Enjoy Illinois 300 Driver Grades: How Every Driver Scored at World Wide Technology Raceway

September 13, 2026

Every driver from the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway, graded on what the scoring loops actually recorded: where they started, where they finished, how many laps they led, and whether they were still running at the end. Kyle Larson grades out best with a A+.

How the grades are calculated

The grade is a formula, not an opinion. Each driver starts from their finishing position, gains credit for passing cars and for leading laps, and loses credit for not finishing:

Finish: the single biggest factor, scaled from the win down through the field.
Positions gained: starting position minus finishing position, capped so a deep starting spot cannot buy a top grade on its own.
Laps led: share of the race led, worth up to a full letter grade.
Did not finish: a fixed penalty if they were not running at the checkered flag.

Driver grades

Grade	Driver	Car	Start	Finish	Laps led
A+	Kyle Larson	5	2	1	80
A+	Alex Bowman	48	11	2
A+	William Byron	24	24	4
A+	Ross Chastain	1	20	5	15
A+	Austin Dillon	3	22	6
A+	Joey Logano	22	1	3	96
A+	Connor Zilisch	88	19	7
A	Cole Custer	41	26	11
A-	Brad Keselowski	6	23	12	55
A-	Erik Jones	43	25	13
A-	Denny Hamlin	11	10	9
A-	Carson Hocevar	77	6	8
A-	Austin Cindric	2	13	10
B+	John H. Nemechek	42	28	15
B-	AJ Allmendinger	16	17	16
B-	Bubba Wallace	23	7	14
B-	Michael McDowell	71	29	20
B-	Ryan Preece	60	14	17
B-	Shane Van Gisbergen	97	35	23
C+	Austin Hill	33	27	21
C+	Cody Ware	51	30	22
C+	Todd Gilliland	34	34	24
C+	Ty Gibbs	54	9	18
C	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	47	36	26
C	Christopher Bell	20	4	19
C-	Tyler Reddick	45	18	25
D	Josh Berry	21	16	28	1
F	Chris Buescher (Accident)	17	21	27
F	Ty Dillon (Accident)	10	32	30
F	Noah Gragson (Accident)	4	31	33
F	Daniel Suárez (Accident)	7	15	29
F	Riley Herbst (Accident)	35	33	34
F	Chase Elliott (Accident)	9	8	31
F	Chase Briscoe (Accident)	19	5	32
F	Ryan Blaney (Accident)	12	3	35
F	Zane Smith (Accident)	38	12	36