Posted on by Reid Spencer

DARLINGTON, S.C. — The top two drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series standings will start 1-2 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday — but not before pole winner Tyler Reddick scraped the Turn 4 wall on his no-holds-barred qualifying lap.

Reddick beat 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace for the top spot on the grid by 0.124 seconds in Saturday’s time trials for the Goodyear 400 on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

As the series’ points leader and winner of the first three races of the season, Reddick was the only driver to tour the 1.366-mile speedway in more than 169 mph, posting a speed of 169.152 mph in his No. 45 Toyota. Wallace, second in the standings and 61 points behind his teammate, paced his Toyota to 168.434 mph.

RELATED: Starting lineup | At-track photos: Darlington

The Busch Light Pole Award was Reddick’s second of the season and the 13th of his career, but he ended the qualifying session with a noticeable “Darlington stripe” along the right side of the car.

“I knew qualifying was going to be really tough,” Reddick said. “A lot of drivers were having trouble finding that edge, that limit in Turn 1. I nailed that pretty good. Felt really good about the lap going down the back straightaway, and I truly think I kind of under-did it through the center of (Turns) 3 and 4 and felt like I just had to get on the gas and get off the corner — and basically just ran it into the wall.

“Looks like we’re all good on the damage, but to be able to have that kind of speed in practice and again in qualifying was awesome to see.”

Chase Elliott, runner-up to Denny Hamlin last Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, was third fastest at 167.727 mph, but Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet failed pre-qualifying inspection twice, resulting in loss of pit selection and ejection of his car chief.

Reigning series champion Kyle Larson claimed the fourth starting position at 167.396 mph, followed by Brad Keselowski in the fastest Ford at 167.129 mph.

“I thought it was really smooth,” said Keselowski, who qualified one position ahead of RFK Racing teammate Chris Buescher (167.021 mph). “It looks like Chris is qualified right next to me. I felt like I got all it had. We know the cars are going to be very difficult to drive, and that did not disappoint.”

Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Austin Dillon complete the top 10 of the starting order.

Along with Elliott’s Chevrolet, the No. 17 Ford of Buescher and the No. 66 Ford of Timmy Hill failed pre-qualifying twice and lost pit selection for Sunday’s race and the services of their respective car chiefs for the weekend.

Justin Allgaier, piloting the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in place of Alex Bowman as Bowman recovers from vertigo, qualified 15th.

Hill starts 37th on Sunday.

Practice

Erik Jones and Riley Herbst posted the fastest laps in NASCAR Cup Series practice Saturday, each posting matching laps of 164.33 mph (29.925 seconds).

Austin Cindric (163.827 mph), Carson Hocevar (163.576 mph) and Connor Zilisch (163.446 mph) completed the top five in single-lap speeds.

MORE: Practice results

Cindric was quickest in 10-lap averages at 160.175 mph ahead of Hocevar, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch and Herbst.

Notably, of the 26 drivers who posted 20-lap averages, the four slowest were typical Cup Series contenders Kyle Larson, William Byron, Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott.

Practice offered teams their first chance to evaluate the real-life impacts of racing at Darlington with the 750-horsepower short-track package in the Next Gen car, coupling more power with less aerodynamic grip. Saturday’s quick time posted by Jones and Herbst was nearly a full second slower than that set by  Michael McDowell (29.007 seconds) during practice for last fall’s Southern 500.

According to Racing Insights, drivers’ lap times slowed by roughly 1.5 seconds over just 10 laps.

Contributing: Staff report

Posted on by Reid Spencer

Reaching 60 NASCAR Cup Series victories was a milestone of utmost importance to Denny Hamlin.

The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota achieved that goal last October at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With the victory, he tied Kevin Harvick for 10th on the career win list.

RELATED: Darlington weekend schedule | At-track photos

Last Sunday, again at Las Vegas, Hamlin won for the 61st time and now trails Kyle Busch for ninth all-time by two victories. One spot ahead of Busch on the career list is seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt, who won 76 Cup races.

Hamlin, who is signed to drive for JGR through 2027, doesn’t think Earnhardt’s total is within reach.

