Posted on by Staff Report

Jimmie Johnson’s early hopes for a bounceback victory in NASCAR’s first race back after a two-month break ended with a heavy crash in the final lap of Stage 1 at Darlington Raceway.

RELATED: At-track photos: Darlington

Johnson had taken the lead in the 81st of 293 laps, putting his No. 48 Chevrolet ahead of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman. Johnson was nearing a stage victory when his car broke loose as he tried to place Chris Buescher down a lap; his No. 48 entry then veered to the inside wall, sustaining heavy front-end damage.

“Gosh, what I would do to get that corner back to do it over again,” Johnson said after being checked and released at the infield care center. “Coming to the end of the stage, I was just trying to make sure I got a good run off of Turn 2. I felt like I was going to be able to exit the corner side-by-side with him, things just went horribly wrong there. What a great car, I feel terrible for my team and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. I’m very thankful for Ally and all of their support. We have great race cars and things are coming in the right direction, just unfortunate that things didn’t really turn out there off of Turn 2.”

VIDEO: Heartbreak for Johnson

Johnson apologized to his crew over the two-way radio. Crew chief Cliff Daniels told his team to hold its head high after contending early and leading nine laps: “I don’t want one single person to get down. We’ve got a great race car, so don’t you get down.”

Johnson’s mishap handed the stage win to Hendrick teammate William Byron.

RELATED: Byron scores Stage 1 win at Darlington

Johnson, a three-time Darlington winner, had his winless streak stretch to 100 races — the longest dry spell of his career.

Posted on by Staff Report

Brad Keselowski grabbed the lead on a late pit stop with 10 to go in Stage 2 and held off Alex Bowman and Martin Truex Jr. for the stage win on Sunday at Darlington Raceway. This was the second stage win for the Team Penske driver in 2020.

RELATED: Stage 2 results

Bowman took second in the stage, while Truex finished third after not scoring any points in Stage 1. Kevin Harvick, who led most of the stage, but lost the lead on pit road after a lengthy pit stop, finished fourth. Ryan Preece, a second-year driver for JTG Daugherty Racing, nabbed his first stage points of the season with a seventh-place finish in Stage 2.

Stage 1 winner William Byron had a tire go down coming off of Turn 3 on Lap 111 and that left him several laps down. Daniel Suarez’s spin on Lap 125 brought out another caution. Rookie Christopher Bell had a spin off of Turn 4 on Lap 174 to bring out a caution out with 11 laps in the stage.

Finish Driver Team Points
1 Brad Keselowski Team Penske 10
2 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports 9
3 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing 8
4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing 7
5 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing 6
6 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing 5
7 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing 4
8 Joey Logano Team Penske 3
9 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing 2
10 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing 1

STAGE 1: Byron nabs stage win on last lap

An incident coming off of Turn 2 of the last lap of Stage 1 took Jimmie Johnson away from a stage win and set William Byron up for his first stage win of 2020 on Sunday at Darlington Raceway.

Johnson had taken the lead from another Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Alex Bowman, with 10 to go in the stage but some contact coming up on Chris Buescher ended up with Johnson hitting the inside wall. As a result of the incident, Johnson’s day was done.

RELATED: Stage 1 results

Byron charged to the stage win after starting 18th. Denny Hamlin finished second while Bowman took third. In his first race back after missing three races following a last-lap wreck at Daytona, Ryan Newman finished the stage in ninth.

Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, who started from the rear after failing pre-race inspection twice, finished 15th in Stage 1. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was involved in a Lap 1 wreck coming off of Turn 2. He will finish the race scored last.

A competition caution at Lap 31 froze the running order and allowed for longer pit stops, allowing teams to make more extended in-race adjustments that might normally be made during practice. Brad Keselowski had led each lap prior to the competition caution.

Sunday’s race, The Real Heroes 400, marked the first race back for NASCAR since the COVID-19 stoppage that occurred in March. The race is the fifth of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Finish Driver Team Points
1 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports 10
2 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing 9
3 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports 8
4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing 7
5 Brad Keselowski Team Penske 6
6 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing 5
7 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing 4
8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing 3
9 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing 2
10 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports 1

 

Posted on by Staff Report

The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota failed pre-race inspection twice Sunday at Darlington Raceway, forcing defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch to the rear of the field for The Real Heroes 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM).

RELATED: Starting lineup | At-track photos | Update your Fantasy Live team

Busch had been scheduled to start fourth after Thursday’s random draw among the top 12 in team owner points set the first six rows. But the inspection issues mean that his No. 18 entry will drop to the rear during pace laps before Sunday’s 293-lap event.

