Race number two of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is the Enjoy Illinois 300, which is scheduled to take place at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway this Sunday afternoon after the postseason got underway this past Sunday night at Darlington Raceway.
Only the 36 full-time cars, including the six non-chartered (open) cars of 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, are set to compete in this 240-lap race around the four-turn, 1.25-mile (2.012-kilometer) Madison, Illinois oval.
The qualifying order was effectively split up into a non-playoff group and a playoff group to ensure that the 16 drivers still in championship contention qualify at the end of the line, a rule only in use during the playoffs.
The order was determined by the two-variable metric NASCAR introduced before the season began, not the four-variable formula which was used from 2020 to 2024, including for NASCAR's most recent trip to Gateway during the 2024 regular season.
A full breakdown of the current metric can be found here.
There are no actual qualifying groups, nor are there any row-by-row lane designations, and there is no shootout for the pole position. Each driver's single-lap speed is used to set the full 36-car starting lineup.
Follow along with our qualifying updates from Gateway.
NASCAR Cup Series at Gateway: Full playoff starting lineup
1st - Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
2nd - Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
3rd - Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
4th - Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
5th - Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
6th - William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
7th - Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
8th - Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
9th - Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
10th - Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
11th - Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
12th - Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
13th - Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
14th - Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
15th - Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
16th - Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
17th - A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
18th - Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
19th - Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
20th - John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
21st - Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
22nd - Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
23rd - Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
24th - Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
25th - Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
26th - Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
27th - Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
28th - Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
29th - Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford
30th - Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
31st - Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
32nd - Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
33rd - Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
34th - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
35th - Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
36th - Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
Live coverage of the Enjoy Illinois 300 is set to be provided by USA Network from World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 7. If you have not yet had a chance to start a free trial of FuboTV, do so now and don't miss any of the action!