“I think it’s pie in the sky, realistically,” said Hamlin, who has estimated he’ll win 67 races by the end of his career. “I think that, given the runway, Kyle’s career – he’s still got more years to go than I will. He’s capable of running and winning long after I’m gone. I think I’m kind of where I’m at, and where I think I will be, but you just never know.

“I mean, each win stacks up and, you know, 50 was a goal at one point. So, you just keep moving, keep moving the bar as far as you can. I think that I’ve certainly got more wins than what I would have imagined.”

Hamlin has specific goals that don’t involve a set number of victories. He is still seeking a series championship after narrowly missing out in 2025.

“It’s just now, can we get the big prize at the end of the year?” Hamlin said. “That’s the only goal left to have, other than the Brickyard (400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway), is certainly one that still is mindful (for) me personally.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

For anyone who knows the secret to saving tires at Darlington Raceway — please tell Christopher Bell.

The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing NASCAR Cup Series car would welcome any help he can get for Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at the 1.366-mile, egg-shaped track (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Darlington schedule | At-track photos

To run 293 laps at “The Lady in Black,” Goodyear has provided 10 sets of new tires along with the set of scuffs drivers will use in qualifying. An abundance of cautions could place considerable stress on strategic tire decisions.

Bell is running all three NASCAR national races this weekend, and he got his first taste of tire management in Friday night’s Craftsman Truck Series event, which featured nine cautions and two overtimes.

Bell finished sixth in that event but indicated he wouldn’t have actionable information on the Cup car until Saturday afternoon’s practice.

“We’ll certainly learn more about the strategy piece whenever we get into practice and, like I mentioned before, nobody has any idea, it’s all speculation on what the tire degradation is going to be and what that means for the strategy on Sunday,” Bell said on Saturday morning at Darlington.

“But how do you save tires? I don’t know. I didn’t do it very well last night. That was my Achilles heel, so hopefully I can save tires better today and tomorrow. I’m still looking for that magic answer if anyone else has it.”

Posted on by Mike Hembree

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Contrary to the reactions of most drivers who drive out of the Darlington Raceway garage area to run a first lap on the old track, Chase Briscoe remembers being almost delighted.

“Honestly, I loved this place from the first laps I ran around it,” Briscoe said Saturday on the eve of the Goodyear 400 (Sun., 3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “I don’t know, just something clicked right away. I still had a lot to learn my first time coming here, but the style of racing here reminded me so much of sprint car racing, where you’re constantly changing what you’re doing.

“You’re always searching and trying to find that little bit more grip. You go to some of these race tracks and you’re pretty repetitive. Like you just do the same thing time in, time out. Here, you don’t ever run two laps the same. Every lap your car is just changing so much, so you’re always adapting, and that’s what I kind of loved about this place from the get-go, and then you just add the fact that you’re sliding all over the place.”

RELATED: Darlington schedule | At-track photos

Darlington loved Briscoe back. He finished a solid sixth in 2019 in his first O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at the track. In his first Cup race, in 2021, he was 11th. He learned quickly, and he enters Sunday’s marathon as the winner of two of the past three Cup races at the track. In winning the Southern 500 last year, Briscoe led 309 laps, the most laps led in a Darlington race since Dale Earnhardt ran a dominant race in 1986, leading 335 laps on the way to a win.

Darlington is Briscoe’s top track in the category of laps led. He has been out front over the speedway’s 1.366 miles a total of 338 laps. Second on his laps-led list is Martinsville Speedway at 142.

“Really, from the first time I came here, I was like, man, this is one of my favorite places, and then as the success came in, it obviously got closer and closer to the top,” Briscoe said. “So yeah, I’ve always loved Darlington. It’s been a very influential place in my career and really my life in general.”

Briscoe is expected to be among the favorites in Sunday’s race, although the Darlington debut of this year’s new high-horsepower package has added a level of uncertainty to what might transpire across 400 hard miles. Will those who have figured out Darlington be in better shape, or could the new landscape lift up those who previously have struggled?

“I think there’s a probability that good guys miss it and some of the guys that are more mid-pack nail it and find the way forward,” said Tyler Reddick, three times a winner this year but 0-for-13 at Darlington. “But I think it will be the players you expect. I don’t think it’s going to be someone that’s bad here, figuring it out.”

