Kyle Busch won the pole for the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway during qualifying on Saturday, posting a lap of 32.802 seconds (137.187 MPH) to win his first Cup pole in nearly four full years. Busch's pole is the 33rd of his career and his first since Phoenix in the fall of 2019.
Busch edged Coca-Cola 600 winner Ryan Blaney for the pole by .008 seconds, with Blaney earning the outside pole despite issues in pre-qualifying tech inspection. Blaney's car failed tech inspection twice, leading to the ejection of his car chief and the loss of pit selection for the No. 12 team. Brad Keselowski's No. 6 team also had the same issue and incurred the same penalty.
Saturday marked a disappointing first outing for Corey LaJoie as the substitute driver for Chase Elliott (suspension), as he would only manage to post the 30th fastest time in practice before posting the same result in qualifying after scrubbing the wall on the exit of turn four. LaJoie will start just behind his usual car driven by Carson Hocevar, who will start his Cup Series debut in 26th.
Enjoy Illinois 300 starting lineup
- #8 - Kyle Busch
- #12 - Ryan Blaney
- #11 - Denny Hamlin
- #4 - Kevin Harvick
- #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
- #22 - Joey Logano
- #24 - William Byron
- #1 - Ross Chastain
- #45 - Tyler Reddick
- #2 - Austin Cindric
- #16 - A.J. Allmendinger
- #47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- #99 - Daniel Suarez
- #21 - Harrison Burton
- #54 - Ty Gibbs (R)
- #3 - Austin Dillon
- #20 - Christopher Bell
- #48 - Alex Bowman
- #6 - Brad Keselowski
- #23 - Bubba Wallace
- #34 - Michael McDowell
- #5 - Kyle Larson
- #31 - Justin Haley
- #10 - Aric Almirola
- #14 - Chase Briscoe
- #7 - Carson Hocevar
- #17 - Chris Buescher
- #38 - Todd Gilliland
- #41 - Ryan Preece
- #9 - Corey LaJoie
- #43 - Erik Jones
- #42 - Noah Gragson (R)
- #77 - Ty Dillon
- #78 - B.J. McLeod
- #15 - Gray Gaulding
- #51 - J.J. Yeley