The race is the first event back for any of NASCAR’s national series since the coronavirus pandemic halted the sports world in mid-March.

Brad Keselowski will start from the pole in the Team Penske No. 2 Ford after drawing the first starting spot.

Posted on by PJ Walsh

The Action Network specializes in providing sports betting insights/analytics and is a content partner with NASCAR. Check out more NASCAR betting analysis here.

Thanks to Thursday’s qualifying draw, the starting lineup for Sunday’s The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway is set, giving us the final piece of information we need to make our last round of bets for the race.

Because the race will be a “one-day show” in order to protect personnel at the track as much as possible, no practice sessions were held, so my analysis is weighted heavily toward past performance at Darlington, as well as results from the first four races of the season.

In the name of transparency, I started my Darlington betting card with Chase Elliott at 12-1 back on May 8, so I already have that wager locked in, as well as Tyler Reddick at 110-1, in addition to what is below. And whether or not you tailed with Elliott and Reddick or are just now looking to bet Sunday’s race, here are two wagers worth taking for The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington.

NASCAR at Darlington Best Bet Picks

Alex Bowman (+1400) to Win

Starting position always matters in some capacity, but I think it’ll be even more important on Sunday.

Think about it — drivers have not raced since the beginning of March, and with no practice or qualifying this weekend that’s more than two months without a single lap on track.

In addition, there will be a competition caution at Lap 30, and during that caution teams can take as much time as they want to make changes to their cars and retain their position in the running order as long as they don’t lose a lap under that caution.

Best NASCAR Promo! Win your bet if Kyle Busch finishes just ONE lap.

Therefore, my assumption is that drivers will take it easy for those first 30 laps to get back up to speed, make plenty of changes to help the handling of their cars during the competition caution, then really turn it loose from there.

So by taking a driver like Alex Bowman who is starting second, it’s reasonable that he’ll be able to hang onto that position early as drivers race conservatively, then have the added benefit of making major changes to improve the car without the penalty of losing spots on pit road.

And even before Thursday’s qualifying draw, I had my eye on Bowman since he was the dominant car at Auto Club Speedway in March, the only track the Cup Series has visited this season with tire wear similar to Darlington.

In Bowman, we get one of the fastest cars this season and a front-row starting spot at a solid 14-1 price.

[Bet now at PointsBet. NJ and IN only.]

Kurt Busch (+2200) to Win

Taking Busch over Jimmie Johnson in a head-to-head driver matchup was one of my first bets for Sunday’s The Real Heroes 400 and I’m backing that up with Kurt to win outright.

Over the last three NASCAR Cup Series races at Darlington, Busch owns the third-best average finish (5.3), while leading the fourth-most laps and running the most fast laps.

In addition, Busch finished third at Auto Club Speedway in March, another high tire-wear track and the closest comparison we have to Darlington this season.

Based on current The Real Heroes 400 odds, this is my favorite value bet on the board.

[Bet now at PointsBet. NJ and IN only.]

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR’s engineers, crew chiefs and top wrenches typically maximize the pushing of limits, whether it’s in discovering efficiencies in their work week or trying to find a competitive edge on the speed chart. These days, innovation has taken another form in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak as teams follow new guidelines to prepare for racing to resume.

Adhering to those safeguards has required NASCAR organizations to retool the way they do business with only limited personnel permitted at race shops. Guidance has come from state and local government officials but also from the teams themselves, which have been proactive in creating their own protocols for working safely.

RELATED: Schedule set through June 21 | Darlington 101: About the return

It’s all made teams think differently about their approach ahead of NASCAR’s return to action in Sunday’s The Real Heroes 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Darlington Raceway.

“We have come to expect from the teams a creativity and an innovation with any obstacles,” said John Bobo, NASCAR vice president of racing operations. “I think one of my favorite stories out of this is one of the teams was concerned about passing off their race car from the race shop team to the road team and making sure no one is exposed to any virus. They are putting the car in the paint bay and setting the temperature to 160 degrees for 60 minutes and they are baking and killing any virus that may be on the car before they bring it. That’s the kind of really cool creativity that we just love to see out of our teams, and it’s been fun to see.”

That resourceful, ingenious nature is stretched even further by a slate of events scheduled in the coming weeks with little to no on-track time before the green flag.

