Kevin Harvick 2023 Enjoy Illinois 300 NASCAR at Gateway Picks & Predictions
The ice in the YETIs will be there until the fall. Same with the burnouts on the backroad blacktop from when we dump the clutch. Drop tops, crop tops and no place better to be than a rooftop – summertime is sweeping across the U.S.
If you live in a place like I do – the valleys of Pennsylvania – you’re ready for it. We’ve worked hard for the five months of 2023, spending a lot of weekends inside, dodging the cold. Not long ago, Saturdays were for binging movies, and Sundays, well, those have always been for racing.
The NASCAR Cup Series has kept us company with exciting finishes, fists flying and tickets cashing so far this year. As the temperatures continue to rise, I expect tempers on the track to do the same, with just 12 races remaining in the regular season.
Stock car racing’s premiere series heads to the heartland this week to run the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway), just east of St. Louis.
This is one of the newer tracks on the circuit, with the Cup Series only racing here since last season. However, that won’t stop us from handicapping this race with our select comp tracks and data sets:
- 2023 Phoenix (finishes, total speed rankings* & late-run speed*)
- 2023 Richmond (finishes, total speed rankings* & late-run speed*)
- 2022 Gateway (finishes, total speed rankings,* late-run speed* & green-flag speed*)
- 2022 New Hampshire (finishes)
- Recent performance & current standings
*via ifantasyrace.com
Let’s see what the Midwest has in store for the NASCAR Cup Series with our best bets for the 2023 Enjoy Illinois 300.
2023 Enjoy Illinois 300: NASCAR at Gateway Odds, Picks & Predictions
Odds courtesy of Barstool Sportsbook | All bet recommendations are for 1u unless noted.
Top 5: Kevin Harvick (+225)
We took advantage of the books hanging out a +525 for Fords to win last week. Now, we’ve caught them leaving a solid return out on the Ford that’s generally the best at these short-flat tracks to finish with a T5. Harvick’s had a top-four combined total speed ranking at comp tracks Phoenix and Richmond, finishing fifth in both.
In addition, Harvick finished T5 at New Hampshire last season, plus ranks fifth this season in average finish (12.5) and fourth in T5s (four).
The only hesitation with the No. 4 car was his lackluster performance at Gateway last season. While running 13th, the Stewart-Hass Ford blew a brake rotor and crashed. I think “The Closer†corrects it this go-around, possibly even taking the checkered flag in first.
Seth Woolcock is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more sports betting and fantasy sports analysis from Seth, check out In-Between Media and follow him @Between_SethFF.