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Kurt Busch finished third in the The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday.

Busch’s top five finish, the second time he has achieved that result this year, added 39 points to his season total.

Busch started in 22nd position. The 21st-year driver has tallied 31 career victories, with 145 top-five finishes and 301 results inside the top 10.

The third place result for Busch marks the fourth time he has finished in the top five at Darlington Raceway and his tenth top 10.

The Las Vegas, Nevada native began the race seven spots behind his career mark of 14.9, but finished 13 places ahead of his career average of 16.5.

Busch battled against a field of 40 drivers on the way to his third-place finish. The race endured 10 cautions and 57 caution laps. There were 11 lead changes.

Kevin Harvick took the checkered flag in the race, followed by Alex Bowman in second place. After Busch’s third-place finish, Chase Elliott secured fourth, and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.

After William Byron won the first stage, Brad Keselowski drove the No. 2 car to victory in Stage 2.

Kurt Busch Driver Page | Get Kurt Busch Gear | Race Center

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Denny Hamlin finished fifth in the The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday.

Hamlin’s top five finish, the second time he has achieved that result this year, added 43 points to his season total.

Hamlin started in 10th position. The 16th-year driver has tallied 38 career victories, with 163 top-five finishes and 262 results inside the top 10.

Victory Lane at Darlington Raceway is a familiar place for Hamlin, who has two career wins at the track. He has also compiled eight top-five finishes at Darlington and his fifth-place result marks the 12th top 10.

The Chesterfield, Virginia native’s starting and finishing positions compared favorably to his career averages, starting three spots higher than his career mark of 12.9 and completing the race nine places ahead of his 13.6 career average finish.

Hamlin’s fifth-place finish came against a field of 40 drivers. The race endured 10 cautions and 57 caution laps. Prior to the checkered flag there were 11 lead changes.

Kevin Harvick finished first in the race, and Alex Bowman took second. Kurt Busch crossed the finish line third, with Chase Elliott bringing home fourth place. Hamlin rounded out the top five.

After William Byron won the first stage, Brad Keselowski drove the No. 2 car to victory in Stage 2.

Denny Hamlin Driver Page | Get Hamlin Gear | Race Center

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Aric Almirola finished 12th in the The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday.

Almirola’s result added 30 points to his season total.

Almirola started in fifth position. The 13th-year driver has secured two career victories, with 18 top-five finishes and 63 results inside the top 10.

Sunday was Almirola’s ninth career start at Darlington Raceway. Though he’s completed eight of those races, he has never managed to crack the top 10 at the track.

The Tampa, Florida native’s starting and finishing positions compared favorably to his career averages, starting 16 spots higher than his career mark of 20.6 and completing the race 10 places ahead of his 21.8 career average finish.

Almirola’s 12th-place finish came against a field of 40 drivers. The race endured 10 cautions and 57 caution laps. Prior to the checkered flag there were 11 lead changes.

Kevin Harvick secured the win in the race, and Alex Bowman finished second. Kurt Busch placed third, Chase Elliott secured fourth, and Denny Hamlin grabbed the No. 5 spot.

After William Byron won the first stage, Brad Keselowski drove the No. 2 car to victory in Stage 2.

Aric Almirola Driver Page | Get Almirola Gear | Race Center

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Erik Jones finished eighth in the The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday.

The top 10 finish for Jones, his second of the year, added 30 points to his season total.

Jones started in 20th position. The fifth-year driver has piled up two career victories, with 24 top-five finishes and 51 results inside the top 10.

Victory Lane at Darlington Raceway is a familiar place for Jones, who has one career win at the track. He has also compiled two top-five finishes at Darlington and his eighth-place result marks the fourth top 10.

The Byron, Michigan native began the race seven spots behind his career mark of 13.1, but finished 10 places ahead of his career average of 17.7.

Jones battled against a field of 40 drivers on the way to his eighth-place finish. The race endured 10 cautions and 57 caution laps. There were 11 lead changes.

Kevin Harvick earned the checkered flag in the race, and Alex Bowman finished second. Kurt Busch placed third, Chase Elliott brought home fourth, and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.

After William Byron won the first stage, Brad Keselowski drove the No. 2 car to victory in Stage 2.