“It’s been a huge challenge, and I really have to throw a lot of thank-yous and a lot of accolades to everybody at Hendrick Motorsports because it’s not been an easy process to get back in there in a very, very short period of time and get race cars ready to go to a very unique venue,” said Chad Knaus, crew chief of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet of William Byron. “Darlington is quite a lot different than any other race track that we go to, obviously. But we’ve got staggered work hours. We’ve got blocks of people that work. We’re not really alternating days. We’re going in blocks of days to try to keep the exposure down to a minimum.”

The rotation of staff is one of several measures that Hendrick Motorsports has put in place. That’s meant keeping road crew members separate from the designated staff who primarily work in the shop, forcing them to get creative with communication among the groups.

North Carolina governor Roy Cooper said April 23 that race teams — most of which are based in the state — were allowed to operate as essential businesses under the state’s stay-at-home order to combat the health crisis. That ordinance loosened May 8 as North Carolina entered the first phase of reopening. By then, most teams were already back at work and trying to determine their own best practices with a smaller in-house workforce.

MORE: Follow the races from home

Hendrick Motorsports is one of many teams that have placed new cleaning protocols in place, disinfecting frequently touched surfaces each day and requiring protective equipment and on-site screening. With fewer people in the building at a given point, streamlining of the usual preparation work has become a necessity.

As usual with NASCAR teams, their tendency toward ingenuity helps carry a portion of that weight.

“There’s so much of that that we’re trying to put in place and make part of the new routine,” said Cliff Daniels, crew chief for Hendrick’s No. 48 Chevy and seven-time champ Jimmie Johnson. “Then of course, we really have to take a look and evaluate our processes that we had in place before and how we went about preparing our cars and turning them around from one race to another, just the whole system and procedure for doing that and trim the fat to make it effective, because we do have limited workforce in rotation at the company. … We’re just adapting the best we can. Time’s really going to tell what that’s going to look like for us.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Yes, #NASCARIsBack — officially Sunday afternoon at Darlington Raceway for The Real Heroes 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Returning to the track after being sidelined for two months due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is no small feat, and it took the work of many to make it a reality, including support from AdventHealth. 

“As NASCAR resumes racing, we have the unique opportunity to join a number of other partners in collaborative efforts to help foster a safer return to the track, including advising on healthcare protocols and general best practices,” an AdventHealth statement read. “We hope the collective efforts of all involved contribute to an environment that prioritizes the health and safety of drivers, crew members and others.”

AdventHealth is a national health care system with nearly 50 hospital campuses and hundreds of care sites in about a dozen states. The company was a founding partner of Daytona International Speedway in 2014, sporting a 20,000-plus-square-foot injector — or gate entrance — at the Daytona Beach, Florida, track while also providing medical support at the track as needed.

As part of The Real Heroes Project, driver Kurt Busch will honor AdventHealth nurse Amy Marsch during Sunday’s race. Marsch is the senior nurse manager for the first AdventHealth COVID-19 unit in Orlando, Florida, during the ongoing pandemic. Across the country, AdventHealth has cared for more than 3,500 people diagnosed with COVID-19.

Posted on by Staff Report

Alex Bowman, whose hot start to the year was among the biggest story lines in NASCAR before the COVID-19 pandemic that halted the 2020 season, announced Saturday morning that he has signed a one-year contract extension through 2021 with Hendrick Motorsports.

The 27-year-old is in his third full season driving the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet, a ride he first took over as a 10-race substitute for the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2016. Since then, he scored his first Cup Series victory last season at Chicagoland Speedway.

RELATED: Recapping Alex Bowman’s Auto Club win

Before the sports world slowed to a halt this spring amid the global public-health crisis, Bowman seemed to bolster his case for a contract extension with a dominant win at Auto Club Speedway in the third race of the season. After that victory, he said “every year is a contract year,” referring to his journeyman career, while reaffirming his commitment to team owner Rick Hendrick.

The win at Auto Club came after Bowman exited Friday’s practice with what appeared to be the car to beat. He qualified third, then led 110 of 200 laps and beat runner-up Kyle Busch by nearly nine seconds.

Bowman is in fourth place in the standings as NASCAR makes its return to racing this weekend at Darlington Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). He’s six points behind teammate driver Chase Elliott (third) and seven points ahead of teammate Jimmie Johnson (fifth) — an indicator of how strong Hendrick Motorsports has been early in the season.

MORE: How to follow the Darlington race this weekend

Posted on by Staff Report

The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season is set to resume Sunday at Darlington Raceway, one of NASCAR’s most iconic tracks.

Following a two-month layoff between races as the world faced the COVID-19 pandemic, the greatest drivers in stock-car racing are set to once again take the green flag in The Real Heroes 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio).

