Hamlin, Bell and Blaney headline tight Round of 16 at Gateway
NXTbets Pro | Published On: September 11, 2026
Gateway favorites
The playoff fight tightens at World Wide Technology Raceway, where Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney arrive as the drivers to watch in the second race of the Round of 16. Hamlin leads the standings, Bell is 12 points behind him and Blaney is 16 back. Tyler Reddick sits fourth, 24 points off the top. The Enjoy Illinois 300 starts at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network, and the market reflects how close the battle is at the front. DraftKings has Bell as the favorite at +400, Hamlin next at +425 and Blaney third at +450. Bell backed that position with a win at Darlington, while Hamlin and Blaney bring their own track records to Gateway. Bell has never finished worse than 11th in four starts at the track. Hamlin is the defending winner. Blaney has finished sixth or better in three of his four Gateway starts. That mix of recent form, playoff position and track history gives the race a sharp edge before the green flag.
Standings pressure
Hamlin keeps the points lead, but his Darlington race showed how quickly momentum can shift in the playoffs. Pit-road trouble pushed him to an 18th-place finish last Sunday, a result that narrowed the cushion at the top even as he stayed in front. Bell used Darlington to move within 12 points of the lead, and his win there gives him a strong position entering Gateway among the top three. Blaney remains close enough to pounce if the leaders stumble, and Reddick remains in the mix as well. Joey Logano adds another name to the group of contenders from a deeper position in the standings. He is eighth and 72 points back, and he owns a strong Gateway résumé. Logano is the only driver with top-five and top-10 finishes in all four World Wide Technology Raceway races. That kind of consistency matters on a track where one clean day can change the shape of the playoff picture and one mistake can turn the standings upside down.
Gateway contenders
The field beyond the top three still has drivers who can alter the race. Austin Cindric is listed as a sleeper at +2000 and brings the value of a former Gateway winner. Josh Berry sits at +2200 and has six straight top-10 Cup finishes, but his history at Gateway has not matched his recent run. Berry crashed in both of his previous starts there. Carson Hocevar is the longshot name on the board at +5500, and his best finish at Gateway is eighth. He also comes in after an 11th-place run at Darlington last Sunday, which gives him a useful bit of momentum even from the longshot tier. That spread of prices shows how much the race still depends on venue fit and playoff pressure. The contenders near the top have the points advantage. The drivers lower on the board have the kind of single-race upside that can reshape the afternoon if the leaders leave the door open.