Erik Jones Driver Page | Get Jones Gear | Race Center

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Martin Truex Jr finished sixth in the The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday.

The top 10 finish for Truex, his first of the year, added 39 points to his season total.

Truex started in 15th position. The 17th-year driver has secured 26 career victories, with 102 top-five finishes and 206 results inside the top 10.

Victory Lane at Darlington Raceway is a familiar place for Truex, who has one career win at the track. He has also compiled two top-five finishes at Darlington and his sixth-place result marks the seventh top 10.

The Mayetta, New Jersey native’s starting and finishing positions compared favorably to his career averages, starting one spot higher than his career mark of 15.9 and completing the race 12 places ahead of his 17.6 career average finish.

Truex’s sixth-place finish came against a field of 40 drivers. The race endured 10 cautions and 57 caution laps. Prior to the checkered flag there were 11 lead changes.

Kevin Harvick took the checkered flag in the race, and Alex Bowman finished second. Kurt Busch placed third, Chase Elliott took fourth, and Denny Hamlin finished off the top five.

After William Byron won the first stage, Brad Keselowski drove the No. 2 car to victory in Stage 2.

Martin Truex Jr Driver Page | Get Truex Gear | Race Center

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NASCAR officials have moved up the start time for Tuesday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway to 6 p.m. ET because of the potential for inclement weather.

Originally slated for 8 p.m. ET, the Toyota 200 (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is scheduled to be the first Xfinity Series race since March after a two-month pause in action due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

RELATED: Photos from Cup Series return

Tuesday’s race will mirror Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event, in that it will be held without practice, a lineup set by random draw and with event procedures significantly modified in accordance with CDC, OSHA and state and local government recommendations.

Other adjustments include mandating the use of protective equipment, health screenings for all individuals before entering the facility and maintaining social distancing protocols throughout the event.

JR Motorsports teammates Noah Gragson and Michael Annett will lead the field to green.

Posted on by Holly Cain

NASCAR’s Xfinity Series drivers are eager to resume the race schedule on Thursday with the Toyota 200 (Noon ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) from Darlington Raceway – the second major NASCAR race to take place since a two-month long pause in action during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Youth certainly served notice in the early portion of the season with 19-year-old Harrison Burton scoring top-five finishes in the opening four races to date, scoring his first career Xfinity Series victory at Auto Club Speedway in March. The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota holds a three-point edge atop the standings over Chase Briscoe, who drove the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 98 Ford to victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and has a pair of top-five finishes himself.

RELATED: Xfinity Series standings | Darlington starting lineup

Austin Cindric, driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, is third in the standings – 21 points behind Burton – with a pair of top-five finishes, including a season-best runner-up to Briscoe at Las Vegas. Brandon Jones, the series most recent winner – March 7 at Phoenix Raceway – is fourth in the standings, only 28 points off Burton.

Popular driver Ross Chastain is fifth in the championship with three top-10 finishes in the Kaulig Racing No. 10 and 21-year old Noah Gragson, the JR Motorsports driver who won a dramatic season-opener at Daytona International Speedway, is only 33 points off the standing leader’s pace, sharing sixth place with Ryan Sieg.

The top nine drivers are only separated by 38 points heading to Darlington, where that ninth-place driver, veteran Justin Allgaier holds an enviable track resume. The 33-year-old perennial championship contender has six top-10 finishes in nine starts there, including the last three years. And his 140 laps out front in the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet is the high mark of the 2020 season.

MORE: 2020 Xfinity Series schedule

None of these talented drivers has ever won at Darlington before. And in Burton’s case, he’ll be making his Darlington debut with absolutely no practice. As with the NASCAR Cup Series, the race lineup was set by a draw. Burton will start 12th, alongside Briscoe. Gragson drew the pole position and will start on the front row alongside his JR Motorsports teammate Michael Annett.

“I had that conversation with my team trying to figure out how we could keep momentum rolling and kind of stay in the swing of things,” Burton said. “And we came to the conclusion we kind of just had to be ourselves and do what we were doing right in the beginning.