A quick 2020 refresher: Denny Hamlin strengthened his Hall of Fame case with a jaw-dropping third Daytona 500 crown in five years, Joey Logano has been the season’s most dominant driver to date and Alex Bowman inserted himself into the playoff picture in dominant fashion with an Auto Club win before things were put on hold after the race on March 8 at Phoenix Raceway.

The lineup for Sunday was set on Thursday evening with a televised draw, so the only things left between now and the drop of the green are a hearty ‘Drivers, start your engines!’ and the deafening roar of machinery that follows.

RELATED: Darlington starting lineup | Ways to follow

NASCAR.com has you covered from every conceivable angle. Read our full coverage below to get ready for both Sunday’s The Real Heroes 400 and the rest of the 2020 season.

NASCAR is back. Let’s go.

CATCHING BACK UP

Bowman (1)

 

  • Timeline of events: NASCAR news and information in regards to the coronavirus outbreak and its impact in the sport. | Read more
  • Return to racing announced: At the end of April, NASCAR announced its return to racing on Sunday, May 17, at Darlington Raceway with a NASCAR Cup Series race that will serve as the first of seven races over an 11-day span at two different race tracks. | Read more
  • The Real Heroes: The special NASCAR Cup Series race entitlement at Darlington Raceway follows the launch of The Real Heroes Project, a collaborative initiative by 14 sports leagues including NASCAR to recognize and pay tribute to medical professionals serving on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19. | Read more
  • ‘Huge responsibility for us’: NASCAR announced it’ll restart its season mid-May, the first professional sports league that will return to action. | Read more
  • Previously, on NASCAR: Relive the key moments and winning drivers for the first four races of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season as the sport gets ready to return at Darlington Raceway. | Watch now
  • Performance reviews: We were four races into 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season before things were put on hold, but we had a pretty good idea of where teams were. | Read more
  • What went into ‘wild prep’: NASCAR teams had to hustle to get ready for the return to racing under different circumstances. Here’s how Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 crew handled the frenzy. | Read more
  • Recapping the Daytona 500: Denny Hamlin won his third Daytona 500 and became the fourth driver to win “The Great American Race” in back-to-back years and the first since Sterling Marlin did so in 1994-95. | Read more
  • Recapping the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas: Joey Logano won this race for the second season in a row, securing the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series champion a spot in this year’s playoffs. | Read more
  • Recapping the Auto Club 400: Alex Bowman earned his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory, securing a spot in the 2020 NASCAR Playoffs | Read more
  • Recapping the FanShield 500 at Phoenix: Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, held off blue oval stablemate Kevin Harvick in NASCAR Overtime to pick up his second win of the season. | Read more
  • Rocket Man is back: Ryan Newman on his recovery, return: ‘I feel like a complete walking miracle’ | Read more
  • FAQ on NASCAR’s return: NASCAR announced the schedule for the first set of races throughout May in the sport’s return after the COVID-19 outbreak. Here are answers to some potential questions. | Read more

 

RACING FORWARD

Darlington4

  • Keep an eye on Joe Gibbs Racing: Sure, we have no idea what we’re about to witness Sunday, but the statistics don’t lie. | Read more
  • Expert picks, analysis for Darlington: NASCAR.com previews NASCAR’s return to racing at Darlington Speedway. Who will be fast? Who can win? Find out in this week’s Preview Show. | Watch now
  • Odds, lines for Darlington return: Penn National Gaming has released its betting odds for the event — with one heavyweight atop the board. | Read more
  • Follow the race from home: Everything you need to dig into Sunday’s race from every angle, with up-to-the-minute live scoring, Scanner, Drive and more. | How to follow
  • What the drivers are saying: With NASCAR set to return, drivers had plenty to say in the week leading up to the race. See all the NASCAR chatter about what the first few laps back to racing will be like. | See what they had to say
  • Reaching new heights: From inching closer to legends in several categories to several drivers closing in on 700 Cup starts, see what feats could be accomplished this season. | Read more
  • Who’s got the power? NASCAR.com’s Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 NASCAR Cup Series drivers after the race at Phoenix Raceway — with some iRacing in between — and before the race at Darlington Raceway. | Read more
  • Fantasy Fastlane: Fantasy Fastlane will look at each race from a fantasy perspective, examining the top plays and sleepers as well as plays to avoid for NASCAR Fantasy Live. Garage driver will lock at end of Stage 2. | Read more
  • Paint Scheme Preview: See the schemes that will hit the track this weekend at Darlington Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series. | See the schemes
  • Technical details: NASCAR officials released information about starting lineup and pit-selection procedures, plus a modified competition caution process to allow for more wide-ranging adjustments for upcoming events scheduled without practice or qualifying. | Read more
  • Where they’re pitting: See where your favorite driver will pit for Sunday’s race at Darlington Raceway. | Read more
  • Recapping the beefs: We’ve been away for a while, so @nascarcasm wanted to get you back up to speed on which drivers have beef with each other, which drivers had beef but resolved it and which drivers are now beefless. | Read more
  • Yet another Zoom call: Before Sunday’s The Real Heroes 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), NASCAR will hold a virtual driver-crew chief meeting — with a twist — that will air at 2 p.m. ET on NASCAR.com and NASCAR’s social channels. | Read more
  • We’re going streaking: NASCAR.com digs in with statistics from Racing Insights and its own research to examine a dozen early streaks and trends from all three national series. | Read more

