NASCAR playoffs at St. Louis results: Denny Hamlin gets fifth win of 2025, Toyota’s 200th victory at Gateway

In a major step towards pursuing the championship of the Cup series that has long escaped him, Denny Hamlin won the Illinois 300 Proget at the World Wide Technology Raceway, winning his fifth victory of the 2025 season and the victory of the 200th Cup series for Toyota. Hamlin’s victory brands won n ° 59 in his cup career, which gave him a single victory for 60 career victories and entering a draw with Kevin Harvick for 10th place on the list of victories of all Nascar.

With a strong accent placed on the position of the track, the Sunday race saw a strong accent placed on the fuel and the strategy of the tires, which led to an insufficiency of braking for Ty Dillon has shown late caution with 32 turns to do. The yellow flag being released in the middle of a stop cycle of the green flag stands, Hamlin was able to cycle at the front of the field as the first car in four tires, giving it a considerable advantage of tires compared to any tire for Brad Keselowski and two tires for Chase Briscoe.

Nascar Playoffs 2025 Race Calendar, results: Complete list of race dates for cuts of cuts, winners, tracks

Steven Taranto

Hamlin quickly eliminated Keselowski with 25 laps to do, then moved away from a victory that automatically did it in the Channel of 12.

Hamlin was in a good mood after having won the post, joking about a conversation before the race with the great Marshal Bill Murray – saying that he had told him to talk to the drivers behind him and to make sure they stayed behind him – to work the crowd and remain faithful to his reputation as a biggest heel of Nascar.

“You know, you can all huer me, but you can either get on the train or you can withdraw,” said Hamlin, triggering a choir of huae he welcomed.

Chase Briscoe would finish second, followed by Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano completing the first five. John Hunter Nemechek, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher and Ty Gibbs completed the Top 10.

Blaney’s race for a fourth place was notable because it has attenuated a potential mid -race disaster that occurred when Kyle Larson turned Blaney while the two ran for fifth place. Blaney had a conversation with Larson about contact in the post -course, with Larson – who finished 12th – stressing that he “messed up” and badly judged to position his car.

Chase Elliott also had to issue a mea culpa to another pilot in the playoffs, because he would turn Josh Berry to the start of the race and put him in the wall of the turn 1, leaving Berry with a DNF in 36th and putting him in terrible straits entering the final race of the Channel from 16 in Bristol. Berry is in a deep point hole at 45 points below the turn of the cut line, where he is joined by Alex Bowman – who is now at 35 points after the major problems on the stands road for the second consecutive week.

Austin Dillon and Shane Van Gisbergen also enter the final race of the Channel 16 under the Cup line, with Dillon 11 points back and Van Gisbergen 15. Dillon finished 18th – doing it after a moment of the clumsy race when he turned his younger brother Ty – while Van Gisbergen finished 25th after a 3rd in turn 3.

While Hamlin and Briscoe Have Both Earned Automatic Berths in the Round of 12, Kyle Larson (+60), Bubba Wallace (+50), Ryan Blaney (+42), William Byron (+39), Tyler Reddick (+37), Christopher Bell (+32), Chase Elliott (+28) (+21), Ross Chastain (+19) and Austin Cindric (+11) will all go into the annual night race at Bristol Motor Speedway – the elimination race in the round of 16 – on the positive side of the Cup line.

Take advantage of the results of Illinois 300

1. # 11 – Denny Hamlin
2. # 19 – Chase Briscoe
3. # 9 – Chase Elliott
4. # 12 – Ryan Blaney
5. # 22 – Joey Logano
6. # 42 – John Hunter Nemechek
7. # 20 – Christopher Bell
8. # 23 – Bubba Wallace
9. # 17 – Chris Buescher
10. # 54 – Ty Gibbs
11. # 24 – William Byron
12. # 5 – Kyle Larson
13. # 60 – Ryan Preece
14. # 71 – Michael McDowell
15. # 77 – Carson Hocevar
16. # 45 – Tyler Reddick
17. # 6 – Brad Keselowski
18. # 3 – Austin Dillon
19. # 2 – Austin Cindric
20. # 47 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
21. # 43 – Erik Jones
22. # 8 – Kyle Busch
23. # 16 – AJ ALLMENDINGER
24. # 1 – Ross Chastain
25. # 88 – Shane Van Gisbergen (R)
26. # 48 – Alex Bowman
27. # 41 – CUSTER COLE
28. # 7 – Justin Haley
29. # 51 – Cody Ware
30. # 4 – Noah Gragson
31. # 35 – Riley Herbst (R)
32. # 34 – Todd Gilliland
33. # 38 – Zane Smith
34. # 10 – Ty Dillon
35. # 99 – Daniel Suarez
36. # 21 – Josh Berry