“The more we focused on trying to just over-analyze everything and focus on just trying to come back with the same momentum and all this, it would probably be detrimental. We figured if we can start the season good the first time, we can re-start it good the second time. We’re going to approach it that way.”

Cole Custer, now a rookie in the NASCAR Cup Series, is the most recent Darlington Xfinity Series winner – earning the trophy last Fall over fellow 2020 Cup Series rookie and eventual 2019 Xfinity champion Tyler Reddick. Briscoe’s sixth-place finish last year was best among those competing this weekend.

“What makes it tough is it’s just so different from every track we go to,” Briscoe said. “The groove, the surface and the shape are unlike any on the schedule, and it’s so narrow. You’ve got to take care of your tires or you aren’t going to be able to make any moves for position and move around on the racetrack to find speed. Under the lights at Darlington is going to be different, for sure. It’s easy to make mistakes – we saw that on Sunday – so patience is going to be the most important thing.”

Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch will roll off 26th on Thursday. He’s scheduled to race in all seven of NASCAR’s first races back – three at Darlington (NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity) and four events at Charlotte Motor Speedway next week (two NASCAR Cup Series races and one each in the Xfinity and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck series).

He’s a two-time winner (2011 and 2013) in the Xfinity Series at Darlington.

Posted on by Staff Report

Celebrity chef Guy Fieri will be the grand marshal for the NASCAR Cup Series Toyota 500 night race on Wednesday at Darlington Raceway (6 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio).

This will be the third time Fieri has served as the grand marshal for a Cup Series race, which included the 2015 NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway in 2016. He has also attended the season-ending awards banquet in previous years.

RELATED: Singer-songwriter Jewel to sing national anthem for Darlington

Fieri has played a significant role supporting the restaurant industry as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact businesses across the country, setting up the Guy Fieri National Restaurant Employee Relief Fund program.

According to the National Restaurant Association, four in 10 restaurants have closed and more than eight million restaurant workers have lost their jobs. Thanks to major brands like TikTok, Netflix and Uber Eats, the program has raised nearly $22 million in commitments, including donations from every-day Americans who have contributed $1.5 million to the fund.

One hundred percent of the donations will go to restaurant workers in need. More than 60,000 workers have registered for the grants, receiving more than 40 applications per second when the website for relief initially launched. So far, Fieri’s program has awarded nearly 25,000 grants.

Visit RERF.US to donate to the fund and learn more.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR issued multiple penalties Monday for lug-nut violations after Sunday’s Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway, including a one-race suspension for Chris Gayle, crew chief of Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 team.

The No. 20 Toyota was found with two lug nuts not safely secured in a post-race check after Erik Jones drove the car to an eighth-place finish in The Real Heroes 400 at the 1.366-mile track. Monday, NASCAR officials fined Gayle $20,000 and suspended him for the next points-paying Cup Series event, scheduled Wednesday (6 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) at Darlington.

RELATED: Official race results

A Monday update to the entry list showed that race engineer Seth Chavka would replace Gayle on the No. 20 team’s pit box for Wednesday’s Toyota 500.

Five other Cup Series teams were found with one unsecured lug nut each after Sunday’s 400-miler. Crew chiefs for those teams were each fined $10,000 for the safety violation of Section 10.9.10.4 in the 2020 NASCAR Rule Book.

The other teams (and crew chiefs) penalized:

• No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford for race winner Kevin Harvick (crew chief Rodney Childers)
• No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for Denny Hamlin (crew chief Chris Gabehart)
• No. 22 Team Penske Ford for Joey Logano (crew chief Paul Wolfe)
• No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet for Matt Kenseth (crew chief Chad Johnston)
• No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota for Christopher Bell (crew chief Jason Ratcliff)

Posted on by Staff Report

Singer-songwriter Jewel, who has sold more than 30 million albums in a distinguished and varied career, will sing the national anthem Wednesday night prior to the Toyota 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway (6 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Jewel, also an actress and New York Times best-selling author, is celebrating the 25th anniversary of he multi-platinum breakthrough debut album “Pieces of You” in 2020.

Wednesday’s race at Darlington marks the second event in NASCAR’s return to racing following a pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Musical artist Darius Ruckerperformed the national anthem for the series’ return Sunday.