WELCOME TO THE PARTY

Jones

  • How the points work: Each finishing spot in the field earns a driver points, from a maximum of 40 points to the driver who finishes first, down to one point for the driver who finishes 40th. These points accrue over a season and determine the driver standings, as well as the owner standings. | Read more
  • How the playoffs work: For all three NASCAR national series, there are a series of eliminations as the NASCAR Playoffs progress.  | Read more
  • Need-to-know terms: Keep this handy guide by your side when watching your next NASCAR race to stay in the know with stock-car racing terminology. | Read more
  • Nice to see you again: Welcome back, old friend. Or, for some of you, welcome aboard as you follow NASCAR for the very first time. Here’s what you need to know. | Read more
  • Drafting 101: Get race-ready with a little NASCAR 101 with Clint Bowyer. In this video Bowyer explains how to draft. | Watch now
  • Darlington 101: With a tight schedule of racing on tap to round out the month of May, here’s a primer with helpful information before stock-car racing resumes at the track “Too Tough to Tame.” | Read more
  • Who to root for? Greetings, first-time NASCAR viewers! Looking for a little guidance in choosing a driver to root for? We are here to help. | Read more
  • Live out your NASCAR fantasies: Play NASCAR Fantasy Live at Darlington and compete all season long in the best NASCAR fantasy game around. | Play now
  • Fantasy 101: NASCAR Fantasy Live is back in action with the resumption of the 2020 season at Darlington Raceway with a few tweaks from last year’s game. | Read more
  • Want to win some cash?: Download NASCAR Finish Line today for your shot at free contests where you can win cash prizes. | Download now
  • NASCAR on TV: Don’t miss a minute of the action as NASCAR makes its triumphant return to racing on Sunday at Darlington Raceway. | See TV schedule
Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

Sure, we have no idea what we’re about to witness in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series return at Darlington Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), but the statistics don’t lie.

That’s why Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones and Martin Truex Jr. may have a slight edge with five total wins at the 1.366-mile, egg-shaped South Carolina oval. In fact, JGR drivers have won four of the last seven Cup races at the venue.

RELATED:  Review: Team Penske over Joe Gibbs Racing?

Jones is the most recent winner in the No. 20 Toyota, earning his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory in last year’s Bojangles’ Southern 500, beating out teammate Busch for the triumph. Jones has never finished outside the top 10 at Darlington and owns a 4.67 average finish in five career starts (three in the Cup Series and two in the Xfinity Series) – the best all-time among drivers with more than two starts.

To put Jones’ stellar numbers in perspective, the only driver to start his Darlington career with more top-10 finishes is Bill Elliott, who didn’t finish outside the top 10 until his sixth race there.

Busch also has one Darlington victory in 2008, but the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion has finished 11th or better in the past 10 events.

For Hamlin, the two-time Southern 500 winner restarts the 2020 season at his best track in terms of average finish at 7.8. Hamlin most recently recorded a victory at Darlington in 2017, while his first one came back in 2010. The No. 11 driver is locked into the playoffs with his third Daytona 500 win and he’ll go into Sunday as one of the favorites at Darlington.

RELATED: Weekend schedules for Darlington, Charlotte

Truex, driver of the organization’s No. 19 entry, won the Southern 500 in 2016 with Furniture Row Racing — then a JGR affiliate — and has results of 11th or better in four of the last five Darlington races, finishing 15th last season.

While JGR has been a tick off in the first four races of the season, it’s hard to beat experience at a place like Darlington. These four drivers have plenty of it. Now it’s just a matter of shaking the cobwebs off with no practice, unloading fast off the hauler and getting into a rhythm early.