And what makes the good guys good?

“It’s their feel,” Reddick said. “Their kind of driver understanding and their senses. This is a place that wears the tire out, and you just have to make adjustments constantly. You feel like the drivers that can really keep up with that are really good. But you’re not going to be able to lean too much on past experiences. It’s kind of like starting over.”

Briscoe is among those who enter Sunday with some wonder about conditions and results.

“I think that it’s such an unknown right now with what this thing is going to drive like that nobody really knows,” he said. “I would think certainly the guys that are good on the long runs and are good when the car is slipping and sliding around, those would be the guys I would think would be good just because I think that’s how the cars are going to drive. So, it will be interesting to see.”

Briscoe needs a boost. Through five races, he has three finishes of 36th or worse and is mired in 26th position in points, one of six 2025 playoff drivers who are outside the Chase qualification window.

Posted on by Staff Report

Three teams failed pre-race NASCAR Cup Series technical inspection twice at Darlington Raceway on Saturday, leading to the ejection of crew members.

The No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford and the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford each failed to pass inspection on their second time through inspection ahead of practice and qualifying for Sunday’s Goodyear 400 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

MORE: Darlington schedule | At-track photos

As a result, each team lost the ability to choose its pit stall for Sunday’s 293-lap race. Additionally, No. 9 car chief Matt Barndt, No. 17 car chief Joshua Sisco and No. 66 car chief Dylan Roberts were ejected from the race weekend.

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Chevrolet, enters the race weekend fifth in the NASCAR Cup Series standings after five races, 87 points behind series leader Tyler Reddick. Chris Buescher, driver of the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford, is ninth in the standings, 109 markers behind Reddick. Timmy Hill, driver of the No. 66 Ford, is competing on a part-time basis and will make his first Cup start of the 2026 season, the 145th of his career.

Posted on by Staff Report

After a two-race West Coast swing, the NASCAR Cup Series and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series return to the East Coast for a trek to the historic Darlington Raceway, while the Craftsman Truck Series returns from a two-week hiatus at the South Carolina oval. Bookmark this page and come back often for your race-week essentials — from links to qualifying order, average practice speeds, results and more.

RELATED: Full weekend schedule | TV listings

NASCAR Cup Series

Race day: Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FS1. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information becomes available.

Tires: Twelve sets for the weekend (10 new race sets, one set transferred from qualifying and one for practice).

Entry List
Qualifying Order
Practice Results
Practice Lap Averages
Practice Lap Times
Qualifying Results
Pit Stalls
Stage 1 Results
Stage 2 Results
Race Results

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series

Race day: Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET on The CW. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information becomes available.

Tires: Seven sets for the weekend (four new race sets, one set transferred from qualifying and two for practice). 

Entry List
Qualifying Order
Practice Results
Practice Lap Averages
Practice Lap Times
Qualifying Results
Pit Stalls
Stage 1 Results
Stage 2 Results
Race Results

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

Race day: Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information becomes available.

Tires: Six sets for the weekend (four new race sets, one set transferred from qualifying and one for practice). 

Entry List
Qualifying Order
Practice Results
Practice Lap Averages
Practice Lap Times
Qualifying Results
Pit Stalls
Stage 1 Results
Stage 2 Results
Race Results

Posted on by Staff Report

See where your favorite NASCAR Cup Series, O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series drivers will pit this weekend at Darlington Raceway.

NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Darlington weekend schedule | How to watch NASCAR on FS1

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway on Saturday (5:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: How to watch O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races on The CW

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Buckle Up South Carolina 200 at Darlington Raceway on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, FOX One, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by Mike Hembree

DARLINGTON, S.C. – There were two consolations for Kaden Honeycutt in Friday night’s Buckle Up South Carolina 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Darlington Raceway.

