MADISON, Ill. — For the third year in a row, the NASCAR Cup Series invades the St. Louis area and World Wide Technology Raceway. With 14 races down and just 12 remaining in the regular season, the urgency ramps up as the calendar flips to June.
Kyle Larson Returns
After failing to complete the Double, Kyle Larson returns to the Cup Series at Gateway.
Larson planned to compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the Sunday before Memorial Day. However, storms swept over the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and pushed back the start of the 500 by four hours. Instead of returning to Charlotte for his NASCAR responsibilities, he elected to stay in Indianapolis.
The 31-year-old ran inside the top 10 for most of the race before a pit-road speeding penalty on lap 131. He ended up finishing 18th.
Larson immediately flew to Charlotte with the intention of relieving Justin Allgaier in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. But as soon as he arrived at CMS, the race was red-flagged due to weather and never resumed.
To maintain playoff eligibility, Larson will need to get a playoff waiver approved by NASCAR. As of Friday, that waiver had not been approved. He dropped from first to third in driver’s points by missing the Cup race. He sits six points behind Martin Truex Jr. for the lead.
Previous Winners Look For Jolt
Joey Logano and Kyle Busch, the winners of the first two Cup races at the 1.25-mile oval, need strong runs to change the trajectory of their seasons.
Logano, the inaugural winner, has just three top 10s on the campaign but hasn’t had one since finishing sixth at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The Team Penske driver’s 14th-place finish in the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 was his best result in five points-paying races.
However, Logano led 199 of 200 laps as he took home $1 million with a victory in the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway on May 19. It was the first time he won a Cup event since Atlanta Motor Speedway in spring 2023.
The 2018 and 2022 series champion is 17th in driver’s points.
Meanwhile, Busch ranks 14th in driver’s points after finishes of 27th at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and 15th at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He’s battled inconsistencies throughout the campaign, finishing 20th or worse six different times. The Las Vegas native has five top 10s and an average finish of 15.9.
Neither driver has finished worse than third at Gateway in their two starts.
RFK Racing’s Upswing
RFK Racing may have had a disappointing start to the season, but the two-car organization seems headed in the right direction.
Including his victory at Darlington Raceway, Keselowski has finishes of second or better in four of the last six races. In that span, he’s vaulted from 18th to ninth in driver’s points after dropping as low as 33rd following the second race of the season at Atlanta. He finished second last week at Charlotte.
While Chris Buescher hasn’t made it to victory lane, he’s certainly tasted it. He ended up on the wrong side of the closest finish in NASCAR history at Kansas Speedway, finishing second. The Prosper, Texas, native ended up 30th at Darlington, but that doesn’t tell the whole story as he was wrecked by Tyler Reddick while battling for the win.
After finishing 23rd at Charlotte, he’s 15th in driver’s points.
How Does Stewart-Haas Racing Respond?
Stewart-Haas Racing announced on Tuesday that it will cease operations after the 2024 season. But with 22 races remaining, there’s still plenty to race for.
Chase Briscoe leads the SHR bunch at 16th in driver’s points with Josh Berry in 19th, Noah Gragson in 21st and Ryan Preece in 28th.
Arguably, Gragson’s been the most impressive. He has five top 10s and an average finish of 17.9 in what will be his first full Cup Series season. Briscoe also has five top 10s, while Berry has two and Preece has one.
The Gragson and Preece teams each also got issued L1 penalties worth 35 driver and owner points for confiscated roof rail deflectors at Atlanta in February.
Gateway Race Information
Sunday’s Cup Series race at WWT Raceway is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET. Teams will practice at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday with qualifying following immediately after.
The race is scheduled for 300 miles with stage breaks at lap 45 and lap 140. The purse is $7,776,907.
