Preview NASCAR Cup: World Wide Technology Raceway
(worldwide technology)Chase Briscoe will lead the 36-driver field to the green flag within the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway.
The track is not any stranger to NASCAR, having once hosted the Camping World Truck Series and therefore the Xfinity Series. (worldwide technology)The NHRA competes at a dragstrip on the identical property, and there’s a road course inside the oval
WWTR is found just minutes from downtown St. Louis in Madison, Illinois and brought a celebration atmosphere to the track with a three-day music festival in conjunction with the track event. Rapper Nelly is scheduled to seem on Saturday night.
Here are a number of the things you need to know before enjoying the Illinois 300.
Admission:
WWTR is sold out for Sunday’s race, including 57,000 grandstand seats
Track Specifics:
1.25-mile paved oval. Turns 1 and three have a narrower radius and are banked at an angle of 11 degrees. Turns 3 and 4 have a bank of 9 degrees.
Race Length:
300 miles divided into stages ending at laps 45, 140 and 240.
Weather:
Sunday is forecast to be 86 degrees and partly cloudy.
Coverage:
3:30 p.m. ET, Fox Sports, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Here’s what some drivers are saying.
Tyler Reddick:
“The track features a lot of grips. this is often the only place I’ve driven this car, aside from road courses, where you’ll have this thing completely sideways in the middle of a turn and not crash. This car can really be pushed around plenty. (worldwide technology)It’s quite refreshing because everywhere we’ve driven with this car, you will get sideways, you’ll crash. That was pretty cool. Yes, we’ve a lot of grips here and we can really get these things going.”
Ryan Blaney:
“It’s a pleasant place. I’ve raced here an extended time ago, but overtaking is going to be very rare on Sunday. that is the best way I can put it. If you drag someone, you will be stuck and can’t go anywhere. Hopefully the track will expand. Hopefully they’re going to do something about it. I assumed they would have done something before we got here. I assumed our practice was decent, but it’s more about qualifying ahead tomorrow then trying to stay ahead.”
Denny Hamlin:
“Turns 1 and a couple of — it seemed like they were [starting] to widen a little bit. Hopefully we’ll have more streaks. [Turns] 3 and 4 will probably be a touch of a problem to have multiple lanes, but you never know. Our cars do not like single tracks. They like ones which will stretch. Hopefully it’s one among the best short tracks we have. It drives sort of a short track. It’s something we definitely have to work on – short flat tracks. it’s like the cars were struggling, but you never know. This weekend might be different.”
Joey Lugano:
“I miss it. this is often a fun racetrack. There was already fun and memories come from 2008, although they paved it and the track is a lot smoother than it used to be. Turns 1 and a couple of are [some] of the best turns in our sport. you’ll move around and try different things and you’re moving. It’s fun to urge off the accelerator and onto the brake and control both pedals again. I enjoyed it. [Turns] 3 and 4 are a part of the track where you really [have to] push and push. it is a pretty fun track to walk on your own. We’ll see how the race goes. It seems [turns] 1 and a couple of are already taking the rubber and the cars are already going down the track.”
Ross Chastain:
“The track is different than I commit it to memory from the drag races I did in 2018 and 2019. it had been fun just being out there(worldwide technology). The ends are so different and therefore the tire drop is just enough that I was starting to lose grip. I wasn’t really slowing down that much, but I used to be starting to relax and pull. It’s sort of a new challenge; it’s like a new race track.”
Chase Elliott:
“It’s about nearly as good as anything I’ve seen here before. It’s quite like a big Martinsville, honestly. It quite reminds me of it, just on a much bigger scale. I feel the racing will be similar to Martinsville this year, so it should be good.”