Honeycutt, who has put together one of the strongest starts of the Truck season, finished fourth Friday, and that was an item to place in the plus column after an evening of hard racing among the race’s front pack. And, as Honeycutt mentioned several times after the race, he had the best truck.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Darlington

Honeycutt needed positives to hang his helmet on after a night that seemed to hold the promise of his first Truck Series victory. Earlier in the day, he had scored the first pole position of his short Truck Series career, and there was anticipation that he would be a force when the lights came on for the 200-mile race. In the end, he watched teammate Corey Heim surge to the win on the final overtime lap after Cup Series visitors Ross Chastain and Carson Hocevar showed their strength in the top five over the closing miles of the race. In Honeycutt’s view, Hocevar and Chastain went overboard in pushing their way through.

“We definitely had the best truck tonight,” Honeycutt said. “Just, when you’ve got nothing to lose and you come here and race in our series, you just do whatever you want. This is disappointing for sure. I’ve been on the verge of winning one of these races and just can’t close it, just from idiotic stuff from other people getting into me. So, it is what it is.”

He started on the outside alongside Chastain at the front on the final green flag but didn’t have a shot at taking the lead. “The top just wasn’t very good going in,” he said. “The bottom was preferred. I just couldn’t get going, spun the tires really hard. I did what I could and managed that and maximized what I could there.”

Honeycutt said both Chastain and Hocevar punted him in the race’s final segment. Still, he had a shot in the two-lap overtime but lost to Heim, who had fresher tires, and faded behind the aggressive runs of Chastain, who took second, and third-place Christian Eckes.

“By the time the 5 (Heim) got by me and then the 91 (Eckes), I pretty much committed to helping the 5 and see if he could get up there and win the race,” Honeycutt said. “I don’t know how he did, but he did, so great job for Toyota and everyone at Tricon.”

Honeycutt led a race-high 59 laps, his career high, and won the second stage.

Still, missing a good chance at a first win hurt.

“This is what happens when people fence each other,” he said. “That’s what happens. You feel like they have nothing to lose and you have everything. What the hell do they care about, right? I understand racing for a win, but they knew I had the best truck, so they did what they had to do to take me out of it. I’m just really upset that I haven’t been able to close one.”

Chastain had a different version of the closing segment.

“When I pushed Carson through, I pushed another Chevy, for sure,” he said. “On the restart when he got inside of him, Kaden missed the bottom into (Turn) 1 or gave Carson the bottom, and I pushed Carson through a couple restarts before the end. Yeah, I might’ve got him (Honeycutt) off of (Turn) 2, but not sure. I’ll have to go back and look, and if I did, I mean, definitely didn’t mean to. That guy’s great.”

Through four Truck Series races this season, Honeycutt has finishes of eighth, 21st, fifth and fourth. His Darlington finish moved him up four spots in the Truck Series standings to second place, 33 points behind series leader Chandler Smith.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Same guy. Different truck. Same result.

Driving the No. 5 Tricon Garage Toyota on a part-time basis, Corey Heim shocked race leader Ross Chastain with a last-lap pass and collected his second straight victory at Darlington Raceway in Friday night’s Buckle Up South Carolina 200.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Darlington

Last year, the No. 11 Tricon Tundra carried Heim to a record 12 victories and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship.

This year, the No. 5 truck carried him to a two-overtime win in his second series start of the season, as Heim is running a cobbled-together schedule of Truck Series, O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Cup Series races.

Heim also collected the $50,000 Triple Truck Challenge bonus for the victory. Should he run again on April 3 at Rockingham Speedway, he would be eligible for a $150,000 prize available to a driver who wins two races in “The Trip.”

Heim’s overtime victory on Friday night was unlikely enough, and it boiled down to strategy. On Lap 145, with three laps left in regulation, Heim brought his Tundra to pit road for scuffed tires that were five laps fresher than those of Chastain and other frontrunners.

Restarting 15th on the first attempt at overtime, Heim gained six spots before the ninth caution for a wreck involving Jake Garcia, Tyler Ankrum, Corey LaJoie and Stewart Friesen.

Heim was ninth for the final restart and used his tires to excellent advantage, making the pass for the win through Turns 3 and 4 on the final lap.

“I’m out of breath, for sure,” said Heim, who led three times for 28 laps and picked up his 24th win in 91 Truck Series starts. “Man, we had a set of scuffs laying, and they were five laps fresher than everyone else’s. It was worth a shot. I didn’t think we could win from where we were at.

