Michael McDowell wins pole as Ford, Toyota dominate NASCAR qualifying at Gateway

Mother Nature cooperated long enough on Saturday morning for Michael McDowell to capture the pole for the 2024 NASCAR Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway.

The No. 34 team has put the front row in Front Row Motorsports this season, and Saturday morning was no different. He was clearly the fastest car during qualifying, with Austin Cindric in the No. 2 joining him in P2.

Additionally, a couple of major names didn’t make it to the final round, including Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Elliott, among others. Still, they’ll be hoping to make an impact during tomorrow’s race, as it’s usually a safe bet they will.

Throughout the morning, Ford and Toyota dominated qualifying, with Kyle Busch the only Chevrolet to make it to the final round, and he qualified P10.

The FOX broadcast actually noted that this was the first time in 2024 zero Hendrick Motorsports cars made it to the final round of qualifying, which was made up of 4 Toyotas and 5 Fords, joining Busch.

Moreover, when the green-flag waves on Sunday afternoon, Christopher Bell will be looking for back-to-back victories, after capturing the win in Charlotte thanks to Mother Nature last Sunday. Another victory would go a long way towards establishing the No. 20 as one of the top drivers in the sport. He qualified P4.

Elsewhere, the aforementioned Busch will be hoping for his first win of 2024 at the track where he won in 2023, beating out Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano in the process. It should be an awesome afternoon in Gateway Motorsports Park.

We’ll see if Michael McDowell can win from the pole, or if it’ll be someone else winning during the Enjoy Illinois 300. We can’t wait to see how the race unfolds, and which driver either adds to their already successful season, or gets to victory lane for the first time in 2024.

Kevin Harvick predicts surprising winner of Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway

Kevin Harvick and his Harvick’s Happy Hour crew that includes Kaitlyn Vincie and Mamba Smith are making their predictions for NASCAR’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sunday. 

First, the former NASCAR Cup Series champion locked in his pick, and he’s looking at 2023’s result for some good luck when it comes to picking the winner for this weekend’s race.

“I’m going to go off my rocker this week. I’m going to go Kyle Busch,” Harvick predicted. “I think, I just think something good has to happen for those guys, and I think it’s got to happen this week. So, I’m pulling for him.”

After a tumultuous campaign thus far, that’s included being punched in the face by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. as part of his troubles, a win would go a long way for the No. 8 team. As for Vincie, she’s looking at a different Kyle who’s been in the news over the last couple of weeks.

“I’m picking the other Kyle — Kyle Larson,” Vincie responded. “I think he will be on a little bit of a redemption tour, after the disappointment of the weekend.”

After last weekend’s disappointing, rain-afflicted attempt at the double, a win would go a long way towards easing Larson’s pain. On the other hand, Smith is riding with a different Hendrick Motorsports wheelman to get the win.

“You know what, I am going to go with Alex Bowman in the No. 48,” Smith explained. “Yeah. I feel like, No. 1, they need it, but No. 2, I think they’ve been stringing together a lot of speed. … I feel like they have a bit of swagger coming back.”

Alas, it should be a fascinating race at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sunday. The betting favorite at the moment is Denny Hamlin, so we’ll see if the No. 11 finds victory lane, or if one of the predictions from Harvick’s Happy Hour comes true this weekend.