Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington (⏰ 6 p.m. ET | 📺 NBCSN | 📻 MRN, SiriusXM)
Everything you need to know for Sunday’s Cup Series Playoffs opener, the 27th points-paying NASCAR Cup Series event of the 2021 season.
Where: Darlington Raceway, aka The Lady in Black, a 1.366-mile oval in Darlington, South Carolina
Starting Lineup: Ryan Blaney will lead the field to green under the lights, accompanied by Denny Hamlin on front row. See the full lineup
Green flag: 6:18:40 p.m. ET
TV/Radio: NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Forecast: Partly cloudy, with a low around 70, according to NOAA.gov
Grand Marshal: Representative of Cook Out, Katie Yonchuk
Race Distance: 367 laps, 501.322 miles
Stages: 115 | 230 | 367
Pit-road speed: 45 mph
Caution car speed: 50 mph
Darlington 101: Get the full lowdown
Entry list: See who’s in the field
Pit-stall assignments: See who is pitting where | Expert breaks down pit-road selections
Five to watch
Here are five big story lines we’ll be following at Daytona:
1. We’re here – the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Just 10 races separate 16 remaining drivers from the forever glory of being crowned a NASCAR champion, and the field may be deeper than ever before. First up: the Round of 16, starting with Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500. Win that and you advance to the Round of 12, along with staking claim in one of NASCAR’s most prized races. Win-win. The regular season held no shortage of story lines right from the jump, seeing Michael McDowell shock the world in the Daytona 500, Christopher Bell become the first Joe Gibbs Racing driver to lock in a week later on the road course at the World Center of Racing, William Byron become elite seemingly overnight and Kyle Larson flex on the field in ways reminiscent of a few other guys who used to drive for Hendrick Motorsports and know a thing or two about championships. But one thing’s for sure: we’re just getting warmed up, and the 2021 Playoffs are sure to sizzle.
2. Perhaps the biggest question as we get rolling here: will Larson’s dominance carry over into the postseason? All signs point to yes, but it does feel likely that JGR’s best days of 2021 are still ahead of the Toyota organization, Team Penske likely won’t go winless the rest of the way given Ryan Blaney is coming off two straight wins, Kevin Harvick could still find a path to Victory Lane and oh, by the way, all three of his teammates have been excellent this year as well and are also vying for a championship. With only 10 race trophies left to collect, it doesn’t leave much room on the plate for Larson to feast, but he’s also been otherworldly. He’s still likely to make the Championship 4 and currently stands as the title favorite, but his road to the Bill France Cup looks a good deal bumpier than it did during his summer peak.
3. And how about the underdogs? Given the season-long strength of the top of the field and relative consistency the top 10 teams have shown, those drivers on or around the bubble certainly have an uphill battle ahead of them. Daytona darling McDowell knows his team needs “to have the three best races of our careers” just to make the Round of 12, so any expectations for advancement past that point is a bit of wishful thinking. Tyler Reddick appears to be catching fire at the right time and could make a run, Bell is in top-tier equipment and has had nearly a full season to prepare for the playoffs and Aric Almirola sets up well to have a productive Round of 16 and potentially build some momentum. And then, of course, is Harvick, who enters as the No. 16 seed after last year’s top seeding – he’s a complete wild card, and should be fascinating to watch.
4. Come playoff time, any sort of perceived advantage needs to be explored, and Darlington is no exception. The winner will advance to the daunting Round 12, which opens at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, takes a trip to Talladega Superspeedway and wraps up at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. Every one of the dozen eligible drivers at that point will be clamoring to win at Vegas and avoid the stress of the mercurial Talladega and Roval. What would come in handy in the quest to win at Vegas? The extra two weeks of preparation that come along with a Southern 500 victory and the peace of mind knowing you’re already locked into the Round of 12.
5. Lest we forget that other, non-playoff drivers make up the rest of Sunday’s field of 37 cars and also would love to be crowned a Southern 500 champion. Erik Jones is a former winner, and has six top 10s there in his seven starts, albeit in better equipment. Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Wood Brothers group still look like a team that could sneak in a win before they part ways at the end of the year, and one in this race would do wonders for his future prospects. Ryan Newman has seen success at this track before, is coming off his best finish of the season and was 10th here in the spring. Austin Dillon is fresh off just missing the playoffs and was runner-up in this race last year. It’s more likely a playoff driver wins, but these guys certainly won’t make it easy on them.
Race-day staples
Our biggest pieces of the week – get covered for race day from all angles.
– Power Rankings: Tyler Reddick might just be getting started | Scope the ranks
– Paint Scheme Preview: Shining bright under the lights | See the schemes
– Meet the field: Analyzing the 16-driver 2021 playoffs | Read more
– Bubble Watch: Who’s already in danger at Darlington? | Read more
– Track-by-track: Analyzing every race in the Round of 16| Read more
– Predict this: NASCAR.com staff playoff predictions | Read more
– Fantasy Fastlane: See who to use, avoid | Full Fantasy advice | Set your roster
– Preview Show: Jonathan Merryman and Alex Weaver preview the race | Watch the show
– Quite a collection: Multi-time winners of the Cook Out Southern 500 | See the list
– Darlington stars: All-time Southern 500 winners | See the list
Get in on the action
Think you know NASCAR? Put your mettle to the test with gaming, fantasy.
