finishes in all three races there so far,” Taranto said. “Logano followed up his 2022 performance with a third in 2023 and a fifth in 2024, making this race one that’s seemingly set up for him to pick his way forward in the Round of 16 standings after running only 20th in the Southern 500.

“Denny Hamlin has been runner-up in each Gateway race the past two years and is coming off of a top 10 run in the Southern 500, but I think we’ve all learned by now never to bet against Joey Logano when it’s playoff time and the opportunity is there to push for the championship under everyone’s nose. For me, Logano’s +100 odds in this head-to-head matchup are worth it.”

Taranto has also identified three other drivers in his 2025 Cook Out Southern 500 best bets. He’s also high on a huge NASCAR longshot who’s around 35-1, potentially netting any backer a HUGE payday! You ABSOLUTELY NEED to see his picks before locking in any NASCAR picks of your own.