NASCAR's Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway delayed due to lightning

What an absolutely insane start to the NASCAR Enjoy Illinois 300. A lightning delay thankfully brought it all to a halt, temporarily. Usually, I wouldn’t be happy with a lightning delay like this, just a few laps into the race, but this one was off the rails from Lap 1 and maybe needed a bit of a reset.

To start the race, Tyler Reddick went spinning out of nowhere after some minor contact with Erik Jones. He had to go to pit road twice to make sure the left side of the car was fine. Then it was revealed that Corey LaJoie hit the killswitch on his car and it shut off.

Just as the race was about to get back going after the caution, lightning popped up in the area. There is a lot of humidity in the air and it is hot in Illinois. So, lightning could pop up here and there in the area.

Red flag early on in this one as we wait to get back under green.

UPDATE: The red flag has been displayed and cars have been brought to pit road as lightning has been detected in the area.

We remain on FS1 through the delay.

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 4, 2023

This whole Enjoy Illinois 300 start was cooked from the beginning. When you’ve got guys sliding on Lap 2 and others hitting the kill switch to start off the race, it gets hectic. While fans are waiting for this race to get underway, it might be nice that these drivers are going to basically get a second chance at starting this race and making sure they start it well.

Last year we were treated to a fun race in St. Louis. So, we should be able to get another fun finish this year. That will have to wait until the lightning gets out of the area.

Kyle Busch leads Enjoy Illinois 300

One driver that is probably itching to get back on the track is Kyle Busch. Rowdy was the pole winner after qualifying on Saturday. The RCR driver has two wins on the year and is looking to redeem himself after a tough P2 finish at this race last year.

The Enjoy Illinois 300 is still led by Busch. He is on the front row with Ryan Blaney for this one. Blaney of course, is looking to win back-to-back races after his Coca-Cola 600 win on Monday. It would be really fun to see these two drivers go wire to wire for the win when the lightning delay is waved off.

There are some other drivers hoping for a big weekend. Joey Logano is looking to win this race again and retain his title at the track. Then you have Bubba Wallace looking for his fifth straight top-5 finish, including the All-Star Race. A lot of storylines going on, but none bigger perhaps than Corey LaJoie replacing Chase Elliott this week.

Only one of these drivers can come away happy this weekend. Will we see one of the names above in Victory Lane after 300 miles of fun in the Enjoy Illinois 300?