“I felt like I made all the right moves. I had it three-wide coming to the white (flag) and bombed on in there on Ross (into Turn 3). I was shocked he gave me the bottom like that with fresher tires.”

Chastain, who led 35 laps and controlled both overtime restarts, thought he had the race won.

“I have no idea what just happened,” said Chastain, who is running races in all three NASCAR series this weekend. “We did so much right… I think that’s on us as a whole that we didn’t catch that.

“Of course, I would have run the bottom if I thought he would have been close, but I thought I got a good restart. Bummer.”

Kaden Honeycutt, who won his first career pole earlier in the day, led a race-high 59 laps in the No. 11 Tricon Garage truck Heim drove last year. Honeycutt restarted second and chose the top lane for both overtimes, but faded to fourth after the final restart.

“That last restart, the top lane wasn’t preferred,” Honeycutt said. “It was like that all night, obviously. The bottom was really good. I tried not to spin the tires as much as I possibly could…

“By the time the 5 (Heim) got by me and the 91 (third-place finisher Christian Eckes) was in front of him, I pretty much just committed to helping (Heim) and see if he could get up there and win the race. I don’t know how in the world he did, but he did.”

Connor Mosack finished fifth, followed by Christopher Bell, Grant Enfinger, Gio Ruggiero, Daniel Hemric and William Sawalich.

Carson Hocevar used a sharp restart with 20 laps remaining to dive left on then-leader Kaden Honeycutt entering Turn 1, charging his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet to the lead for the first time all night. But a flat right-front tire with four laps remaining sent Hocevar into the Turn 1 wall and into a spin, ending his chances of victory and necessitating the final caution flag of regulation.

A crash at Lap 121 created drama for three prominent Truck Series regulars. Layne Riggs entered Turn 1 side-by-side with Ty Majeski and attempted to slide in front of Majeski’s front bumper. Riggs’ No. 34 Ford was not clear, however, sending both trucks hard into the outside wall. Following them into the corner was Andrés Pérez, who slid into Majeski’s truck before hitting the barrier himself. Majeski and Pérez were both unable to continue, finishing 31st and 32nd, respectively.

Ben Rhodes entered Friday’s race second in points but exited early after a hard hit into the Turn 1 SAFER barrier at Lap 3. Rhodes and Ankrum made slight contact coming off Turn 4 to complete Lap 2, which bent Rhodes’ left-front fender toward his tire. That damage sliced his left-front tire entering the corner, sending Rhodes into the wall and ending his day. After a last-place finish, Rhodes drops to seventh in the standings, 53 points behind series leader Chandler Smith.

Chandler Smith ran 17th but left Darlington with a 33-point lead over second-place Honeycutt in the series standings.

Note: Post-race inspection in the Craftsman Truck Series garage concluded without issue, confirming Heim as the Darlington winner.

Contributing: Staff report

Posted on by Staff Report

Four entries for Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Darlington Raceway failed pre-race inspection twice, resulting in the ejection of their respective truck chiefs.

Three of Kaulig Racing’s five Ram entries were among the quartet of trucks dinged during Friday’s inspection process, including the Nos. 10, 12 and 25 machines driven respectively by AJ Allmendinger, Brenden Queen and Corey LaJoie. Also found in violation was the No. 1 Tricon Garage Toyota piloted this weekend by William Sawalich.

MORE: Darlington schedule | Truck Series standings

Due to Friday’s inspection failures, the following truck chiefs were ejected from the event, and their teams will lose pit-stall selection for the series’ next race at Rockingham Speedway on April 3:

  • No. 1 truck chief Bayley Currey
  • No. 10 truck chief Ethan Hutchens
  • No. 12 truck chief Ryan Richmond
  • No. 25 truck chief Donald Colwell

Additionally, two Team Reaume entries — the No. 22 Ford driven by Josh Reaume and the No. 33 Ford driven by Frankie Muniz — will start from the rear after making unapproved adjustments after practice and qualifying.

The Truck Series will compete in the Buckle Up South Carolina 200 on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.