– Bet on it: Betting odds for Darlington | See the odds
– NASCAR betting: Pro handicappers debate where to find value | Read more
– Go all the way: Odds for 2021 Cup Series championship | See the odds
– Talking playoffs: How Fantasy Live game works for the postseason | Read more
– On the grid: How the Cup Series Playoffs Grid Challenge works | Read more
– No risk, big reward: Take a shot at winning cash prizes with the free-to-play Jackpot Races app | Hit the jackpot
– Play it LIVE: Full guide to 2021 NASCAR Fantasy Live game | Get the FAQ
Fast facts
Hard-hitting, race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.
– Denny Hamlin has an average running position in the top 10 in 13 of the last 14 races at Darlington.
– Kevin Harvick has led 1,000 fewer laps this season compared to this point in 2020.
– Ryan Blaney owns a series-best 6.6 average finish the last nine races in 2021.
– Joey Logano has finished outside the top 20 in the last four races- his worst streak since May/June 2017.
– Kyle Larson owns the best average finish (6.00) at Darlington all-time among drivers with more than two starts.
Catch the pack
Read up on all the headlines from the week leading up to Saturday’s race.
– Playoff momentum: Blaney rounding into roles as team leader, title contender | Read more
– Team power: Kyle Busch, Bell eye strong runs at 2021 Cup Series title | Read more
– Will or won’t: @nascarcasm on each driver’s title hopes | Read more
– Yes, hard feelings: Distaste for Hamlin will ‘absolutely’ carry over in playoffs, says Logano | Read more
– No playing favorites: Larson enters 2021 playoffs as heavy favorite – but is he? | See details
– ‘We have to crush it’: Underdogs aiming to claw, advance | Read more
– Debate: Is Ryan Blaney Championship 4-caliber? | Watch the video
– Testing, testing: Eight teams to test Next Gen at Daytona | Read more
– Ripple effects: Inside the dynamics of 23XI’s growth | Read more
– Radio silence: Christopher Bell on relationship with Kyle Larson: ‘We haven’t communicated’ | Read more
Say what?
The best quotes from big names in the sport heading into this weekend’s race.
– “I feel good about our team. I think our team has done a great job with the circumstances we’ve been presented with and I think the last four or five weeks our cars have run a lot better. We’ve still got some work to do with some things on the balance side of the car to start these races, but, in the end, our team has done a great job and those numbers could have been a lot better if it weren’t for three or four ill-timed accidents at the end of a few of the races. You obviously want to win, but some years just don’t go exactly how you want them to go and I think those are the years that you’ve got to dig down and do the things that our guys have done this year, so gotta be in it to win it and we’ve given ourselves a chance and see where it all falls in the end.” — Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
– “We’re definitely excited to be going to Darlington to start the Playoffs this weekend. It’s a place we have a lot of confidence at – and really this whole first round, we feel really good about. I’m not sure anyone knows exactly what to expect with the repaved area in turn two so that will be a challenge for everyone. I felt like that was one of our stronger parts of the track as the bumps had developed, but we’ll do our best to plan for the change and hopefully continue to build on how strong we have ran the past few times at Darlington to get the Playoffs started strong.” — Martin Truex Jr. driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
– “We are super excited for Darlington this weekend. These next three weeks are exciting races. Three, I feel like, really cool racetracks with fun environments for us. It’s getting to be that time of year. Fall is an exciting time of year for a lot of things around sports and our season is getting down to it, as well. We are just excited to get going. It’s hard to believe we are 26 weeks in. It doesn’t really seem like it, but here we are starting another playoffs and heading into the final 10 of the year. It goes by fast, but over two months of racing is still a long time. They will click off and you’ll get in certain moments that you might like, some you might not like, and we’ll make the most of them all.” — Chase Elliott, driver of the No.9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
– “The first thing I think of with kicking off the Playoffs at Darlington, is that it is a crown jewel event. That is the perfect stage that we could have start the 2021 Playoffs, and we are starting it at one of the coolest tracks. We are also going into some unknowns with the repaved or repaired surface in turn two. it is really going to improve the lap times with the grip level. Turn two is where your lap time is made and if you get through there good, it’s really going to help with that. Now with the extra grip, there is going to be a ton of speed down the back straightaway, into turn three, and there could be a question if we are up against the rev chip. So, you might have to back off the throttle to preserve the engine. With this being the second longest race of the year, that could be a huge factor at the end of the race as far as durability. But for the most part it’s still the same old Darlington. There is a ton of stuff that the driver has to compartmentalize at Darlington, plus the emotions of kicking off the Playoffs. A lot of things that we have to juggle when we get there.” — Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet